# County names that are present participles **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606 "2026-01-12T18:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/21 "2026-01-13T19:40:56Z")
I feel like there must be some Spanish ones in California, or in the southwest anyway. (-ando, or -iendo). I can’t think of any though. There’s Escondido right near me, but that’s a past participle. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/22 "2026-01-13T20:01:43Z")
I think some of the respondents in this thread are unclear on the meaning of “present participle”. A present participle is not any verb form, it’s the form that ends in _-ing_. It is often used as an adjective and also has a few other uses. I searched for “ing” in Wikipedia’s [list of US counties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_counties_and_county_equivalents) and I don’t see any other examples apart from the ones that have already been mentioned upthread. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/23 "2026-01-13T20:22:09Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I searched for “ing” in Wikipedia’s [list of US counties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_counties_and_county_equivalents) and I don’t see any other examples apart from the ones that have already been mentioned upthread. I don’t think we’ve mentioned King County, in WA and TX, the present participle of K. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/24 "2026-01-13T20:37:48Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > How do I go Cuballing? Inquiring minds want to know I assume you can find your own way to Perth Airport. From there you get a vehicle and take the Albany Highway (State Route 30). Follow your nose for 182km (113miles) which should take you about 2 1/14 hours. Curiously enough, on the way you will pass Canning and Wandering. The town of [Cuballing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuballing,_Western_Australia) is the county seat of the Shire of Cuballing. What you do there is up to you, but given Cuballing has a population of 460, it won’t take very long to do. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/25 "2026-01-13T20:42:30Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > How do I go Cuballing? Obligatory link to what is allegedly the best-selling postcard of all time. [![](https://www.picclickimg.com/FOUAAOSwXOFbdBjg/Vintage-Comic-Donald-McGill-Postcard-Saucy-Kipling-Kippled.webp) ](https://www.picclickimg.com/FOUAAOSwXOFbdBjg/Vintage-Comic-Donald-McGill-Postcard-Saucy-Kipling-Kippled.webp) ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/26 "2026-01-13T20:52:10Z")
In California there is the city of Banning located in Banning Pass. But it has nothing to do something being banned. It was named after Phineas Banning who was a stagecoach line owner. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/27 "2026-01-13T20:57:25Z")
> [@X.L.Lent](#): > > But it has nothing to > do something being banned. I suspect that that’s the case for most, if not all, of the other examples in this thread: they aren’t named after an action (i.e., a present participle verb), but after a person whose surname ended in “-ing,” and whose name either (a) is also an actual verb, or (b) sounds like it could be. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2026, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/28 "2026-01-13T21:00:15Z")
For all fans of present participles and place names that sound like them: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r56wlRsHric/hqdefault.jpg "The Two Ronnies Ponting Punting") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r56wlRsHric) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/29 "2026-01-14T06:17:57Z")
At the risk of threadshitting I offer honorable mention to a town whose name doesn’t really qualify for thread: Humptulips, Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/30 "2026-01-16T00:39:46Z")
Hocking isn’t a verb. It’s a noun phrase from the Lenape language: _hakink_ means ‘in the land’. _Haki_ ‘land’ = -_nk_ locative suffix. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606/31 "2026-01-16T00:44:22Z")
In a personal name it’s more likely the Old English suffix -_ing_ ‘son of, belonging to’. The suffix -_ling_ as in “earthling” is another form of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/county-names-that-are-present-participles/1026606.md?page=1)