# USA city names - origins

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270>\
**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:** 1\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-city-names-origins/773270/101 "2016-12-16T11:04:58Z")

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> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Panama City, Florida is named after Panama, which is an indigenous word meaning “abundance of fish” (or maybe butterflies).
> 
> Quito, Mississippi, is named after Quito, Ecuador, which takes its name from an indigenous group.
> 
> Lima, Ohio, is named after Lima, Peru, which takes its name from a local oracle in an indigenous language.

> [@quiltguy](#):
>
> -Valparaiso, IN is Val-pa-RAYS-oh, different from the Chilean city.

> [@Kron](#):
>
> Don’t forget Montevideo, MN.

The above are all places in Latin America. I’ve been doing a bit a research and found some more from that part of the world:

[ul]  
[li]Bogata TX – Bogotá, Colombia (misspelled, but still named for)[/li][li]Cordova AL – Córdoba, Mexico (there’s another Cordova in Nebraska named for the original Spanish city)[/li][li]Cuzco IN – Cusco, Peru[/li][li]Durango CO – Durango, Mexico[/li][li]Havana IL – Habana, Cuba[/li][li]La Paz IN – La Paz, Bolivia[/li][li]Pasco WA – Cerro de Pasco, Peru[/li][/ul]

In addition, there are at least two places each named for the following battles of the Mexican-American War, which are in turn named for the cities they were at: Buena Vista, Churubusco, Monterey, and Vera Cruz. (Note that Monterey CA was not named for either the battle or the Mexican city.) None were directly named for the city; count them or not as you wish.

Finally, there’s Guadalupe CA, which was named for Our Lady of Guadalupe, which name comes from a former Mexican city (it’s now a neighborhood of Mexico City).

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