# Cities with alternate names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814 "2014-07-11T01:19:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/21 "2014-07-11T07:23:58Z")
What about the capitol city of Myanmar? Doesn’t the US still refuse to acknowledge the gov. (and associated name changes) as legit? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/22 "2014-07-11T08:00:43Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Are you counting things like where the name in English has changed but some people use the old one? Like Beijing/Peking or Mumbai/Bombay. In that category, there’s also Chennai (Madras) and Kolkata (Calcutta), the first of which especially has become common in English. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/23 "2014-07-11T08:07:14Z")
American soldiers stationed in Germany usually refer to the city of Kaiserslautern as “K-town” (Kaiserslautern, by the way, is the largest U.S. population center outside the territory of the United States, according to Wikipedia). The Germany city of Eisenhüttenstadt (the youngest city in Germany, by the way) is often just called “Hütte”. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/24 "2014-07-11T09:02:45Z")
Kingston upon Hull is usually just called Hull, but that’s the name of the river. > **[Kingston upon Hull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingston_upon_Hull)** > > Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, 25 miles (40 km) inland from the North Sea and 37 miles (60 km) south-east of York, the historic county town. With a population of 267,014 (2021), it is the fourth-largest city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region after Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford. > The town of Wyke on Hull was founded lat... ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/25 "2014-07-11T09:09:31Z")
Derry/Londonderry: > **[Derry/Londonderry name dispute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derry/Londonderry_name_dispute)** > > The names of the city and county of Derry or Londonderry in Northern Ireland are the subject of a naming dispute between Irish nationalists and unionists. Generally, although not always, nationalists favour using the name Derry, and unionists Londonderry. Legally, the city and county are called "Londonderry", while the local government district containing the city is called "Derry City and Strabane". The naming debate became particularly politicised at the outset of the Troubles, with th The e... Silver Spring, Maryland is not a school district nor an incorporated city. It’s the fourth largest city in Maryland, yet it has no clear boundaries. It’s just a postal address. So it in effect has two names, Silver Spring and nothing: > **[Silver Spring, Maryland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Spring,_Maryland)** > > Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-most populous place in Maryland after Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, and Waldorf. > Downtown, next to the northern tip of Washington, D.C., is the oldest and most urbanized part of the community, surrounded by several inner suburba... ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/26 "2014-07-11T09:18:35Z")
Chipping Ongar is usually just called Ongar. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2014, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/27 "2014-07-11T09:31:10Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Chipping Ongar is usually just called Ongar. And Chipping Norton is usually called ‘Chippy’ by locals. What about Köln - Cologne Or there are the contentious names for the British Falkland Isles, which the Argies like to call Las Malvinas. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/28 "2014-07-11T09:45:24Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > What about the capitol city of Myanmar? Doesn’t the US still refuse to acknowledge the gov. (and associated name changes) as legit? Aung San Suu Kyi still uses Burma and Rangoon. So does the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/29 "2014-07-11T09:54:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The City of London is surrounded by the city of London but it’s not part of it in the sense that Brooklyn is part of New York City or Montmartre is part of Paris. It’s a separate political entity with its own mayor, political administration, and police force. Quite apart from what **Lord Feldon** and **Batistuta** said, note that I said “considered as places”, which was intended to forestall just such an objection as you nevertheless made. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/30 "2014-07-11T09:56:58Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > What about the capitol city of Myanmar? Doesn’t the US still refuse to acknowledge the gov. (and associated name changes) as legit? One shouldn’t say “Myanmar”, one should say “Mother and I”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/31 "2014-07-11T13:02:11Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Chipping Ongar is usually just called Ongar. > [@bob\_2](#): > > And Chipping Norton is usually called ‘Chippy’ by locals. But Chipping Sodbury is usually called “Sodding Chipbury.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/32 "2014-07-11T13:44:50Z")
There is a string of postal addresses along the main line (of the PRR) west of Philly that have no legal existence: Bala Kynwyd. Narberth, Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr,… that are politically mostly part of Upper Darby Township (Bryn Mawr actually straddles the county line). Confusingly, there is also a postal address called Upper Darby, also in the township. The names used in the postal address are what the locals (and everyone else) calls them. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/33 "2014-07-11T14:03:28Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > And Chipping Norton is usually called ‘Chippy’ by locals. > > What about Köln - Cologne > > Or there are the contentious names for the British Falkland Isles, which the Argies like to call Las Malvinas. Cologne is just the Anglicization of Koln, much like Munich:Munchen, Vienna:Wien, etc. A better example would be Frankfurt am Main, which everybody just calls Frankfurt. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/34 "2014-07-11T15:12:49Z")
I know that a lot of cities in North and Couth America were founded by Spanish colonists or missionaries who gave the original settlements very long names. The full name of Buenos Aires, Argentina is " Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires." (City of the holy Trinity and port of Holy Mary of the fair winds) And the full name of Los Angeles, California is "“El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula” (village of Our Lady the queen of angels of the Porciúncula River). Nobody has used those full names in centuries, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/35 "2014-07-11T15:53:55Z")
I think many out-of-state tourists are surprised to visit Kitty Hawk and find that Kill Devil Hills is a separate town. They use Kitty Hawk to encompass both. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/36 "2014-07-11T16:24:31Z")
The capital of the Indian state of Kerala appers on maps by its full official name, Thiruvananthapuram, but i commonly known, by Indians and outsiders alike, as Trivandrum, ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/37 "2014-07-11T16:32:49Z")
A number of cities in Canada have been amalgamated into new urbanities, identified by entirely new names… The larger ones include Saguenay, Quebec, formed in 2002 from Chicoutimi, Jonquiere and La Baie. Thunder Bay, Ontario, was formed in the 1960s from Fort William and Port Arthut. In the Netherlands, The Hague, Den Haag, and s"Gravenhage are all names for the same city. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/38 "2014-07-11T16:53:39Z")
Austin is sometimes referred to as Waterloo. Also, if you ask about River City, most folks will know what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/39 "2014-07-11T17:01:27Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > if you ask about River City, most folks will know what you mean. Well, we know you’ve got trouble there. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814/40 "2014-07-11T17:38:30Z")
> [@CheshireKat](#): > > I think many out-of-state tourists are surprised to visit Kitty Hawk and find that Kill Devil Hills is a separate town. They use Kitty Hawk to encompass both. Conversely, the resort town near Machu Picchu is officially called Machupicchu, but everyone calls it Aguas Calientes to avoid confusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-alternate-names/692814.md?page=3)