# USA city names - origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270 "2016-11-28T09:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/21 "2016-11-28T14:51:39Z")
I can’t say; people just liked it better that way. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/22 "2016-11-28T14:58:48Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Why’d they change it? Imagine Frankie singing: \*New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam. \* Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? 🙂 Getting back to the OP: There are several cities/towns that use a variant of Canaan. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/23 "2016-11-28T15:13:48Z")
Schenectady is a Dutch transliteration of a native American term. But there are a lot of Dutch names in our area: Rensselaer (after a Dutch landowner), Watervliet, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Colonie, Voorheesville, Coeymans, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/24 "2016-11-28T15:31:05Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Why’d they change it? The Dutch settlers didn’t. The English did when they took the colony from the Dutch in the 2nd Anglo-Dutch War in the 1660’s. Many other Dutch place names remain in what was New Netherland, the present day NY metro area including parts of northern NJ, and the Hudson Valley. Moreover arguably the unique culture of NY within the US still has echoes of the Dutch, because while the British gained political control, the notable Dutch families retained influence long after, even after US independence. The Dutch connection to NY is not 100% historical trivia. Whereas Swedish place names (eg. Christiana DE) left over from the 17th century New Sweden colony in the lower Delaware River region pretty much are just historical trivia, they left little other lasting influence in the area. On the general topic, seems to me a difference between where English speaking European Americans named towns after semi-random places all over the globe because it sounded cool to them, and places which have an actual connection to the namesake. It’s not a bright line because towns with names of European towns were often settled by people from those countries, but not always. OTOH towns with names from the Arab world, Asia etc were usually of the random/sounds cool variety, but there are probably exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/25 "2016-11-28T15:39:14Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I seriously doubt whether that’s true. Reference? > > The earliest census/tax survey was the Domesday Book, commissioned by William the Conqueror and completed in 1086, which uses names of villages throughout. They had names even previously under Saxon kings who also levied taxes. > > Taxes, land ownership, parish responsibilities, etc. - not to mention practicalities of everyday life - have ensured that English villages have always had names. OK, maybe before taxes and censuses. When people lived in a collection of mud huts, they probably just called it the local equivalent of “home”, or “Them on the hill”. > [@](#): > > In the most primitive cultures, place names are basic: if you never move far from home, it’s enough to call your local river “the river”, because it is the only one – or the only one that matters. (The same attitude leads Londoners to routinely call the Thames “the river” to this day.) But as civilisation develops, place names need to be more sophisticated. Once you start trading with nearby villages, you have to be able to tell them apart, even if you call them nothing more inventive than “North Village”, “Middle Village” and “South Village” (that’s where all those Nortons, Middletons and Suttons come from). A village large enough to have two churches might split in two and become, say, Chalfont St Peter and Chalfont St Giles. And so it goes on. > > [Talk of the town: The etymology of UK places | The Independent | The Independent](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/talk-of-the-town-the-etymology-of-uk-places-2277630.html) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/26 "2016-11-28T15:40:42Z")
Philadelphia is Greek. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/27 "2016-11-28T15:45:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Philadelphia is Greek. Greek is non-European? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/28 "2016-11-28T15:53:17Z")
One of the most exotic is Cabool, Missouri, the old spelling of Kabul, Afghanistan. Named by a railroad construction engineer who said the area reminded him of Afghanistan, where he also built a railroad. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/29 "2016-11-28T16:01:43Z")
Across North Africa, there is a Tangier Island VA, Algiers LA, quite a few Carthage and Alexandria, and several Cairo. Also Morocco IN and Egypt PA ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/30 "2016-11-28T16:01:50Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Greek is non-European? 😉 Just pointing it out. As it turns out it’s [derived from a city in Asia Minor](http://www.behindthename.com/name/philadelphia) which is considered part of Asia because of the imaginary line that separates it from Europe. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/31 "2016-11-28T17:32:00Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > OK, maybe before taxes and censuses. When people lived in a collection of mud huts, they probably just called it the local equivalent of “home”, or “Them on the hill”. Yes, but even thousands of years ago, Britain was well beyond that point, and there was extensive trade and movement of people. Huge stones for Stonehenge ~2600BC were brought from a quarry 140 miles away in south Wales. Tin mining and trading from Cornwall has existed since ~2000BC. Getting off topic, so I’ll stop. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/32 "2016-11-28T18:32:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can’t say; people just liked it better that way. Hm. There doesn’t seem to be an Istanbul or a Constantinople in the US, but [there _is_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine,_Michigan) a Constantine. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/33 "2016-11-28T19:41:16Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Most places in Hawaii area have names in that Pacific Island language. Yep. On my island of Oahu, _only one_ town has a non-Hawaiian name: Pearl City. Wait, Ewa Beach has the word “Beach” thrown in (Ewa means West). Honolulu means “Fair Haven” after the harbor, in case you were wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/34 "2016-11-28T20:33:37Z")
Bethlehem and Nazareth, PA ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/35 "2016-11-28T21:47:15Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Names also change; New York was originally named New Amsterdam by Dutch settlers. Here’s what I’d like to know – why York? Why name a settlement after one of the most backwater villages in England? Was it because [New London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London,_Connecticut) was already taken? ---
**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:** [November 28, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/36 "2016-11-28T22:15:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > One of the most exotic is Cabool, Missouri, the old spelling of Kabul, Afghanistan. Named by a railroad construction engineer who said the area reminded him of Afghanistan, where he also built a railroad. Also pronounced incorrectly, of course. There is a Madras, Oregon. Nobody is sure if it was named for the fabric or the Indian city. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/37 "2016-11-28T22:23:13Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Here’s what I’d like to know – why York? Why name a settlement after one of the most backwater villages in England? > > Was it because [New London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London,_Connecticut) was already taken? It was named after the Duke of York who ended up later becoming King James II. Interestingly, the title of “[Duke of York and Albany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_York_and_Albany)” was created after the naming of New York. I wonder if that has anything to do with New York State later designating Albany as the capital. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/38 "2016-11-28T22:27:36Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Truth or Consequences, NM was named after the game show. And Tarzana CA was named after a fictional character. I was going to mention Madras OR, but someone beat me to it. It was actually named after a bolt of cloth in the general store, Madras being a type of cloth made in the Indian city. There are places in Texas and North Dakota named Tokio, a 19th century spelling of Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/39 "2016-11-28T22:42:25Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Here’s what I’d like to know – why York? Why name a settlement after one of the most backwater villages in England? As mentioned New York was named in honor of the Duke of York, not the city. But York was as it is now larger than Boston, Lincolnshire namesake of the then largest town in the American colonies. In 1660 Boston MA had around 3k people, seems Boston Lincolnshire might have been similar in size. New York had ~1.5k, York had ~12-13k during the 17th century. London and Amsterdam were enormously larger at ~500k and ~200k respectively at the time New Amsterdam became New York. Maybe it did actually reflect some difference in attitude, though the Netherlands’ eggs were in a smaller basket, that they named their main small town in the New World after their mega-city while the English were OK with a tiny new village taking the name of London in the 1650’s; New London CT only reached a few thousand people in the late 18th century, though nobody could know it would eventually have only ~30k people while NY 8 million. There’s a New London NH also (smaller still) though, named late in the colonial period. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/40 "2016-11-28T22:53:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I believe the OP is speaking of [Pekin, Illinois](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekin,_Illinois) which is named after the city in China, which was known in 1829 as Peking or Pekin, now Beijing. > > And Canton probably refers to Canton, Ohio in the U.S. And the team name was the Pekin Chinks until maybe the 60’s. I understand they had a cartoon stereotype Chinese mascot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270.md?page=3)