# Place names that were better before they changed them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353 "2023-10-10T11:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [October 15, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/121 "2023-10-15T19:17:51Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > AAAH-zhio-KOSH-oak /ˌɑːʒioˈkɔʃoːk/? Why that instead of, say, /ɑːgioˈkoːtʃuːk/? (AAAH-gi-o-KO-chook) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/122 "2023-10-15T20:20:28Z")
When I was a kid a classmate’s much older sister moved to Paradise CA. She said the name was changed from Pair O’Dice. I think it’s apocryphal. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/123 "2023-10-15T20:26:08Z")
From the town’s [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_California): > According to [GNIS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNIS), the community has been known in the past by four different names or spellings: _Leonards Mill_, _Poverty Ridge_, _Pair-O-Dice_, and _Paradice_.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_California#cite_note-GNIS-1) > > A legend persists that the town was named because it was the home of the _Pair o’ Dice Saloon_, an idea supported by a 1900 railroad map referring to the town as _Paradice_. However, no documentation has been found to prove the establishment existed, nor an explanation of the spelling of the town’s name on the map.[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_California#cite_note-Snopes-20130919-8) > > Gene Sylva, a former mayor of the nearby town of [Oroville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroville,_California), has stated that the saloon story is false, and that the true etymology of the town’s name can be traced to his great-great-grandfather, William Pierce Leonard, who named the town on a summer day in 1864, after a hot and dusty ride from the [Sacramento Valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Valley); arriving at his sawmill while the staff were on break, Leonard “took a deep breath of the cool, clean air, and exclaimed, ‘boys, this is _paradise_.’”[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_California#cite_note-Snopes-20130919-8) According to [Snopes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snopes), Sylva’s explanation may be “pleasingly inventive historical fiction”, and it is more likely that the town was named for it being a pleasant place to live.[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise,_California#cite_note-Snopes-20130919-8) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/124 "2023-10-16T05:03:38Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > /ˌɑːʒioˈkɔʃoːk/? Why that instead of, say, /ɑːgioˈkoːtʃuːk/? > (AAAH-gi-o-KO-chook) Ah, there you go beyond my linguistic knowledge. I am clueless about Abenaki language issues, I just tried to represent more or less the way I have heard “Agiocochook” pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/125 "2023-10-16T05:56:01Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > > [@Hermitian](#): > > > > Agiocochook? Now THAT is an ugly name. > > Oh, no way. I agree that “Agiocochook” has a fairly ugly-looking spelling in English, since English-speaking settlers really struggled with figuring out how to map NA language phonemes to their own alphabet. > > But it sounds dreamy. AAAH-zhio-KOSH-oak, “HOME-of-the-SPIR-it”, dah-dee-dee-DAH-dah. Love it. Thanks for forcing me to sound that out. Either that or > [@Johanna](#): > > /ˌɑːʒioˈkɔʃoːk/? Why that instead of, say, /ɑːgioˈkoːtʃuːk/? > (AAAH-gi-o-KO-chook) Do sound rather nice, now that I’ve had to hear them. I look forward to learning this name for the mountain. Mt. Washington is rather dull for how spectacular and weird it is. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/126 "2023-10-16T08:23:12Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I am clueless about Abenaki language Me too, but FWIW I’ve been studying Lenape, a closely related Eastern Algonquian language. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/127 "2023-10-16T09:58:11Z")
hat off All North American languages just scare me. There’s like, what, 40+ different language families AND 30+ isolates? Wild. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/128 "2023-10-16T18:37:16Z")
[Gondwanaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana) was a nice place before they decided to split it up. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/129 "2023-10-16T18:43:56Z")
Thanks for doing the research I was too lazy to do. Good to know that it really was not true. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/130 "2023-10-17T02:42:53Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > [Gondwanaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana) was a nice place before they decided to split it up. **Reunite Gondwanaland!** That was a popular T-shirt and button, at one time. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/131 "2023-10-17T12:47:27Z")
