# Frequently misspelled U.S. city names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313 "2004-10-21T00:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/21 "2004-10-21T09:55:27Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > I’m certainly not speaking as an authority, but I believe they ADDED the H in the early part of the 20th century. If you look at early newspaper box scores and old photographs there was no H, at least in the case of the Pirates. > [@](#): > > …the name of Pittsburgh has always had the “h” since the very beginning, and the “h” was official. Therefore it was always “received opinion” locally, except for a time at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries when officially the “h” was dropped. [http://www.phlf.org/phlfnews/essays/pittsburg.html](http://www.phlf.org/phlfnews/essays/pittsburg.html) (My point was that “-burgh” endings are the original English versions, and that the use of “-burg” is mainly an American thing.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/22 "2004-10-21T10:17:11Z")
465 hits for _ **Noo Yoik** _. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/23 "2004-10-21T10:26:37Z")
Well, not enough to get it on the list, but “Ronoake VA” gets 121 hits, “Ronoke” gets 69, and “Ronoak” gets a dozen. Still not as bad as the Domino’s Pizza flyer from a few years back that listed their address as “Ronak”, though. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/24 "2004-10-21T11:32:17Z")
There are 155 instances on the SDMB of “Cincinatti”; I didn’t check for other misspellings. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/25 "2004-10-21T15:36:09Z")
65,500 hits on Worchester (but I’m sure there is a town spelled that way somewhere, and there seems to be a Maryland country by that name) 29,300 hits for Worchester, MA (without quotes) 13,700 hits for “Worchester, MA” (with quotes) And that’s not even asking anyone to pronounce it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/26 "2004-10-21T15:47:21Z")
Re: Pittsburgh, I wonder which changed first - the spelling or the pronunciation? By that I mean, how long has it been pronounced “Pitz-berg” rather than “Pitz-b’ruh”, which is how “-burgh” is normally pronounced in English (eg Edinburgh). Anyone know about the history of the name? ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/27 "2004-10-21T16:18:57Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Chill out, guys. How many of you would have spelt ‘Loughborough’ right on the first attempt? And ‘Llanelli’? And … and… Well, my father was born in Llanelli, so I probably would have got it correct… ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/28 "2004-10-21T16:45:30Z")
It’s not a city, but my own personal rant: 45 hits for Massachusettes on SDMB! It’s not like it’s a state you don’t see in the news… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/29 "2004-10-21T16:53:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Re: Pittsburgh, I wonder which changed first - the spelling or the pronunciation? By that I mean, how long has it been pronounced “Pitz-berg” rather than “Pitz-b’ruh”, which is how “-burgh” is normally pronounced in English (eg Edinburgh). Anyone know about the history of the name? A quick Google shows that (unlike I expected), it’s a home-grown American place name, earlier being called Fort Pitt. So I guess it’s possible that it’s _always_ been pronounced that way. (FWIW, the English place name ‘Burgh’ is pronounced _berg_.) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/30 "2004-10-21T16:56:31Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > It’s not a city, but my own personal rant: > > 45 hits for Massachusettes on SDMB! > > It’s not like it’s a state you don’t see in the news… Plus, you can use this handy-dandy mnemonic: m-a-crooked letter-crooked letter-ACHOO!-sniff-plural feminine dimunitive I just don’t see how anyone could ever misspell Masssa… Massashoe… it. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/31 "2004-10-21T18:38:57Z")
For six months I mailed letters to my brother in Old Ford, PA instead of Old Forge! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/32 "2004-10-21T19:20:05Z")
ok. while we’re at it: **223,000** hits for _saskachewan_; 44,400 hits for _“british colombia”_ ; 15,000 for _nunavit_; 15,000 for _ontarrio -smith_ as there seems to be a football player by that name, God help us; 7780 for _newfound land_ (although many of these seem to be where the word was broken at the end of a line: Newfound- / land) 6420 hits for _quebeck -tn -tennessee_ (there’s a Quebeck, Tennessee); 5480 hits for _nunavat_; 4600 hits for _onterio_; 3230 hits for _albetra_; 3200 hits for _ablerta_; 2650 hits for _manatoba_ 2360 hits for _menitoba_; 1770 hits for _youkon -gmc_ as there appears to be a car by that name; 1670 hits for _saskatchawan_ 857 hits for _labrodor_; 506 hits for _nova scottia_; 352 hits for _nova scocia_; 266 hits for _alburta_ – again, some of which are people’s names; 262 hits for _“new brunswik” -jersey -nj_. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/33 "2004-10-21T19:28:34Z")
Nacodoches TX gets 2340 Nagadoches TX manages a measly 294 ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/34 "2004-10-21T21:22:00Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#): > > It’s not a city, but my own personal rant: > > 45 hits for Massachusettes on SDMB! > > It’s not like it’s a state you don’t see in the news… Thank You! It took me a long time learn to spell Albuquerque, so why in god’s name did they name a State Massa… Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/35 "2004-10-21T22:32:12Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > 262 hits for _“new brunswik” -jersey -nj_. That one amused me…didn’t 400 hits for “new brunswik”, all of which linked to non-Canadian refernces, give them the slightest hint they’d spelt it wrong? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/36 "2004-10-21T22:38:41Z")
Actually I take that all back, realising it’s bollocks… But in any case, the search for ‘“New Brunswik” -jersey -nj’ produced plenty of results. Not least due to most sites relating to Rutgers University evidently including the misspelling in their meta tags. Plus pages like [urlhttp://www.socialpsychology.org/socprogs.htm]this getting the spelling wrong. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/37 "2004-10-21T22:53:15Z")
Hmm… I tried searching for “Grant’s Pass” but the search engines ignore the apostrophe. Judging by the first page it looks like more than 10% of Lycos’ 16565 results and almost half of Google’s 2540 results are spelled wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/38 "2004-10-23T11:50:28Z")
Slight hijack hear, er, here, I’ve hear natives pronounce theirs like this: Pittsburgh - Pissburgh Roanoke - Runnick Newburyport - New Report (as reported above) And try pronouncing Scituate (SIT choo it) , Salisbury (Solsberry), Chicopee (accent on the CHIC) (all in MA), Dunedin (FL) - Dunn EE din, not Dune din, Conetoe (NC) Kun EE tuh. Probably worth a separate posting. ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313/39 "2004-10-23T20:15:58Z")
Honalulu = 7,480 This one won’t count, but it’s still funny to me. In eighth grade I had the coolest teacher, who would read back some of the funnier wrong answers on tests at the end of the day. We were doing a series of refresher tests and one included the 50 states and capitals. His instructions, I’m guessing to head off some of the wrong answers he’d gotten in the past were, “The capital of Washington is _not_ Seattle (this is in Washington State). Spelling counts, and to be nice I’ll go ahead and tell you now, the capital of Oklahoma is Oklahoma City.” While reading back the results, he fake blushed as he read to us. Apparently one person in our class believed the states on the east coast otherwise known as Virginia and West Virginia to the rest of the class, were known as Vagina and West Vagina. West Vagina = 308,000 (majority for the Vagina Monologues) “West Vagina” = 148 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frequently-misspelled-u-s-city-names/270313.md?page=1)