# Towns in your state named after foreign places **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792 "2006-05-22T19:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/1 "2006-05-22T19:05:15Z")
What cities, towns, hamlets or whatever in your state share their names with foreign places? I got to thinking about this and the number in my state is just huge. In Minnesota (with apologies to all the ones I’m surely forgetting) we have… Monticello Montevideo Avon Hastings Oslo Bergen Stockholm Norway New Germany New Sweden Lund Cologne Hamburg Hanover Ely Santiago Plymouth New Brighton New London New Prague Scandia Finland St. Cloud Little Canada New Ulm Brooklyn Park Brooklyn Center Alexandria Lyon Manchester Kiel New Munich Buhl Minnesota is filled with Germans and Scandinavians so many of these names are no surprise. There also lots of Irish folks here, yet I can’t think of any Irish-named towns. There are a surprising number of English-inspired names though we don’t have a big English population here. And your state? ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/2 "2006-05-22T19:17:49Z")
Oregon has Florence and Dundee. That’s all I can think of that are from foreign places (unless you count Dallas 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/3 "2006-05-22T19:20:28Z")
For the hamsters’ sakes, you need to exclude New Englanders from this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/4 "2006-05-22T19:22:34Z")
California has Dublin, Trinidad, and Ontario. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/5 "2006-05-22T19:23:49Z")
> [@YaWanna](#): > > Oregon has Florence and Dundee. That’s all I can think of that are from foreign places (unless you count Dallas 😃 ). Yep, we have a Florence and a Dundee in Minnesota too. There’s also a Milan (pron. MY-lan). You’ve probably never heard of them, **Captain Lance**. They barely exist. I’m trying to think of others … ---
**Author:** ![dbygawdcapn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dbygawdcapn/32/3995_2.png) [@dbygawdcapn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbygawdcapn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/6 "2006-05-22T19:37:32Z")
In Maryland Aberdeen Adelphi Berlin Bethlehem Damascus Dunkirk Essex Lisbon Preston Salisbury Scotland Solomons Vienna ---
**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:** [May 22, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/7 "2006-05-22T19:44:27Z")
New York has Rome, Syracuse, Berlin, Athens, Andes, Avon, Babylon, Belfast, Bethlehem, Bombay, Copenhagen, Cuba, Denmark, Dover, Galway, Geneva, Ghent, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Hempstead, Italy, Ithaca, Madrid, Manchester, Naples, Norway, Poland, Sardinia, Smyrna, Stockholm, Troy, Vienna, Wales, Warsaw, and Yorkshire. There are probably others. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/8 "2006-05-22T19:51:13Z")
> [@YaWanna](#): > > Oregon has Florence and Dundee. That’s all I can think of that are from foreign places (unless you count Dallas 😃 ). I forgot Damascus, Lebanon, and Madras. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/9 "2006-05-22T20:38:28Z")
In Illinois: Lima, Cairo, Thebes, Panama, Versailles, Brussels, Hamburg, Palestine, Genoa, Geneva, Malta, Batavia, Hanover, Paris, Macedonia, Cuba, Liverpool, Verona, Carthage, Warsaw, Vienna, Essex, Lisbon, Rio (?), Lincolnshire, Marseilles, Ottawa, Peru, Rutland, Alhambra, Troy, Venice, Havana, Athens, Waterloo, Panama, Rome, Florence, Sparta, Andalusia, Milan, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Naples, Lebanon, Belgium and Crete. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/10 "2006-05-22T20:42:21Z")
Afton Alabama Albany Albion, Orleans County Albion, Oswego County Alexandria Amsterdam Andes Antwerp Arcadia Argyle Ashford Athens Attica Austerlitz Avon Babylon Bangor Batavia Bath Bedford Belfast Bellmont Berkshire Berlin Berne Bethany Bethel Bethlehem Bombay Bristol Brunswick Cairo Caledonia Cambria Cambridge Camden Canaan Canton Carmel Castile Chester, Orange County Chester, Warren County Chesterfield Corinth Cornwall Coventry Cuba Danube Davenport Delhi Denmark Dover Dresden Dunkirk Durham Eaton Eden Edinburg Elba Enfield Ephratah Erin Essex Exeter Frankfort Geddes Geneva Genoa Ghent Greece Groton Guilford Hague Hamburg Hamlin Hampton Hanover Hastings Hebron Holland Italy Ithaca Java Jerusalem Kingston Lake Luzerne Lancaster Lebanon Leicester Lima Lisbon Livonia Lyons Macedon Madrid Malta Manchester Manheim Masfield Marathon Marlborough Mexico Middlesex Milan Naples Napoli Nassau New Albion New Berlin New Bremen Newburgh New Castle New Hartford New Lebanon New Lisbon New Rochelle New Scotland New Windsor New York