# Cities/countries named after their leaders...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 15, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694 "2020-06-15T12:43:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/62 "2020-06-16T03:39:49Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#):
>
> Does Queen Maud land, part of Antarctica claimed by Denmark, count? She was the wife of the ruling Danish monarch King Haakon VII.
Nitpick: Norway.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/63 "2020-06-16T04:45:37Z")
> [@dtilque](#):
>
> Hayes didn’t do any actual negotiation for that. What happened was that the two countries (Paraguay and Argentina) agreed to let a foreign leader (Hayes) act as arbiter in their border dispute. Hayes sided with Paraguay, although it’s most likely he didn’t do much besides rubberstamp the recommendations of US diplomats in the area.
Word choice maybe, but that’s what I meant.
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Israel has a small town call Kfar Truman (literally, “Trumanville”), named after President Harry S, for being the first world leader to recognize Israel’s independence.
Huh, interesting.
> [@UDS](#):
>
> Nitpick: Norway.
Norwegian queen and claimed by Norway. Haakon was however from Denmark, being the younger brother of the future king of Denmark.
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### Author:  [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/64 "2020-06-16T04:50:04Z")
> [@UDS](#):
>
> Nitpick: Norway.
Well-spotted.
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### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/65 "2020-06-16T05:02:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Bolivia was never part of Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia included what are now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Bolivia was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which gained independence separately from Gran Colombia, and eventually became independent of Peru.
OK, but then, Venezuela—formally, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela—should count as being named after its erstwhile leader, no?
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/66 "2020-06-16T14:26:47Z")
Would Jonestown meet the criteria?
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/67 "2020-06-16T14:39:53Z")
I grew up in Kingston, and indeed Canada had a king when it was founded.
Canada’s kinda short on places named after people who led Canada or a province; the only really good example is, of course, the capital of British Columbia; Victoria. Regina, Saskatchewan just means “Queen” so I think that’s as lame as Kingston, though it was in fact named in honor of Victoria.
Halifax was named after an important guy who helped found the city, though he wasn’t a leader the way a Queen is.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/68 "2020-06-16T16:43:22Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#):
>
> Would Jonestown meet the criteria?
Bold choice, but I think it’s Kool.
Yes I know, Flavor Aid.
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### Author:  [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/69 "2020-06-16T21:17:30Z")
The state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans.
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### Author:  [@CeleTheRef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CeleTheRef)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/70 "2020-06-16T22:29:59Z")
In Italy there _was_ a city named Mussolinia, the name was changed to Arborea in 1944.
In 1964 a Russian city was renamed Togliatti in honor of Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party.
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### Author:  [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/71 "2020-06-16T22:44:39Z")
Yekaterinburg (Russia’s 3rd city, named after Empress Catherine the Great).
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/72 "2020-06-16T23:53:54Z")
> [@Schnitte](#):
>
> The administrative district (oblast) surrounding the city of Saint Petersburg still retains the city’s pre-1991 name, Leningrad.
Speaking of which, Saint Petersburg (city) is named after Peter The Great. It was changed to Petrograd, then Leningrad, then changed back to the original.
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/73 "2020-06-17T00:36:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Also Victoria, capital of the Seychelles, and Victoria, capital of British Columbia.
>
> The capital of Saskatchewan, Regina, is also named for Victoria Regina, as is the state of Queensland in Australia, and indirectly Queenstown, New Zealand (by way of Queenstown, Ireland, now Cobh).
Ireland also has Virginia, County Cavan named for Queen Elizabeth I and in times past we also had King’s County and Queen’s County, now Counties Offaly and Laois.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/74 "2020-06-17T01:17:00Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#):
>
> Ireland also has Virginia, County Cavan named for Queen Elizabeth I and in times past we also had King’s County and Queen’s County, now Counties Offaly and Laois.
The principal towns in King’s County and Queen’s County were named Philipstown (now Daingean) and Maryborough (now Port Laoise) after . . . oh, you get the picture.
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/75 "2020-06-17T02:57:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Regina, Saskatchewan just means “Queen” so I think that’s as lame as Kingston, though it was in fact named in honor of Victoria.
I really wish they’d stayed with “Pile o’Bones”.
Now that’s cool. 😛
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/76 "2020-06-17T03:01:12Z")
Montreal is sorta-kinda named after the French monarchs.
It’s a contraction of “Mount Royal” : “Mont Royale”, also pronounced and sometimes spelt “Mont Réal” in 17th century French.
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### Author:  [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/77 "2020-06-17T07:57:42Z")
The former name of Tasmania was Van Diemen’s Land, and it was known by that name between 1642 and 1856. Anthony van Diemen was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
Apart from the minor technicality of the Dutch not claiming it or building anything or staying there, AVD was probably the nearest thing to a European ‘owner’.
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### Author:  [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/78 "2020-06-17T10:41:51Z")
Kristiansand in Norway seems to have been named for King Christian IV and a number of fortress towns established in Scotland after the 1745 Jacobite rising were named for Hanoverian princes - Fort William, Fort Augustus. Likewise across the British Empire - all those Victorias!
Saltaire in Yorkshire was built as a model industrial town by Titus Salt, and no end of ancient English villages had their Norman feudal overlord’s name tacked on to their existing name, e.g. Worth Matravers.
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### Author:  [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/79 "2020-06-17T12:01:56Z")
So - how many of these cities didn’t keep their changed names (if changed) and returned to the original (or another) - e.g. St. Petersburg -\> Petrograd -\> Leningrad -\> St. Petersburg?
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/80 "2020-06-17T12:07:01Z")
The city of [Herzliya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzliya), north of Tel Aviv, is named after Israel’s founding father Theodor Herzl.
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### Author:  [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-countries-named-after-their-leaders/855694/81 "2020-06-17T13:19:53Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> Disneyland.
Two cities near Disneyland were named after California governors: Downey and Pico-Rivera. (Also, the census designated place, Stanford.)
Otherwise, half the cities in California, are named after property developers or Spanish land-grant families.
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