# Help with place name origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2017, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376 "2017-01-17T09:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/182 "2017-02-20T23:38:58Z")
A book called [_Main Street, North Dakota_ claims that Ayr, ND is named for Ayrshire](https://books.google.com/books?id=e5ZdzPjjyF0C&pg=PA15) rather than for the town of Ayr. [_Minnesota Geographic Names_, vol. 17, confirms the naming](https://books.google.com/books?id=ShcLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA365) of both Dovre (in Kandiyohi County) and Dovray (in Murray County) in Minnesota for Dovre in Norway. Don’t have any info about the Ohio one, though. Aden IL, unfortunately, seems to have [at least some claim to be named for an individual rather than the Yemeni locale](http://www.carolyar.com/Illinois/History%20of%20the%20Lower%20Hills.htm). [_Minnesota Place Names_](https://books.google.com/books?id=ho23eS5qjNgC&pg=PA108) is a bit confusing on the subject of Montevideo. Opole, MN [is a keeper, though](http://collections.mnhs.org/mnhistorymagazine/articles/58/v58i01p016-028.pdf). > [@](#): > > The first significant Polish immigration to Minnesota began in 1855, when Kaszubs from Poland’s Baltic region arrived in Winona to work in lumber mills. The first to take up farming in the state may have been Winona workers who bought or rented small plots of land outside the city. In the 1860s immigrants from Polish Upper Silesia (in today’s south-central Poland) began settling in Wright County around Delano. These Poles spoke German as well as Polish and may have learned about Minnesota from German neighbors in the Old Country. At about the same time, Poles began trickling into McLeod County, where they settled beside Czech immigrants in the Silver Lake area. In the 1870s Kaszubs and Silesians established several small settlements in North Dakota’s Walsh County, as well as Opole in Minnesota’s Stearns County, Wells in Faribault County, New Brighton in Ramsey County, Gnesen in St. Louis County, and Edison township in Swift County. Speaking of [Gnesen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnesen_Township,_St._Louis_County,_Minnesota)… ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/183 "2017-02-22T02:56:33Z")
Thatnks for the updates, Kimstu. That book Minnesota Geographic Names v17 is a real mine, since Google gives access to the whole thing (it’s out of copyright). I’m still going through it and finding additions and external cites. Strange it doesn’t mention Opole, though. It’s text about Montevideo looks like it was cribbed verbatim for that other reference. I decided to accept that town, even though it is confusing. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/184 "2017-02-22T07:29:33Z")
I just travelled the length of the NY state Thruway and saw a few possible names for your list: Ilion, the ancient Greek name for Troy. The Wikipedia page says " A popular, yet unverified rumor is that the application said Illium, but due to a misspelling or bad penmanship was interpreted as Ilion". This rumor seems to ignore the fact that Ilion is actually the Greek name. Alloway: maybe named after the town in Scotland? Newstead: supposedly named for Newstead Abbey in England, but the abbey itself bears the name of a town in England. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/185 "2017-02-22T11:57:14Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > I just travelled the length of the NY state Thruway and saw a few possible names for your list: > > Ilion, the ancient Greek name for Troy. The Wikipedia page says " A popular, yet unverified rumor is that the application said Illium, but due to a misspelling or bad penmanship was interpreted as Ilion". This rumor seems to ignore the fact that Ilion is actually the Greek name. Yes, Ilium is a Latinization of that. There’s only a few cities that have two names represented among US names: Jeddo and Tokio for Tokyo; a couple for Trondheim (which has had no few than 4 distinct and unrelated names); and now this. I accept these for regions, but haven’t yet done so for cities. I’ll have to think about this. > [@](#): > > Alloway: maybe named after the town in Scotland? Quite possibly. There’s a couple other Alloways in other states, but they have different derivations that wouldn’t necessarily apply here. Wikipedia says nothing, so I’ll have to add it to the Potential additions section. > [@](#): > > Newstead: supposedly named for Newstead Abbey in England, but the abbey itself bears the name of a town in England. I’ve run across a few other country homes (which this is) and have ignored them. I’ll think I’ll continue to do that (if only to save some work – this project is becoming a real time sink). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/186 "2017-02-22T18:27:19Z")
[Oviedo, Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviedo,_Florida#Name) - named for the city in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/187 "2017-02-23T01:30:01Z")
