# What Are Some American Cities With Names That Actually Man Something In English? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 22, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028 "2019-02-22T16:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/61 "2019-02-23T06:47:07Z")
Locally, Davidson County, Tennessee contains the cities of Oak Hill, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, and (until 2011) Lakewood. Those cities stayed independent when Nashville and Davidson County merged governments back in the 1960s. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Normal, Illinois [for the normal school – edited by me] Similarly, off the top of my head, there’s: College Station, Texas (home of Texas A&M) State College, Pennsylvania (home of Penn State; technically a borough, the PA town-equivalent) Mississippi State, Mississippi (home of …; technically a census-designated place for the part of MSU not in Starkville and not an actual city) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/62 "2019-02-23T07:49:56Z")
I live in the antelope valley 10 minutes away from quartz hill ……… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/63 "2019-02-23T10:58:24Z")
Without looking it up, amongst others, New York contains Burnt Hills, Buffalo, Stow, Aurora, Auburn, Long Island City, Red House, Glens Falls, Maple Springs, Flushing, and/or Queens. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/64 "2019-02-23T12:28:07Z")
Our auto mechanic’s shop is in Mechanicsville, MD, but I’m pretty sure it’s not named for the shop. There are probably a lot of oaks in Oakville. But I don’t know about hollies in Hollywood. Nor do I know if there’s a ridge in Ridge. Not sure how golden Golden Beach is, but I’ll bet there are pines at Piney Point and timbers at Tall Tiimbers. And ya gotta figure there’s love in Loveville. All in St. Mary’s county, MD. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/65 "2019-02-23T13:02:42Z")
Want to note that descriptive names are the second largest source of place names. The most common are places named after people. Places with Indian names and places named after other cities are 3rd and 4th, although I’m not sure what order they would be in. Of course, Indian names, if you can find the actual meaning (often you can’t), are usually in the first two categories: either the name of a person or a descriptive name. At any rate, there’s **tens of thousands of places with names that mean something in English**. I hope the OP isn’t expecting us to name all of them. Also note that places named after people sometimes are also a common English word. For example, here in Oregon there’s a town named [Boring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring,_Oregon) and one named [Drain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain,_Oregon). Both named after people. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/66 "2019-02-23T14:06:44Z")
Twinsburg, OH Peninsula, OH Reminderville, OH Independence, OH Rocky River, OH But Scotrun, PA is _not_ “Scrotum.” ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/67 "2019-02-23T14:09:42Z")
[Here’s a reference for Wisconsin. Knock yourself out.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_villages_in_Wisconsin) some more interesting ones on that list and other lists linked from there: Superior Elk Mound Two Rivers Three Rivers Three Lakes Pound Wayside Little Chute Eagle Egg Harbor Sturgeon Bay Blue Mound Junction City Lime Ridge Luck Pigeon Falls Black River Falls Pleasant Prairie Prairie Farm Union Grove Whitelaw many towns with lake or bay in the name And the answer to everyone’s favorite “where is he” question … Waldo ---
**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:** [February 23, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/68 "2019-02-23T14:23:05Z")
Speaking of Rocky River, OH, the other suburbs surrounding it also all have English names: Lakewood, Bay Village, Westlake, and Fairview Park. Also in the Cleveland area, off the top of my head, are Mentor, Seven Hills, Shaker Heights, and Eastlake. There’s a part of me that suspects that suburbs are more likely to have English names than metropolises. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/69 "2019-02-23T14:34:59Z")
Evergreen, CO Aspen, CO Vail, CO Castle Rock, CO South Fork, CO Conifer, CO Golden, CO ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/70 "2019-02-23T14:38:05Z")
I had a junior high teacher from Cuba, Kansas. He had a very slight Czech accent. > **[Cuba, Kansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba,_Kansas)** > > Cuba is a city in Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 140. > The community was founded in 1868 by American southerners traveling westward after the American Civil War. The city received its name from one settler who had once lived on the island of Cuba. Other early settlers of Cuba are Czech immigrants from Bohemia that settled in Cuba in the mid-1870s. Originally the majority of the population of Cuba were of Czech and Austrian descent. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/71 "2019-02-23T15:22:38Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I hope the OP isn’t expecting us to name all of them. Of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/72 "2019-02-23T17:05:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Want to note that descriptive names are the second largest source of place names. I agree that it is not unusual to have _settlements_ that mean something in one’s native language. After all, a lot of the time they are founded out of whole cloth as a new settlement by a person who speaks your language and thus why not use a descriptive name. However, place names in general are fairly conserved even given language and ethnic change. People are resistant to using a new name for a river or mountain if it already has a known name, so will tend to use a native word if they know one (with more or less accuracy in the transcription.) Given enough time, it certainly fits the spirit of the OP to exclude non-English descriptive names whose translation would be opaque to the overwhelming majority of residents. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/73 "2019-02-23T19:40:50Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I agree that it is not unusual to have _settlements_ that mean something in one’s native language. After all, a lot of the time they are founded out of whole cloth as a new settlement by a person who speaks your language and thus why not use a descriptive name. > > However, place names in general are fairly conserved even given language and ethnic change. People are resistant to using a new name for a river or mountain if it already has a known name, so will tend to use a native word if they know one (with more or less accuracy in the transcription.) Given enough time, it certainly fits the spirit of the OP to exclude non-English descriptive names whose translation would be opaque to the overwhelming majority of residents. That may have been true in other countries, but Native American names were not conserved very well by the English speaking settlers. Most of the Indian geographic names that do survive are those of geographic features; towns were only occasionally given Indian names and then many of them are named after people and not the name of any Indian village that had previously been there. In fact, I expect that many of those Indian villages may not have even had names. At any rate, even not counting non-English descriptive names, descriptive names are still the second most source of American place names. As far as conserving names, when the towns were small, it was not at all unusual for them to be renamed, sometimes several times. (Scranton PA, as an extreme example, had 6 or 7 names before it settled on its current name.) Some times a name change was forced on them, usually when a post office was applied for and the name was rejected because there was already a post office with that name (or a name that was too similar) in the same state or territory. I should also note that Indian names are over-represented among large American cities, as are Spanish names and names of famous people. That is, compared with the bulk of place names. The most common way American places are named is for the first post master or the first settler. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/74 "2019-02-23T19:57:10Z")
Freedom Liberty Hope Old Orchard Beach Blue Hill Bar Harbor Amity Moose River The Forks Unity Wells China Brooks Prospect Old Town (which is, ironically, chartered as a city) Auburn Bath Mechanic Falls Do compound words count? If so… Portland Vassalboro Fairfield Waterville Newport Northport Frenchboro Oakland Swanville Thorndike Winterport Rockport Rockland Greenville Rockwood Brownville Appleton Mapleton Springfield Lakeville I suppose that’s as many as I can think of at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/75 "2019-02-23T20:00:40Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > Nitpick: _Cane_ was grown around Sugar Land. Sugar beets, AFAIK, are only grown up in the panhandle - they are a cold weather crop. Sugarland, an old name for the Herndon-Reston area in Northern Virginia, is named for the sugar maples. ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/76 "2019-02-23T23:03:15Z")
Spread Eagle, Wisconsin ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/77 "2019-02-24T14:17:43Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > All in Maryland (most are CDPs): > > Parole (it began as a civil war parole camp) > Friendship > Mayo > Piney Orchard > Middle River > South Gate > White Oak Also in Maryland: Accident Detour Boring Flintstone Union Mills Sunnyside, WA ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/78 "2019-02-24T18:15:08Z")
I’m kinda surprised that no one has mentioned [Chicken, Alaska](https://chickenalaska.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/79 "2019-02-24T19:15:19Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > One of my all-time favorite place names in the U.S. is Toad Suck, Arkansas. I always have to wonder about the back-story for that one. With mention of “a place name to conjure with” in Arkansas – railways being a hobby of mine, I’ve read of the Reader Railroad in that state: a short line which continued to carry passengers, into the 1970s. It had wayside stations at hamlets marvellously named Possum Trot, and Goose Ankle. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/80 "2019-02-24T19:40:17Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > White Settlement, TX. Seems a little on the nose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028.md?page=5)