# Redundantly named places **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2022, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623 "2022-01-12T01:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/21 "2022-01-12T06:31:02Z")
Bora-Bora? I have heard people say the Rio Grande River. In my town we have Oak Avenue Parkway. ---
**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 12, 2022, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/22 "2022-01-12T07:44:05Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > There are quite a number rivers in several different countries In central NSW is a waterway called the Billabong Creek which would be a redundancy. But Billabong Creek flows for 320km (200m) and is the longest creek in the world, so it should be named Billabong River … which is a contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/23 "2022-01-12T09:24:04Z")
From that wiki list, a triple tautonym! Mekong River - A triple tautonym. ‘Mae’ in Thai is an abbreviation for “river”, while ‘khong’ is an old Austroasiatic word for river. Mekong River can thus be translated as “ **river river river** ” Really, really. Really! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/24 "2022-01-12T10:29:37Z")
You forgot Tucson has the Rillito, or, as people like to call it, the Rillito River. Rillito means little river. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/25 "2022-01-12T11:50:06Z")
Panera Bread ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/26 "2022-01-12T12:02:20Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > Avenue Street > > There’s an Avenue Road in Toronto. A major thoroughfare, too. But curse you for beating me to it! Not really related to place names, but I always thought it was odd that the US Postal Service was once named “Post Office Department”. Wut? “Office” implies a division of an organization. So does “department”. There’s one too many adjectives there. It’s like saying “Department of the Postal Services Department”. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/27 "2022-01-12T12:03:50Z")
The La Brea Tar Pits = the the tar tar pits ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/28 "2022-01-12T12:09:32Z")
There is a Spring Street Road near where I work. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/29 "2022-01-12T12:24:18Z")
Montreal has a “Crescent Street”. It runs in a straight line - no curves. ---
**Author:** ![TokenRing](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokenring/32/3559_2.png) [@TokenRing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokenRing)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/30 "2022-01-12T12:33:00Z")
Hill Hill Hill Hill Torpenhow Hill Though there isn’t really a hill there. > **[Torpenhow Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpenhow_Hill)** > > Torpenhow Hill (locally /trəˈpɛnə/, trə-PEN-ə) is claimed to be the name of a hill near the village of Torpenhow in Cumbria, England, a name that is a quadruple tautology. According to an analysis by linguist Darryl Francis and locals, there is no landform formally known as Torpenhow Hill there, either officially or locally, which would make the term an example of a ghost word. > The name is an example of "quadruple redundancy" in tautological placename etymologies (such as the Laacher See's "la... ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/31 "2022-01-12T12:47:02Z")
The municipality in which I live is officially the City of Cape Town. In Afrikaans it is even more redundant: _Stad Kaapstad_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/32 "2022-01-12T13:06:53Z")
Not a place, a team, but I always thought it amusing that ‘The Los Angeles Angels’ translates to ‘The The Angels Angels’. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/33 "2022-01-12T13:18:46Z")
Nobody’s named New York, New York yet? ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/34 "2022-01-12T14:35:09Z")
We have one of those here also, my brother is buried in Dry Creek Cemetery in fact. There is an actual creek that is dry for some portion of the year that is the source of the name. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/35 "2022-01-12T14:56:54Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > The La Brea Tar Pits = the the tar tar pits Ah, beat me to my favorite one by 3 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/36 "2022-01-12T18:38:16Z")
In some kinds of documents, cities are often mentioned with the words “City of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_”. _e.g._, the web site of Austin, Texas has the headline “[Welcome to the Official Website of The City of Austin](https://www.austintexas.gov/)”. But some cities include the word City as part of their name, e.g., Culver City (CA). Do such city names ever get prepended with the words “City of”? _e.g.,_ something like “City of Culver City”. The Culver City web site does not, but I’m almost sure I’ve seen this kind of thing elsewhere. Can anybody think of an example? ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/37 "2022-01-12T18:52:11Z")
Both the “[City of Kansas City, Missouri](https://www.kcmo.gov/)” and the “[City of Oklahoma City](https://www.okc.gov/)” appear to style themselves that way. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/38 "2022-01-12T18:55:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > In some kinds of documents, cities are often mentioned with the words “City of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_”. _e.g._, the web site of Austin, Texas has the headline “[Welcome to the Official Website of The City of Austin](https://www.austintexas.gov/)”. > > But some cities include the word City as part of their name, e.g., Culver City (CA). > > Do such city names ever get prepended with the words “City of”? _e.g.,_ something like “City of Culver City”. The Culver City web site does not, but I’m almost sure I’ve seen this kind of thing elsewhere. Can anybody think of an example? City of University City, MO (on official documents). ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/39 "2022-01-12T19:04:05Z")
Maybe not quite matching the template, but there’s a Temporary Road in Reston, VA that’s anything but temporary. (And a Derosnec Drive not far away–have not been able to find the history of that name, but there must be a story! My guess is the county nixed another name and the developer was irritated.) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623/40 "2022-01-12T19:08:07Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Do such city names ever get prepended with the words “City of”? In some states, the phrase “[The] City of” is part of all incorporated cities’ names. City here is a legal term, with whatever requirements the state has for that status. So any Xxxx City in those states will have an official name of “[The] City of Xxxx City”. If you want an example, the facebook page for King City OR: > **[City of King City, Oregon | King City OR](https://www.facebook.com/kingcityhall)** > > City of King City, Oregon, King City, Oregon. 422 likes · 1 talking about this · 33 were here. The City of King City is a small community nestled between the Tualatin River and the south slope Along these lines is the unusual case of [The Village of Indian Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Hill,_Ohio), OH: > [@](#): > > Prior to 1970, Indian Hill was incorporated as a village, but under Ohio law became designated as a city once its population was verified as exceeding 5,000. The municipality then changed its name to add “Village” into the official name; legally it is “The City of The Village of Indian Hill”. They really wanted to be a Village no matter how large they grew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redundantly-named-places/957623.md?page=3)