# City Nomenclature **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230 "2001-04-08T05:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IBBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85f322/32.png) [@IBBen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IBBen)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/21 "2001-04-08T22:02:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PlanMan \* > \*\*“A Mass of Two (4-letter vulgarism for excrement)” > \*\* Wouldn’t the plural form of the expletive be a 5-letter word? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/22 "2001-04-08T22:32:29Z")
lol Mass-holes I haven’t heard that one since my brother-in-law was in New York. “Be VERY CAREFUL on the Pike,” he’d warn me every time I went out in the car. “Those Massholes don’t know how to drive.” ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Goo_Fee)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/23 "2001-04-09T00:53:59Z")
Since the term ‘American’ covers everyone who lives in the Americas, what do you call a person who lives in the United States? Someone once suggested the term “United Statians” I rather like it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/24 "2001-04-09T01:28:31Z")
In Esperanto this is in fact the case: the USA is called Usono and people from the USA are called Usonano (singular) or Usonanoj (plural). The suffix -an means ‘member of a group’ or ‘inhabitant of a country’. The suffix -o indicates a noun, and -j indicates a plural. When I was in San Fransisco, I saw a number of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, especially the Marin County Civic Center. At the Civic Center, there was a exhibit of his prefab ‘Usonian House’. I wonder whether Wright got ‘Usonian’ from Esperanto, or whether it was the other way around, or both got it from some other source. (Buckminster Fuller? Early-twentieth-century CE utopianism?) Esperanto goes back to the late nineteeth century, so it might be possible to see when the word entered that language. Would the noun form in English be ‘Usonia’? I rather like that. The only other alternative I can think of as well is ‘United Statesian’, but that seems awkward because it is two words. It sounds like one is specifying a _united_ Statesian, rather than a _disunited_ one. Or a red, flat, or worried one. ‘Unitedstatesian’, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/25 "2001-04-09T03:23:32Z")
from “How To Tell You Are From Massachusetts:” 1. Somebody calls you a Masshole and you take it as a compliment. [nitpick]May I say, I am quite proud of my Bay Stater heritage. As for Taxachusetts, Connecticut and RI’s taxes are much higher than we are (thus Connecticut’s unofficial motto: “Massachusetts, only dirtier”).[/nitpick] But, back to the OP. No one seems to know what people from my town are called. Swanseaite, Swanseaer, Swansean, its really just whatever sounds better at the time. As for being a Bay Stater, our legislature made it official: > [@](#): > > \*\*Chapter 2: Section 35. Designation of citizens of commonwealth. > > Section 35.\*\* Bay Staters shall be the official designation of citizens of the commonwealth. Like they don’t have anything else to do… ---
**Author:** ![johnny\_fishface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@johnny\_fishface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnny_fishface)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/26 "2001-04-09T14:46:52Z")
I live in Troy, Ohio so we are (quite obviously) Trojans and Buckeyes. There is a town just north of us called Piqua. We call them Smelly White Trash-ians. (Piqua is a Native American word that means “inbred”.) kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/27 "2001-04-09T14:54:15Z")
Toronto: Torontonian. Mississauga: Mississaugan. Ontario: Ontarian. Oddly, these do not seem to be often used as adjectival forms, though this would seem logical. One almost never sees "phrases line “in Ontarian politics…” for instance. Instead we would just say “in Ontario politics”. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/28 "2001-04-09T17:05:01Z")
I don’t think there is any hard-and-fast rule (as many others have already stated – hey, I’m just trying to keep this post slightly on-topic for GQ), as I will illustrate by my own history. Born in Albany, NY (Alban **ian**?) Lived in Rochester (Rochestr **an**?) Then in Wayne (where I was proud to be a Wayn **iac** ) And now in Pompton Lakes (usually Lake **lander** , which also covers a few other towns) I think I need to move to a _real_ city, one that has these things organized… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/29 "2001-04-09T18:20:01Z")
MsRobyn: > [@](#): > > People from the opposite side of the Mississippi are called Minneapolitans. Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is something I have wondered about for a long time. Would you happen to know whether the accents are like this: Min-ne’-a-pol’’-i-tans? In order to contribute something, I will point out that people from Charlotte are Charlotteans (Char’-lot-te’’-ans). ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/30 "2001-04-09T18:30:14Z")
I’ve always loved the fact that people from Memphis, TN are called “Memphians!” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/31 "2001-04-09T19:10:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > In order to contribute something, I will point out that people from Charlotte are Charlotteans (Char’-lot-te’’-ans). Surely someone has given in to the urge to call them Charlatans? From the damp and ridiculously small towns of my old home: Jonesville-Jonesvillains: We took pride in it, especially those of us named “Jones”. Harrisonburg-Harrisonburgers: This led to lots of unimaginative sports slogans. Sicily Island-Frogs: You’d understand if you ever had to paddle out there for a service call. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/32 "2001-04-10T05:21:11Z")
So, the concensus is that most locales with English or Anglicized names use one of the suffices “-er”, “-ite”, or “-an”, or some form of clever wordplay based on the name or properties of the region? The last possibility is, of course, unpredictable, but considering that a person can typically guess the local designation correctly (who would ever refer to a person as a “Clevelandan”?), there would appear to be some heuristics for the choice of suffix. Would anyone care to try to find the pattern? This is not just a rhetorical question, by the way. The answer to it, if it exists, is about the only GQ aspect left to this question. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/33 "2001-04-10T06:56:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*MsRobyn: > Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is something I have wondered about for a long time. Would you happen to know whether the accents are like this: Min-ne’-a-pol’’-i-tans? > \*\* That’s about right. Robin ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/34 "2001-04-10T07:10:34Z")
Salt Laker,I guess, but we usually just say “I’m from Salt Lake”. Utahn is accepted. All my friends from Europe & down under call us “Yanks”, and my Latino friends call us “gringos”. I figure either one will work. ---
**Author:** ![Snaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Snaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snaf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/35 "2001-04-10T09:05:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pulykamell \* > \*\* We had a thread on British place names, and some of the examples were: Glasgow-Glaswegians, Manchester-Mancunians, Liverpool-Liverpudlian. And, believe it or not, in the land of Oz, Tasmanian is also Taswegian. > \*\* I’ve been beaten to my home city’s unusual moniker, Sydneysider, so I’m writing to point out people from Newcastle (either UK or Aus) are Novacastrians 🙂 Snaf ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/36 "2001-04-10T11:54:43Z")
Chronos: > [@](#): > > The answer to it, if it exists, is about the only GQ aspect left to this question. But so many cities remain, particularly the exceptions. Minneapolitan. [rapturous dance of joy!] I learned it here. That’s why I review General Questions even when I don’t have time to debate. I learn so much. Please don’t cut this one off yet. But, of course, I will peacefully yield to your call. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/37 "2001-04-10T12:18:56Z")
My wife delights in calling herself and others from Maine “Mainiacs”. :D:D ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/38 "2001-04-10T13:39:17Z")
Currently a Hanoverian, used to be a New Kenter, before that was Henrican, before that was a Richmonder, and before that was a Staffordian. Have always been a Virginian. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/39 "2001-04-10T16:01:18Z")
An earlier thread I just stumbled upon, in a different forum: [Unusual genitive place names](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=17803) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230/40 "2001-04-10T16:17:45Z")
Don’t worry, **Libertarian** … I’m not planning on cutting it off, as it is an interesting thread. However, if we don’t get anything more than “My city is \_\_\_\_, and we’re called \_\_\_\_\_s”, then it’ll be moved to IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/city-nomenclature/61230.md?page=3)