The fascinating [_Cookies, Coleslaw and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages_ confirms the Dutch-namesake origin of Zutphen, MI.](https://books.google.com/books?id=qIsDdUSYJMIC&pg=PA106) The preceding pages also give a whole raft of other similarly derived placenames, including Borculo MI, Pella IA (not Dutch, but named by a Dutch divine after the Biblical city), Rosiere WI, and Walhain WI. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/188 "2017-02-23T02:05:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@Kimstu](#): > > > > US placenames attest to the popularity of gothic and other romantic fiction among 19th-century Americans. Besides Otranto, IA there are, for example, Udolpho, MN (from Mrs. Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho), Glenarvon, KY (from Lady Caroline Lamb’s eponymous novel), and Waverly, IA (after Scott’s Waverley novels). > > […] I have another list (which I am not soliciting additions for, but will take anyway) of towns named for fiction: characters, fictional places, or book titles. You just provided about 3 that I didn’t have. Others already on it are Ben Hur (several in various states), Ivanhoe (several in various states and also Canada and Australia), and Tarzana CA. Someone gave me Narnia MD in the other thread. There’s also a creek in Kentucky named for Lorbrulgrud, the capital of Brobdingnag. That’s not the name of the creek; they spelled it somewhat different. [Rowena SD](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027015455;view=1up;seq=151), in Minnehaha County, named for the heroine of _Ivanhoe_. [Pukwana SD](http://www.mlstargazette.com/story/2013/10/03/opinion/the-pukwana-of-the-peace-pipe/786.html), from Longfellow’s _Hiawatha_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/189 "2017-02-23T02:09:58Z")
[Rockham SD](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027015455;view=1up;seq=151) is said to be named for a town in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/190 "2017-02-23T04:35:25Z")
There’s a large town called “Rockhampton” in Queensland but I’m not familiar with anywhere in Australia called “Rockham”- if it exists, it’d be tiny and highly unlikely to have anywhere in the US named after it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/191 "2017-02-23T05:19:39Z")
[Good call](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA119), **Martini Enfield** , thanks! > [@](#): > > **Rockham** , Faulk County, South Dakota. The town site was named from a place in Australia, it being an elision of the name Rockhampton. It was laid out in 1886 by the Western Town Lot Company. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/192 "2017-02-23T06:40:22Z")
Holy Toledo (“named from the city in Spain”). That book in my previous cite, [_A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railways_](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ), is a goddamned gold mine. [Brillion, WI](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA46) from Brilon in Prussia (Germany). [Colon, MI](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA58) from Colón in Panama. [Halfa, IA](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA81) from Wadi Halfa in Sudan. [Hatley, WI](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA82) from Hatley in Quebec. [Syene, WI](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA129) from Syene in ancient Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/193 "2017-02-23T06:52:27Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Rowena SD](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027015455;view=1up;seq=151), in Minnehaha County, named for the heroine of _Ivanhoe_. > > [Pukwana SD](http://www.mlstargazette.com/story/2013/10/03/opinion/the-pukwana-of-the-peace-pipe/786.html), from Longfellow’s _Hiawatha_. There’s a Rowena in MN with the same derivation. Also some places with names from Hiawatha, although I don’t remember what they are off hand. I’ll go back later and get them. Here’s one I’m wondering about: Potamo Township, MN. It’s wikipage doesn’t have an etymology, and the Minnesota book I’m scanning just says > [@](#): > > … has the name of a town on the east coast of the island of Corfu, Greece. The place on Corfu doesn’t have a wikipage, but it is named either Potamos or Potamus and you can find evidence on-line that it exists. The phrasing of that entry reads to me that it’s not actually named from the island town, but that they didn’t have anything else to day about it. It’s not too uncommon in the book to read that some name is found in N other states and/or some other country and nothing about it actually being named for any of them. This seems to be the same thing, except they only cite a single place in another country. Agree or not? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/194 "2017-02-23T07:25:52Z")
Great find with that railway book. I’ll note that the MN book I’m scanning often doesn’t give a derivation for railway stops. Also I note that it has an Ebro MN, which has very similar wording to Potamo, but the Wikipage for that one does accept it. Likely written by different people, though. Or maybe because there is a page for the Ebro River. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/195 "2017-02-25T03:39:14Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There’s a Rowena in MN with the same derivation. Also some places with names from Hiawatha, although I don’t remember what they are off hand. I’ll go back later and get them. > > Here’s one I’m wondering about: Potamo Township, MN. It’s wikipage doesn’t have an etymology, and the Minnesota book I’m scanning just says > > > [@](#): > > > > … has the name of a town on the east coast of the island of Corfu, Greece. > > The place on Corfu doesn’t have a wikipage, but it is named either Potamos or Potamus and you can find evidence on-line that it exists. The phrasing of that entry reads to me that it’s not actually named from the island town, but that they didn’t have anything else to day about it. It’s not too uncommon in the book to read that some name is found in N other states and/or some other country and nothing about it actually being named for any