# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/21 "2017-01-17T20:25:53Z")
My sister and brother-in-law live outside the small town of Persia, Iowa. It was named after the country when it was founded in 1882 but I’m having a hard time verifying that. [The Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persia,_Iowa) says BBC Persia did [a short piece](http://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2012/09/120909_l72_persia_vid.shtml) on the town in 2012 but I can’t get the video to play. There is also [an online article](https://iranian.com/Dec96/Editor/Persia/Persia.html) by an Iranian writer who saw the exit sign while driving by on I-80 and stopped in for a visit in 1996. The town is still pretty much the way he described it. Edit: My parents are from the small town of Cadiz, Ohio which was named after the city in Spain, except the residents pronounce it CADD-is. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/22 "2017-01-17T20:27:43Z")
Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine … which in turn was named after Portland, England … how does this fit in with your project? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/23 "2017-01-17T20:58:10Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine … which in turn was named after Portland, England … how does this fit in with your project? Likewise, Scio, Oregon was named for Scio, Ohio, which was the Italian name for the Greek Island Chios. Probably doesn’t qualify, though. The OP mentions Moscow, and I know of three. The origin of Moscow, Idaho is not verified as being named for the Russian city, however, although the official papers filed for the town name were completed by a man named Neff, who was from Moscow, PA and who later moved to Moscow, Iowa. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/24 "2017-01-17T21:01:41Z")
Scio, Ohio is right up the road from Cadiz, Ohio. My aunt worked at Scio Pottery for many years. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/25 "2017-01-17T21:56:05Z")
In Maine [ul]Acton after Acton, London [li]Berwick after Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland[/li][li]Buxton after Buxton, Derbyshire[/li][li]Limerick after Limerick, Ireland[/li][li]Limington after Limington, Somerset[/li][li]Wells after Wells, Somerset[/ul][/li] In New Hampshire [ul] Madbury after Modbury, Devon [/ul]There are a lot of places called Rochester in the US but I don’t know if any of them are named directly for the city in Kent. The one in New Hampshire is named for an Earl of Rochester, the one in New York is named for Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, and the one in Minnesota is named for the one in New York. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/26 "2017-01-17T22:18:53Z")
In New York[ul] Brighton after Brighton, East Sussex [li]Lyons after Lyon, France[/li][li]Palmyra after the ancient city in Syria[/li]Parma after Parma, Italy[/ul]There is also a Riga in Monroe County, but I can’t confirm it’s named after the city in Latvia ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/27 "2017-01-17T23:01:38Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > My sister and brother-in-law live outside the small town of Persia, Iowa. It was named after the country when it was founded in 1882 but I’m having a hard time verifying that… Don’t spend any time on for me, please. Persia is a country and I’m only doing cities. > [@watchwolf49](#): > > Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine … which in turn was named after Portland, England … how does this fit in with your project? The Portland in England is also not a city. It’s a geographic feature called an attached island, technically a peninsula. > [@bibliophage](#): > > In New Hampshire > Madbury after Modbury, Devon That a new one to me, but I already have all the Maine cities you suggested. Thank you. > [@](#): > > There are a lot of places called Rochester in the US but I don’t know if any of them are named directly for the city in Kent. The one in New Hampshire is named for an Earl of Rochester, the one in New York is named for Colonel Nathaniel Rochester, and the one in Minnesota is named for the one in New York. According to my list, the one in Massachusetts is named after the one in England. None of the others, though. The rest seem to be named after the one in NY. > [@bibliophage](#): > > ]There is also a Riga in Monroe County, but I can’t confirm it’s named after the city in Latvia There’s one in Michigan too, and that Gannett book someone suggested above says that it’s the one in Latvia. Well, actually it says it’s the one in Russia, but it was published in 1905 when the borders were different. So I appreciate the effort, but I don’t need that one. Thanks for the contributions, everyone. But please note that I have all the big cities in Europe already checked out. That includes all the capitals. I only need one US place per city since I’m not trying to catalog every city in America that’s named for somewhere else. So I don’t need to know there’s a Berlin here, a Warsaw there, and a Dublin over yonder. ---
