# Boringly ordinary town names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091 "2021-04-30T07:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/41 "2021-05-01T03:10:15Z")
Just off the top of my head. All these are signifant towns, mostly with a few thousand peeople Opp AL Smackover AR Loogootee IN What Cheer IA Pippa Passas KY Bunkie LA D’Lo MS Pahrump NV Kiryas Joel NY 84 PA Sedro Woolley WA Combined Locks WI Also, Nyork Nyork, which doesnt sound funny anymore ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/42 "2021-05-01T04:38:32Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > > > There is an area in Canada called [Hull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull,_Quebec). It’s not really a city or town but it’s a real place that I’ve been to and people there call it by that name like it is a separate city. This is how the wiki describes it: > > > > > > > " **Hull** is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada." > > > > It was probably named after [Hull, England.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Hull) (whose official name is Kingston upon Hull, a fact I just learned from the wiki article) > > Hull, Massachusetts, definitely was named after the English one. A relative from the north of England who visited Ontario and Quebec noted that many names there were very familiar to him–Hull, Durham, Whitby, Pickering, York, Grimsby and several others. And “Port Sunlight” and “Port Ivory” remind me of another Ontario town: Ajax. However it’s not named for the detergent or the hero from ancient Greece, but for a ship: [HMS Ajax (22) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ajax_(22)#Ajax_remembered) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/43 "2021-05-01T04:45:26Z")
Townsville. Fictional city from _The Powerpuff Girls_. Less famously, the name of a city in Northeast Australia. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/44 "2021-05-01T04:51:34Z")
[Rural](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural%2C_Wisconsin), Wisconsin. Accurate and descriptive, if ordinary. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/45 "2021-05-01T05:01:34Z")
All of these in upstate New York Olive Clay Calcium Fine Pyrites and Drums, PA ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/46 "2021-05-01T10:54:04Z")
I should add Bournville. A model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury’s chocolate factory, and designed to be a “garden” village where the sale of alcohol was forbidden. A desirable place to live these days, but still no pubs. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/47 "2021-05-01T11:10:27Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve always though it was kind of boring when a town name is simply a direction plus the name of another nearby city Here in WA we’ve got East Olympia, which is actually south of Olympia rather than east. A few miles away from that in the rural part of the county we have the more conventionally boringly-named towns of Gate and Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/48 "2021-05-01T11:50:14Z")
> **[Welcome, Ontario](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome,_Ontario)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Welcome is a community in the municipality of Port Hope, Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the crossroads of County Road 10, heading north to the community of Canton; County Road 74, heading east to Dale; and County Road 2 (formerly Ontario Highway 2) heading west to Morrish and southeast to interchange 461 on Ontario Highway 401 and further southeast to the town centre of Port Hope. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/49 "2021-05-01T14:29:09Z")
Michigan has Climax, Hell, Colon, White Pigeon, Bad Axe, Parchment, Portage, Podunk, Plymouth, Cadillac. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/50 "2021-05-01T14:34:54Z")
I’m not going to point them out, but some of these names are neither ordinary nor boring. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/51 "2021-05-01T16:50:59Z")
The old anglo-saxon word for village is “Ham” - which occurs frequently in English place names, for example: Rotherham, originally a village by the river Rother. And if your village isn’t near something interesting? There are several places in England just called Ham. Here’s an example, chosen…entirely…at…random: > **[Ham, Kent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham,_Kent)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Ham is a hamlet near the town of Sandwich in Kent, England, within the parish of Northbourne. The population is included in the civil parish of Eastry. > There is a signpost nearby which points to both the hamlet and the town, thus appearing to read "Ham Sandwich". j (BTW - that’s the entire wikipedia entry, right there in that box.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/52 "2021-05-01T17:09:28Z")
I used to own a guidebook to the Cambridge (UK) area. Its entire description of [Pidley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidley): “Lives up to its name.” ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/53 "2021-05-01T17:17:23Z")
> [@its\_the\_daddy](#): > > Because of the confusion I witnessed a who’s-on-first style confusing conversation due to the mundane nature of a place name in New Hampshire. We arrived in the car at Weirs Beach with friends from out of town, and my dad, who was driving, conversationally said, “Weirs Beach.” The passenger of course heard, “Where’s beach?,” pointed and said “I think it’s over there…” to which my dad, who was so familiar with Weirs Beach that he didn’t think about the homonym, said, “yeah … Weirs Beach!” They repeated this conversation about three times before they figured it out. ETA: I just realized I didn’t actually know what a “weir” is. I thought it was some kind of topographical feature, like a spit of land…but apparently it’s a kind of dam. Live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/54 "2021-05-01T17:39:39Z")
How about Plainfield, Il? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/55 "2021-05-01T18:43:48Z")
There is a dot on the map (or on some maps) in New Hampshire, between Farmington and Rochester that is called simply “Place.” I never heard any of the locals call it that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/56 "2021-05-01T18:48:11Z")
Alcoa, Tn. Yes, named for the Aluminum company. Springfield–found literally in every State of the Union. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/57 "2021-05-01T18:59:26Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Springfield–found literally in every State of the Union. The Springfield of Germany and neighboring countries is Neustadt (New Town, couldn’t be more boring): > **[Neustadt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neustadt)** > > Neustadt (German for new town or new city) may refer to: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/58 "2021-05-01T20:16:53Z")
There’s a Plainville MA. It adjoins my town on the border with RI. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/59 "2021-05-01T23:10:56Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The winner in this regard is Baden-Baden, “Bath-Bath”. Indiana has West Baden Springs, likewise located at a mineral spring. It combines the directional prefix, and the reference to mineral baths in two different languages. Speaking of languages, Germany has a major city called Essen. Which is the German word for “eat.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/60 "2021-05-02T00:17:06Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > How about Plainfield, Il? > [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s a Plainville MA. It adjoins my town on the border with RI. Both Plainfield and Plainville are also towns in Connecticut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=4)