Norfolk North Elba North Hempstead North Norwich North Salem Northumberland Norway Norwich Ontario Orleans Oxford Palatine Palermo Palmyra Paris Parma Pelham Pembroke Persia Perth Peru Pitcairn Plymouth Poland Pompey Portland Potsdam Preston Reading Riga Rochester Rotterdam Russia Rutland Salamanca Salem Salisbury Sardinia Scarsdale Scio Smyrna Somerset Southampton South Bristol Sparta Stafford Stamford Sterling Stockholm Sweden Syracuse Troy Turin Tyre Tyrone Ulster Utica Venice Verona Vienna Wales Warsaw Waterloo Westford West Sparta West Turin Whitehall Windham Windsor Worcester York Yorkshire Gleaned from a quick parse of the list of towns and cities; villages not included. There are probably a few that I missed. There’s also Albany, Essex, New York, Orleans, Suffolk, Ulster counties. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/11 "2006-05-22T20:45:16Z")
Colorado really doesn’t have many I can thing of. There is a Florence, but honestly I doubt I would have remebered it except the recent talk about Moussaoui and the SuperMax prison. There’s also a Westminster. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/12 "2006-05-22T20:55:27Z")
Indiana (not a complete list, check [this page](http://home.att.net/~Local_History/IN_Towns.htm) for less exotic names): Aberdeen Alexandria Algiers Angola Antioch Athens Attica Ayrshire Belfast Bengal Berne Bethlehem Brazil Bremen Carthage China Crete Cuzco Delphi Dunkirk Edinburgh Florence Geneva Guernsey Hamburg Hanover Holland Honduras Jordan Lebanon Liverpool Lucerne Macedonia Mecca Memphis Mexico Milan (another MIGH-lan, home of the basketball team that inspired _Hoosiers_) Morocco (not on the list, but I’ve been through the settlement several times) Moscow Mount Etna New Brunswick New Lisbon New Palestine New Paris Nineveh Ontario Orleans Pekin Perth Peru Poland Rome Russiaville Sardinia Scotland Siberia Tangier Trafalgar Troy Valparaiso Vienna Volga Warsaw ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/13 "2006-05-22T21:44:34Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Colorado really doesn’t have many I can thing of. There is a Florence, but honestly I doubt I would have remebered it except the recent talk about Moussaoui and the SuperMax prison. > > There’s also a Westminster. Plus a [Windsor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor%2C_Colorado), a [Brighton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton%2C_Colorado) and a [Lyons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyons%2C_Colorado). And I’ve never been near Colorado 😛 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/14 "2006-05-22T21:50:09Z")
Paris is in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/15 "2006-05-22T21:52:32Z")
Washington state has Tokio. That always cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/16 "2006-05-22T21:54:33Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Paris is in Texas. And in Arkansas ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/17 "2006-05-22T22:28:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Plus a Windsor, a Brighton and a Lyons. And I’ve never been near Colorado Yeah but Brighton is named after Brighton Beach New York, And Lyons was named after it’s founder Lyon. 😉 Windsor I’ll give you though. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/18 "2006-05-22T22:46:10Z")
Alabama (including some American places most famous outside of Bama): Florence Birmingham Arab (AY-rab - perhaps this doesn’t qualify, but I like it anyway) Saginaw Troy Andalusia Alexandria Athens Corinth Cordova Columbia Concord Cleveland Cardiff Brooklyn Bremen Cuba Damascus Detroit Eden (har!) English Village (har again!) Erin Havana Hartford Goshen (Land O’…) Geneva Frisco City Hollywood (interesting story here. Maybe I’ll post a thread about it.) Houston Idaho Joppa Knoxville Lafayette Leeds Lexington Macedonia Madrid Megargel Montevallo Montrose Mount Hebron Mount Olive Mount Vernon Orange Beach Oxford Ozark Rehobeth Rome Salem Sardis Siluria Trenton York ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/19 "2006-05-22T22:58:17Z")
I am sure glad I Googled, I almost goofed here. We have Bagdad…but it is not Baghdad. Whew, that was close! I’m still trying to find Sopchoppy and Two Egg somewhere else in the world. Please stay tuned. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792/20 "2006-05-22T23:15:24Z")
Ohio has most that you would expect to find in a state of our age. The most interesting thing about the names is that probably 90% of them are pronounced NOTHING close to the name of the city in the original county. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/towns-in-your-state-named-after-foreign-places/357792.md?page=2)