of them. This seems to be the same thing, except they only cite a single place in another country. Agree or not? […] > > Also I note that it has an Ebro MN, which has very similar wording to Potamo, but the Wikipage for that one does accept it. Likely written by different people, though. Or maybe because there is a page for the Ebro River. Tough call, especially since _potamos_ just means “river” in Greek, and there seems to be one in Potamo Township. There’s also a classical philosopher called Potamo, and a family of water plants called Potamogeton, of which there are a lot in Minnesota waterways. Maybe the MN locale is indeed named after a Greek one but it sounds pretty open-ended to me. The Ebro etymology sounds a little more definite but I don’t know anything else about it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/196 "2017-02-25T06:17:10Z")
Thanks for the reply. I think I’ll drop Potamo, since you show several other possibilities, and keep Ebro. Finished the Minnesota book, and also that railroad book. Now I’m working on this [Nebraska](https://books.google.com/books?id=Dlas_EPVGFEC&pg=PR5) book. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/197 "2017-03-05T11:00:15Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Colon, MI](https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA58) from Colón in Panama. Just asking for advice from the Teeming Millions: What do I do when sources conflict? It hasn’t been a significant problem until now. Here’s what [Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities](https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-FPXEGRo-YC&pg=PA127) says about Colon, MI; > [@](#): > > [the first postmaster] opened a dictionary at random and saw the word colon; he said “We will call it Colon, for the lake and river correspond exactly to the shape of a colon.” OK, maybe a bit too neat (and I’d be surprised if a river can look like a dot; if he actually said that, he was either rationalizing or thinking of a semicolon) but it’s not too unlikely. Anyone have any thoughts one way or the other? BTW, I changed my mind and am including places like castles, country homes, palaces, etc. even if they’re not in a city. I’ve added a handful that I remember (Alhambra; Letice, Czechia; Newstead Abbey) but there’s several I’ve forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/198 "2018-05-02T20:38:46Z")
Resurrecting this page to say that someone has proposed deleting the Wikipage I created. The list is currently at [List of non-US places that have a US place named after them](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-US_places_that_have_a_US_place_named_after_them). The discussion about deleting it is [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_non-US_places_that_have_a_US_place_named_after_them). I also compiled a Canadian list along the same lines, and that is also under discussion for deletion. [Link to the list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_non-Canadian_places_that_have_a_Canadian_place_named_after_them) and to the [discussion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/List_of_non-Canadian_places_that_have_a_Canadian_place_named_after_them) Any Wiki-editors having anything to say, either for or against, are welcome to contribute. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/199 "2018-05-04T02:54:37Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Look along the “Hi Line” in Montana, basically US highway 2. There’s a series of town names like Havre, Glasgow, Malta, Harlem, Zurich … > > A commonly circulated story is that the names all come from names given to railroad sidings by a having a railroad employee spin a globe and put their finger down on it. I don’t believe that, as they seem to be predominantly European names. It is plausible that Burlington Northern DID simply name their sidings for a rather random sounding set of names of other places, though. That would have been an employee of the Great Northern Railway at the time since Burlington Northern resulted from a later merger… ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/200 "2018-05-04T03:19:11Z")
[Berwick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick,_North_Dakota), [Leeds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds,_North_Dakota), [Knox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox,_North_Dakota), [Norwich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich,_North_Dakota), [Penn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn,_North_Dakota), [Surrey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrey,_North_Dakota), [Churches Ferry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchs_Ferry,_North_Dakota), [Tunbridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tunbridge,_North_Dakota&action=edit&redlink=1), and [Yor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York,_North_Dakota) There are a few more along the old Great Northern line: Berwick, Leeds, knox, Norwich, Penn, Surrey, Churches Ferry, Tunbridge, and York. That list comes from the wiki page on\*\* Rugby, North Dakota\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/201 "2018-05-04T04:23:41Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Resurrecting this page to say that someone has proposed deleting the Wikipage I created. _BOOOOOOOO!!!_ :mad: ☹ Although the discussion currently seems to be trending toward the sensible position that this is a valid and interesting topic in toponymy. If they do suggest a rename, what are you thinking of for possible options? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376.md?page=11)