# Ugliest Place Names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519 "2011-08-04T23:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/1 "2011-08-04T23:58:02Z")
We were on the road recently and noticed some towns with ugly, ugly names: Varnell, Brainerd and Farragut, for example. You could just hear them rolling off the tongues in nasal, irritating tones: Braaaaynurd, Varr-nayallll, Farragut … meh. So, what other place names are there that are just plain ugly to say and to hear? Now I don’t want to hear about places like Bug Tussle, Lick Skillet, or Warwoman Dell. These are charming and interesting names, albeit, off the beaten path of names. Murder Creek and Knucklesville Road have a certain offbeat charm as well, despite their somewhat grim origins. I’m talking places that just sound ugly. Any candidates? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/2 "2011-08-05T00:00:27Z")
For big city names, I think Pittsburgh could have done better. Pittsfield, MA could have picked a better one too. I sometimes wonder what the other contenders were when it came time to make a decision on some location names. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/3 "2011-08-05T00:21:18Z")
How about [Intercourse](http://www.toptenz.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/intercourse-pennsylvania.jpg) or [Dildo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dildo,_Newfoundland_and_Labrador)… mahbe they are not ugly come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/4 "2011-08-05T00:22:52Z")
I’ll give you Pittsburgh, but Intercourse does not sound that bad. Dill-do has some potential. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/5 "2011-08-05T00:33:40Z")
Always though the small town I grew up in had a name that was painful to the ear. Axton. Just sounds so choppy. I’ll be here all the week. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/6 "2011-08-05T00:43:39Z")
You can’t get closer to what you are asking than this place: [Ugley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugley) I drove through it one time. It has a very carefully worded sign on one of its buildings that says, “The Women’s Institute of Ugley.” Normally they just say, “The Bradford Women’s Institute” etc! ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/7 "2011-08-05T01:06:39Z")
\*\*Ocracoke \*\*Island in the Outer Banks area of North Carolina comes to mind. It just always struck me as clunky mess that looked more like a bad Scrabble rack. I mean, Ocacroke??? ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/8 "2011-08-05T01:36:57Z")
I’ve always wondered about Belchertown, Md. And Sudbury, Mass. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/9 "2011-08-05T01:43:48Z")
Would[Gropecunt lane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gropecunt_Lane) qualify? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/10 "2011-08-05T01:46:23Z")
In St. Louis we had the twin suburbs of Velda Village and Velda Village Hills. The residents of VV thought that was too confusiong so they changed their name – to Velda City. St. Louis also has a reputation for unfortunate choices for street names. In the south city we have an depressing trio of Sulphur, Hydraulic and Flad. Out in the suburbs, one patriotic developer named the streets after the World War II battles of Bataan and Corregidor. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/11 "2011-08-05T01:54:50Z")
I had some cousins grow up in a small western Washington town called Washtucna. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/12 "2011-08-05T02:03:10Z")
We have a suburb in Sydney called Greystanes, I don’t think it gets much less euphonious than that. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/13 "2011-08-05T02:14:17Z")
Cheesequake, NJ. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/14 "2011-08-05T02:26:18Z")
Yachats, OR and Fargher Lake, WA. Tell me what Yachats sound like. And Fargher sounds like, well… ---
**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:** [August 5, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/15 "2011-08-05T02:29:27Z")
Various city names in German-speaking countries: Munich (München), Zurich, Stuttgart, etc. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/16 "2011-08-05T02:52:07Z")
Oxnard, CA, where I domiciled for a few years. Thread over. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/17 "2011-08-05T02:54:25Z")
Bidwill. Raby. Heckenburg. Sydney’s western suburbs is choc-a-block full of dreadful sounding suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/18 "2011-08-05T04:01:43Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Yachats, OR and Fargher Lake, WA. Tell me what Yachats sound like. And Fargher sounds like, well… Yachats, Or. is pronounced ‘ya hots’. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/19 "2011-08-05T04:02:15Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > I’ve always wondered about Belchertown, Md. And Sudbury, Mass. I understand Belchertown but not Sudbury. It sounds like a nice name to me. It isn’t that far from here and it is quite affluent. The native pronunciation is said with a remotely British way and sounds nice but even the phonetic American way sounds OK to me. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519/20 "2011-08-05T04:11:00Z")
Athol, Mass. Yeth, it’th pronouthed like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-place-names/591519.md?page=2)