Never realized that. Ignorance fought! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/132 "2023-10-17T14:22:32Z")
The way I see it, corporations paid for broadcasters and advertising tie-ins to use that “branding” name. Since they didn’t pay me, I do not feel compelled to use any of them. So the Ravens, for me, play at the Ravens Stadium. M&T Bank Stadium? Ha. In Canada there are 4 Rogers branded event centers. Could you imagine if Elon Musk (over)paid for every football stadium to be called Space-X Stadium? Actually I wish he would so everyone would wake up to how stupid the concept of naming rights really is. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/133 "2023-10-17T14:35:21Z")
Bah, that Johnny come lately Pangea was just a gang of the much cooler named _Gondwana_ and its pals Euramerica and Siberia. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/134 "2023-10-17T16:55:43Z")
The football stadium Rutgers University plays football in had the uninspired name Rutgers Football Stadium. Plenty of room for improvement right? Just as long as they don’t rename it something that could be easily turned into a rude nickname. The naming rights were sold and now it’s SHI Stadium. The basketball arena also got renamed. It used to be called the Rutgers Athletic Center. Everyone called it the RAC (pronounced rack). Saying “I’m going to the RAC” sounds a lot better than “I’m going to Jersey Mike’s Arena.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/135 "2023-10-17T17:56:20Z")
Boston Hockey and Basketball used to be played in the Boston Garden. (The Barnum and Bailey Circus used to be there, too, back when it was still a thing). But they rebuilt the Green Line subway and demolished the old Garden and built a newer, bigger sports arenas and sold the naming rights. It was purchased by Fleet Bank, so it became the Fleet Center. People hated it. Old-timers continued to call it the Garden. One person remarked that it might have been named after the bank, but the name always made them think of Fleet enemas. > **[Fleet® Saline Enema](https://www.fleetlabs.com/constipation-relief-products/enemas/fleet-saline-enema)** > > Our original, best-selling product, the Fleet Enema is a saline laxative that provides reliable relief from occasional constipation without pain or spasm. Fleet, which had absorbed BankBoston (itself the merger of BayBank and the Bank of Boston), was itself absorbed into the Bank of America. They resold the naming rights (there being no more Fleet Banks around, so all you _could_ associate it with was the enema), and these were bought by TD Bank, which properly “read the room” and restored the name to Boston Garden. Well, technically TD Boston Garden, but people leave the “TD” off. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/136 "2023-10-17T19:35:34Z")
Formosa, Ceylon, Siam, Burma. The Needles district in Canyonlands national park has a section of jeep trail officially called “Bobby’s Hole”, still evoking snickers from 4WD enthusiasts. There are some other geographical place names in the region that did not … age well and have been sanitized. Another landmark in the needles was “Mollie’s Nipple” that I think has been officially renamed. ---
**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 17, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/137 "2023-10-17T20:44:01Z")
State Farm Stadium in Arizona was once University of Phoenix Stadium, which must have been confusing for anyone hoping to watch the University of Phoenix football team. (“Beat DeVry!”) ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/138 "2023-10-17T21:33:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Boston Hockey and Basketball used to be played in the Boston Garden. It was also briefly known as the Shawmut Center (Shawmut Bank being one of the institutions involved in the various mergers). At the time I worked at an ad agency that had the Garden as a client. We had a big stack of business cards made up for various employees of the Shawmut Center, as well as various promotional stuff, all of which quickly became obsolete. Sadly, they turned out to have little value as collectibles. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353/139 "2023-10-18T14:54:22Z")
I am proudly Zimbabwean, but I will admit to a certain admiration for the sheer arrogance of the man who named the country of my birth, Rhodesia, after himself. Zimbabwe is a way better name though. Also we had the world’s best national anthem for 14 years until the country’s leadership went to shit and allowed South Africa to steal\* half it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mTjurMoqdYE/hqdefault.jpg "Ishe komborera Afrika - God bless Africa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTjurMoqdYE) \* they did not steal it, really. It is a popular song from South Africa up as far as Tanzania, with lyrics in various languages starting with “God bless Africa” so not really country specific. But it was my country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/place-names-that-were-better-before-they-changed-them/991353.md?page=6)