# 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:** 4
**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 2, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/61 "2021-05-02T00:23:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Both Plainfield and Plainville are also towns in Connecticut. Wisconsin has a village which is just plain [Plain](https://www.villageofplain.com/). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/62 "2021-05-02T04:32:27Z")
Electra, Texas was named for Electra Waggoner, the heiress to the estate of the founder of the town. Electra Waggoner Biggs, her granddaughter, went on to become famous as an artist and socialite, and friend of a GM executive, who named the Buick Electra after her. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/63 "2021-05-02T09:10:28Z")
Seldom Seen, Ontario; in the township of Whitchurch-Stouffville. I once lived in Stouffville (the township capital), and heard about Seldom Seen, the village nobody has a need to visit. One day, when I had nothing better to do, I set out to find it. I found it, at the north end of McCowan Road, where the road stops because of a wide ravine. But it’s a village, with houses and people living there, though there were no stores or amenities. No problem; it’s close enough to Stouffville that residents can go there for things. But, because there’s no real reason to go to Seldom Seen, it remains … Seldom Seen. ---
**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 2, 2021, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/64 "2021-05-02T09:26:05Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Michigan has… Bad Axe That’s not a boring name. That’s a name worthy of being the title of a Manowar song. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/65 "2021-05-02T14:56:17Z")
The most boringly ordinary town name in South Dakota has to be Interior, which is located near the Badlands. It also has a history of previous boring names, dating back to the Lakota name makȟóšiča otȟúŋwahe, which reportedly translates to “Badlands village”. There is a photo of me standing next to the Interior city jail, which is also…boring. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior,_South_Dakota#/media/File:CityJailInteriorSD.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interior,_South_Dakota#/media/File:CityJailInteriorSD.jpg) ---
**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 2, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/66 "2021-05-02T15:02:25Z")
There’s a hamlet in Wales called [City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City,_Powys). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/67 "2021-05-02T16:46:47Z")
After several suggested names were rejected by the post office for already being in use, the town of [Nameless, TX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nameless,_Texas) was born. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/68 "2021-05-02T17:21:55Z")
> [@cytop](#): > > [whynot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whynot%2C_North_Carolina)? Not the only one. There’s another Whynot in Mississippi, Wynot’s in Nebraska and Saskatchewan, and a Ynot in Montana. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Hungary has a town named Hatvan, which translates to “sixty.” … At any rate, I always got a chuckle out of a number as a place name. There’s a fair number of such names in the US. At least one, and I think two, named 76 (reference to 1776, of course) and someone else cited 84 upthread. If anyone wants I think I could find a list. > [@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, i.e. West Sacramento or South San Francisco. How about one without the name of the nearby city? That is, just the direction? > **[North East, Maryland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East,_Maryland)** > > North East is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located between Philadelphia and Baltimore. The population was 3,572 at the 2010 census. > The Turkey Point Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge was listed in 2008. > North East is located at 39°36′01″N 75°56′32″W / 39.600342°N 75.942146°W / 39.600342; -75.942146. It’s actually near the northeast corner of Maryland, but I don’t think that’s the origin of the name. ---
**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 2, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/69 "2021-05-02T17:37:40Z")
There’s also a [North East, Pennsylvania,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_East,_Pennsylvania) near Erie, where I stopped for lunch a few times in the early 1990s. Wikipedia says it was named for being in the northeastern corner of its county. ---
**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 2, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/70 "2021-05-02T17:49:45Z")
And there’s [Southeast, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast%2C_New_York), probably best known as the terminus of the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line (for trains not continuing to Wassaic). ---
**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 2, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/71 "2021-05-02T18:35:43Z")
I’ve never visited the thumb area, so I can’t say much about Bad Axe. But the name originates from an old axe found embedded in a tree by early surveyors who named the corner, bad axe corners. 🅱 🪓 ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/72 "2021-05-02T21:13:37Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > How about one without the name of the nearby city? That is, just the direction? Or West, Texas, which is closer to the east part of state than the west part > **[West, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West,_Texas)** > > West is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 2,531. It is named after Thomas West, the first postmaster of the city. The city is located in the north-central part of Texas, approximately 70 miles (110 km) south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 20 miles north of Waco and 120 miles north of Austin, the state's capital. > Despite its name, the city is not located within the region of West Texas; area residents sometimes call the commun... And damn you, Wikipedia for ruining another good story. Local legend was that it was named West because that’s as far west as the Czech settlers wanted to go ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/73 "2021-05-02T21:18:16Z")
Uncertain, Texas > **[Uncertain, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertain,_Texas)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Uncertain is a city in Harrison County, Texas, in the United States. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 94, down from 150 at the 2000 census. In 2020, it had a population of 85. > The city of Uncertain was incorporated in 1961 as a Type B general law city, with a mayor and five aldermen on an at-large basis. > Uncertain has been noted for its unusual place name. According to tradition, the town derives its name from the original ... Which I’ve been to. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/74 "2021-05-02T21:57:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m not going to point them out, but some of these names are neither ordinary nor boring. Yep. People not reading the thread title, original post or any of the posts after that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/75 "2021-05-02T22:10:23Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Springfield–found literally in every State of the Union. But only for figurative meanings of ‘literally’. There’s no town name found in every state. The closest is Riverside, which is found in 46 states. There’s no Riverside in Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/76 "2021-05-03T08:02:59Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > The bane of UK database managers: [Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street,_Somerset). Just down the road from Glastonbury. There’s a medium-size city in Israel whose name translates as “Streets” in modern Hebrew - [Rehovot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehovot). Its name is actually an interesting case of linguistic drift. The root RHB in Hebrew means “Wide, Broad”, and the original biblical Rehovot (usually written “Rehoboth” in English) meant “open spaces”. However, in post-Biblical Hebrew, the word “rehovot” started referring specifically to the wide spaces between buildings in a city, i.e. streets (and not, say, alleyways), and thus the meaning of the word changed from any open spaces, to just streets, leaving the city with a rather silly name. Hebrew-speakers compensate for this by pronouncing the words differently: re-HO-vot for the city, and re-ho-VOT for the noun. . ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/77 "2021-05-03T09:00:44Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > And there’s [Southeast, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast%2C_New_York), probably best known as the terminus of the Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line Which station used to be called Brewster North, because it was directly north of Brewster. Now you take the Harlem line due north to end up in Southeast. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/78 "2021-05-03T09:27:54Z")
in CA; Palmdale … was supposedly nothing but palm trees when first settled … and Lancaster because supposedly the guy who was sent to supervise the building of the train station/railroad was British and missed his hometown … In grade school, it was set up where once a year the grade school kids from Lancaster UK, and here would exchange letters… And the whole region is named "antelope valley " because passing cowboys used to tell of an antelope herd that lived on a patch of grass in the desert … ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/79 "2021-05-05T03:24:57Z")
Another Texas city - El Paso means “the pass” ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/80 "2021-05-05T08:22:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > > [@kambuckta](#): > > > > Research > > Sale > > Speed > > I used to know someone who lived in Research. > > I’ve always thought **Doreen** is a weirdly dull name. And also **Ovens**. There’s a few dull lady’s names in Vic. Apart from Doreen (which I reckon wins the prize) there’s also Elaine and Meredith in the south west of the state. None of them rise to the sheer banality of Speed or Research though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=5)