**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:** [January 17, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/28 "2017-01-17T23:27:03Z")
New Braunfels, Texas, after Braunfels, Germany New Hradec, North Dakota, after Hradec Králové, Czech Republic New Minden, Illinois, after Minden, Germany New Offenburg, Missouri, after Offenburg, Germany New Riegel, Ohio, after Riegel am Kaiserstuhl, Germany New Smyrna Beach, Florida, after the ancient city of Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey) New Ulm, Minnesota, after Ulm and/or Neu-Ulm, Germany If former names are allowed, Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka), Alaska, after Arkhangelsk, Russia. There is both a city and a canton in Switzerland called Glarus. I’m seeing conflicting information about which of them New Glarus, Wisconsin, is named after. Several states have towns called Pekin, an old transliteration of Beijing. Nikep, Maryland, is Pekin spelled backwards, perhaps so named because it was thought to be “opposite Pekin.” Canton, Ohio, is named for Guangzhou and not for the English common noun. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/29 "2017-01-17T23:47:04Z")
> [@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. Havre, Montana, is named after Le Havre in France, because the first homesteaders, Simon Pepin and Gus DesCelles, were from France, and Gus’ parents were from La Havre in specific. [The Billings _Gazette_ has more.](http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/montana-towns-and-the-foreign-places-whose-names-they-share/collection_3a924da0-62ae-5d48-b88f-1c450ccb3ce3.html#11) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/30 "2017-01-17T23:49:03Z")
Do you count a second-hand naming? [Albuquerque, New Mexico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico) is named after [Francisco, 8th Duke of Alburquerque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_la_Cueva,_8th_Duke_of_Alburquerque), whose title derived from the town of [Alburquerque, Badajoz, Spain.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alburquerque,_Badajoz) There are many explanations for the difference in spelling. Some say it was due to differences in dialect (the Spanish town is close to the Portuguese border). Others say that an American postmaster deliberately altered the spelling. Carlsbad, NM is named after Carlsbad, Bohemia (today, known as Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). New Mexico also has: Cleveland Cordova Galisteo Glencoe Hanover Tyrone Valencia which may be named after European places, or may be named after older American places. I have yet to find any definitive statements. Cordova, Galisteo, and Valencia are cities in Spain, but they are also common family surnames. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/31 "2017-01-18T00:10:50Z")
[Johannesburg, CA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg,_California) is named for the South African city (because of similar mining aspirations), and has to be one of the few US places named sub-Saharan African cities. Also if there is a separate league table of biggest difference in population between US city versus foreign namesake it has to be up there. Population of Johannesburg, CA: 172, population of Johannesburg, South Africa: 4.4M ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/32 "2017-01-18T00:17:28Z")
Here’s a small [list](http://www.webtrail.com/applegate/oregon.shtml) from Oregon: Berlin, Linn County Troy, Wallowa County Toledo, Lincoln County Waterloo, Linn County Liverpool, Linn County Manila, Yamhill County Elgarose, Douglas County London Peak, Josephine County Rome, Malheur and Marion Counties Paris, Lane County Dundee, Yamhill County Bandon, Coos County Malin, Klamath County That site didn’t mention Damascus, but they recently unincorporated so maybe it got cut. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/33 "2017-01-18T00:18:56Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Starting south of Oostburg, and driving (circuitously) north to Door County one could travel to Belgium, Oostburg, Batavia, (New) Holstein, Schleswig, Valders, Denmark, Pilsen, Luxemburg, (New) Franken, and Brussels. Don’t forget New Fane, New Paris, and New Lisbon (tho that last one is on the other side of the state.) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/34 "2017-01-18T00:55:40Z")
` > [@bibliophage](#): > > New Riegel, Ohio, after Riegel am Kaiserstuhl, Germany This is a new one to me. Thanks. > [@](#): > > New Ulm, Minnesota, after Ulm and/or Neu-Ulm, Germany According to Wikipedia (which is not authoritative, of course), New Ulm MN is named after Neu-Ulm and New Ulm TX is named after Ulm. Works for me. > [@](#): > > If former names are allowed, Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka), Alaska, after Arkhangelsk, Russia. Have to think about that. Hasn’t come up before. > [@](#): > > There is both a city and a canton in Switzerland called Glarus. I’m seeing conflicting information about which of them New Glarus, Wisconsin, is named after. If there’s a foreign city/region with the same name and one’s the capital/major city of the other, I just accept it. I assume most people basically treat them the same as far as naming after goes. This one’s a new one to me, so thanks. > [@](#): > > Several states have towns called Pekin, an old transliteration of Beijing. Nikep, Maryland, is Pekin spelled backwards, perhaps so named because it was thought to be “opposite Pekin.” Knew about them. In the case of Nikep, the Post Office arbitrarily reversed the spelling because they were having trouble delivering Pekin MD’s mail to Pekin IN and vice versa. Apparently the abbreviations “Md.” and Ind." looked too much alike when written in cursive. > [@](#): > > Canton, Ohio, is named for Guangzhou and not for the English common noun. Knew about that one too. > [@mbh](#): > > Do you count a second-hand naming? If it’s something closely related to the city, such as a battle (i.e. Battle of Waterloo), I accept it. But not when it’s a person’s name. I figure those go into the different category of places named after people. > [@](#): > > [Albuquerque, New Mexico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico) is named after [Francisco, 8th Duke of Alburquerque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_la_Cueva,_8th_Duke_of_Alburquerque), whose title derived from the town of [Alburquerque, Badajoz, Spain.