# Counties with interesting names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066 "2024-10-22T17:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/1 "2024-10-22T17:05:34Z")
Election years remind me of the picturesque names some US counties have Bucks County in Pennsylvania, carries a catchet for rusticity Yell County Arkansas, a primal frontier named with a primal scream (although named after one Archibald Yell). Jo Daviess: a county in Illinois, or leather-lunged country western chanteuse? Coconino AZ: too long after discovering Krazy Kat, I learned this is a real place [![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEstAKBmBvggFwoX2fS5yqtWJZCdDz89elnHcULvNVUx8aIZ84A9HlhWdFaBkG2Njnh4aToWUzx-9WGBqpL24HkE34GmnMo0Diuf7pCl15f4FiOsJupmdxOkrC2yEXA_wk8jipw5HUWU/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-05+at+11.18.52.png) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEstAKBmBvggFwoX2fS5yqtWJZCdDz89elnHcULvNVUx8aIZ84A9HlhWdFaBkG2Njnh4aToWUzx-9WGBqpL24HkE34GmnMo0Diuf7pCl15f4FiOsJupmdxOkrC2yEXA_wk8jipw5HUWU/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-05+at+11.18.52.png) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/2 "2024-10-22T17:20:56Z")
Does a fucking village count? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5Tn2Yf8jjuM/hqdefault.jpg "Welcome To A Wonderful Village") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tn2Yf8jjuM) ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/3 "2024-10-22T17:32:25Z")
I always liked Lac qui Parle county in western Minnesota. > **[Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota)** > > Lac qui Parle County (/ˌlæk ki ˈpɑːrl/ LAK kee PARL) is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,719. Its county seat is Madison. The largest city in the county is Dawson. > The name of the county is a French translation of the Dakota name, "Mde Lyedan," meaning "lake that speaks." > In 1862 the Minnesota legislature authorized creation of a county to be called Lac qui Parle on an area north of the Minnesota River. However, tha... ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/4 "2024-10-22T17:36:27Z")
There used to be a Patrick Henry county in Virginia. It was later split in two, as Patrick county and Henry 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:** [October 22, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/5 "2024-10-22T17:36:36Z")
[Deaf Smith County, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_Smith_County%2C_Texas) > The county was named for Erastus “Deaf” Smith (1787–1837), a partially deaf scout and soldier who served in the Texas Revolution, and was the first to reach the Alamo after its fall in 1836. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/6 "2024-10-22T17:47:47Z")
Yolo County, California. You only live once! (Actually “Yolo” is [probably a corruption of an indigenous word](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolo_County,_California#Etymology)) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/7 "2024-10-22T17:56:21Z")
- Ogle County, IL - looks lewdly at its neighboring counties - Tazewell County, IL - does an excellent job of using its taser on other counties - Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and Palo Alto Counties, IA - perfectly normal Spanish terms (“good view,” “fat hill,” and “tall stick,” respectively), but I don’t picture a lot of native Spanish speakers in 19th century Iowa. 😉 - Kandiyohi County, MN - just sounds awesome; my understanding, from knowing someone who grew up there, is that it’s pronounced “candy-YO-high” - Koochiching County, MN - like the name “Slartibartfast” in _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_, it just _sounds_ naughty ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/8 "2024-10-22T18:01:42Z")
Whatcom. What? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/9 "2024-10-22T18:03:59Z")
The Cherokee Strip was a name given to an area of land in what is now Oklahoma along the Kansas border. Before this land was opened to settlement, seven counties were created, and were assigned letters for names: Counties K, L, M, N, O, P, and Q. After the land run, all the names of these counties were changed, save one, which is still known as Kay County. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/10 "2024-10-22T20:25:18Z")
While there’s a lot of French based names in the old Louisiana territory plus some places in the east, those French trappers and such got everywhere. In Oregon you have two counties with French origins: Deschutes and Malheur. Both are named after rivers whose names origins are “the chutes (waterfalls)” and “unfortunate”. There’s also a Columbia county named after the river, which originally was the Oregon river. Some say that’s French in origin as well, a corruption of a word for"hurricane". If you spent a winter near the gorge you’d understand. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/11 "2024-10-22T22:04:35Z")
Tennessee has Cocke County. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/12 "2024-10-22T22:14:42Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Whatcom. What? That always hits me as the name of a first or second wave tech company, possibly a search engine due to the “what”. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/13 "2024-10-22T22:22:25Z")
“Bucks” was probably named after the nickname for UK’s “Buckinghamshire” county. Many UK counties have shortened names like that - originally to make it easier when writing addresses on letters. [UK County Abbreviations • FamilySearch](https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/UK_County_Abbreviations) ---
**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:** [October 22, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/14 "2024-10-22T23:16:56Z")
In Washington we have Skamania county, which takes its name from a Chinook word for “swift waters” but sounds like a music festival from 1998 headlined by Reel Big Fish, No Doubt, and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Then in northeast WA there’s Pend D’oreille (pronounced pond-or-ray) county, which is the French word for “earring”. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/15 "2024-10-23T02:18:47Z")
Transylvania County, North Carolina 🧛‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/16 "2024-10-24T07:20:00Z")
Ohio has 88 counties but most are average sounding names. I do like Auglaize County. Nobody knows what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/17 "2024-10-24T10:44:10Z")
I grew up in Darke county Ohio. The saying when I was a kid was that there were no darkies in Darke county. Racist but true at the time, a county of 99.9% white people, today it is maybe 95% that way. Its redneck heavan. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/18 "2024-10-24T11:16:51Z")
Virginia has Dinwiddie county. The name stems from a colonial era lieutenant governor. Additionally, Virginia has more counties named after women than any other state. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/19 "2024-10-24T11:52:38Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, and Palo Alto Counties, IA - perfectly normal Spanish terms (“good view,” “fat hill,” and “tall stick,” respectively), but I don’t picture a lot of native Spanish speakers in 19th century Iowa. 😉 Those were all battles in the Mexican War, so not unlikely names for counties in a state that was admitted to the union in 1846. Loving County, Texas was named for Oliver Loving of the Goodnight-Loving Trail fame (think _Lonesome Dove_). It is the only county in Texas to have been created twice - initially in 1887, then dissolved in 1897 due to financial shenanigans by county officials, and re-created in 1931. It is also the least populated county in Texas and all of the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066/20 "2024-10-24T14:47:12Z")
Nevada has a Eureka County. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counties-with-interesting-names/1009066.md?page=2)