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alburquerque,_Badajoz) > > There are many explanations for the difference in spelling. Some say it was due to differences in dialect (the Spanish town is close to the Portuguese border). Others say that an American postmaster deliberately altered the spelling. There was a [different guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afonso_de_Albuquerque) whose name goes back to the same place, but he spelled his name like the city. He was a Portuguese general/admiral and never came near New Mexico, but he was quite famous. So his name may have influenced the name of the city. > [@](#): > > Carlsbad, NM is named after Carlsbad, Bohemia (today, known as Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic). Ooh, another I don’t have. > [@](#): > > New Mexico also has: > > Cleveland > Cordova > Galisteo > Glencoe > Hanover > Tyrone > Valencia > > which may be named after European places, or may be named after older American places. I have yet to find any definitive statements. Cordova, Galisteo, and Valencia are cities in Spain, but they are also common family surnames. Already have two Cordovas, one named after the city in Spain and one after the city in Mexico. I don’t have Galisteo and Tyrone, so I’ll check them out. Note that I’m not interested in places named for other American cities. That would be a list almost as long as the one I already have. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/35 "2017-01-18T01:25:32Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I live in Hanover, PA, which was named after Hanover in Germany. Originally it was called McCallister’s town after the guy who settled it, but the name was changed to appease the mostly German population that settled here. It was also called Hickory Town for a while, but Hanover was the name that stuck. > > Hanover is in York county, but it’s not clear if the county was named after the city of York in England, the shire of York, or if it was named after the Duke of York. > > There are a lot of cities and towns like Hanover that got their name from areas where people came from. I’m thinking that you are going to end up with a very long list. Hanover–originally spelled Hanoffer–is a _very_ old German word that means “large plastic pretzel barrel.” Tell me I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/36 "2017-01-18T01:55:44Z")
In the USA you have various names from Scotland, including Dallas, Hamilton, Oban, Montrose, Paisley, and Rutherglen, as wee as the more obvious Glasgows and Edinburghs. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/37 "2017-01-18T01:58:16Z")
Melbourne, Florida. Can’t be too many named after Australian cities. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/38 "2017-01-18T02:02:11Z")
Damn. As **“well”** as. Not as “wee” as. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/39 "2017-01-18T02:20:29Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > In the USA you have various names from Scotland, including Dallas, Hamilton, Oban, Montrose, Paisley, and Rutherglen, as wee as the more obvious Glasgows and Edinburghs. The various Dallas’s and Hamiltons in America are virtually always named for people. Don’t know of any exceptions. Already have Montrose and Paisley, but I’ll check out the other two. > [@Cugel](#): > > Melbourne, Florida. Can’t be too many named after Australian cities. Have that one; also have a Brisbane CA, which may be another. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376/40 "2017-01-18T02:34:52Z")
Forgot to reply to this one. > [@griffin1977](#): > > [Johannesburg, CA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg,_California) is named for the South African city (because of similar mining aspirations), and has to be one of the few US places named sub-Saharan African cities. Have it, and it is in fact the _only_ sub-Saharan city in the list. > [@](#): > > Also if there is a separate league table of biggest difference in population between US city versus foreign namesake it has to be up there. Population of Johannesburg, CA: 172, population of Johannesburg, South Africa: 4.4M For this kind of thing, you want the ratio, not the difference. Otherwise it’ll always be whatever is the largest city in the list. That’ll be Shanghai, if that turns out to be valid, otherwise Beijing/Pekin. Not sure about American cities, but Calgary, Alberta may have the largest ratio. It’s hard to say, because Calgary, Scotland is so small Wikipedia doesn’t give a population. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-place-name-origins/777376.md?page=3)