# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/81 "2019-02-24T20:07:41Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Seems a little on the nose. [I’ve seen worse](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/56903fbb1a00002d005942d2.png?cache=e950tqhyox&ops=crop_228_13_545_435,scalefit_720_noupscale). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/82 "2019-02-24T20:22:42Z")
I live in Citrus Heights, CA, just down the road from Orangevale, Fair Oaks, and Antelope. We also have: Arden-Arcade Clay Foothill Farms Freeport Fruitridge Pocket Gold River Herald Hood Lemon Hill North Highlands Parkway Vineyard Walnut Grove ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/83 "2019-02-24T20:34:09Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Well, maybe you should stop saying it wrong 😛 > > Buffalo, New York. Were there any buffalo there? Seems a bit out of the way for them. There might well have been buffalo that far easy way back in the day. The city gets its name from Buffalo Creek; the origin of THAT name isn’t known for sure. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/84 "2019-02-24T20:52:53Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > There are probably a lot of oaks in Oakville. My late uncle and aunt’s postal address was in Maple City, Kansas. If you went there hoping to find a verdant town with lots of maples, you’d be disappointed. ---
**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, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/85 "2019-02-24T21:03:22Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [I’ve seen worse](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/56903fbb1a00002d005942d2.png?cache=e950tqhyox&ops=crop_228_13_545_435,scalefit_720_noupscale). Surprisingly [misleading.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitesboro,_New_York) It’s understandable that the former seal caused a bit of controversy. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/86 "2019-02-24T21:52:02Z")
I stopped counting at 30 something a third of the way into the list of villages in New York, but it did refresh my memory about _Falconer_, which I was trying to remember for my list: I knew there was a village-that-means-something-in-English whose name I only knew from the events my dad went to where various volunteer fire departments from around Chautauqua County were represented, but I couldn’t remember its name before seeing the Wikipedia list. ---
**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 24, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/87 "2019-02-24T22:59:04Z")
Then there are the place names that only seem to be actual words in English: Mobile, Alabama—from a Muskogean village named Mabila built by Chief Tuskaloosa to fight the Spaniards. Mystic, Connecticut—from Pequot \*missituck \*‘stream in which the wind makes waves’. Scituate, Massachusetts—from Wampanoag _satuit_ ‘cold stream’. ---
**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, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/88 "2019-02-24T23:13:18Z")
Beaver, OK Auburn, IN Granger, WA Show Low, Kingman, and Flagstaff, AZ minster is an English word, so the many towns named Westminster should count. ---
**Author:** ![CharmaChameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@CharmaChameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CharmaChameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/89 "2019-02-24T23:56:21Z")
Arab, Brilliant, Eclectic, Enterprise, Normal, Skyline, Tanner, Warrior, in Alabama. Also Scarce Grease and Cross Key, but neither is a town/city. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/90 "2019-02-24T23:59:49Z")
I skipped over compound words myself since there are so many of them: just looking around a map of Syracuse I see Lyncourt, Kirksville, Brewerton, Westvale, Fairmount, Plainville, Morrisville, and the very stretchy Baldwinsville and Atwell Corners. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/91 "2019-02-25T00:05:04Z")
Pleasanton, CA is only a pleasant town in comparison to its neighbor, Livermore. ---
**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 25, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/92 "2019-02-25T02:12:42Z")
North Dakota and Minnesota have a fix of strange-sounding town names with Scandinavian origin, but also some straightforward English ones. Every time I drove across North Dakota, I passed through Valley City, one of the most appropriate names possible. Also: Tower City, Northwoods, Grassy Butte. And in Minnesota: Maple Bay, Fertile, Pelican Rapids, Little Forks, Big Falls, Blackduck, Cotton, Granite Falls, Mountain Lake. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/93 "2019-02-25T05:24:32Z")
Missouri has a Marshfield. Both New Jersey & Maryland have municipalities called Ocean City. Oklahoma has a Stillwater. California has a Riverside. Oh, and of course Plains, Georgia; though that stretches the definition of “city.” I’m not counting Hill City, Kansas, because it’s named after Mr Hill, it’s in western Kansas, & well, you know, there are no hills there. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/94 "2019-02-25T08:55:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There might well have been buffalo that far easy way back in the day. > > The city gets its name from Buffalo Creek; the origin of THAT name isn’t known for sure. A very long time ago, a lad who came from Buffalo advanced the theory to me, that the name originated – at however many removes – with the French doing their stuff in the area, centuries ago. Linguistically, though, extremely bad French, viz. _Beau Fleur_ – Beautiful Flower (sic.). Others, who I feel were likely in a position to know, have poured scorn on this idea. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/95 "2019-02-25T10:08:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Others, … have poured scorn on this idea. Not least because \*beau \*is masculine, while \*fleur \*is feminine. It should have been _belle fleur_, if it was anything. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/96 "2019-02-25T13:10:20Z")
I said it was extremely bad French; and the guy who originally told me of it, agreed as to said badness. Anglophone Yankees with an absolutely minimal knowledge of French. mucking things up?? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/97 "2019-02-25T14:48:40Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > …And in Minnesota: Maple Bay, Fertile, Pelican Rapids, Little Forks, Big Falls, Blackduck, Cotton, Granite Falls, Mountain Lake. The old story from my youth in Minnesota regarding the towns of Fertile and Manley (in southern Minnesota). A couple got engaged, she from Fertile and he from Manley. The wedding announcement in the paper was “Manley man marries Fertile woman.” Minnesota also has Apple Valley and Blooming Prairie. The Blooming Prairie school mascot is the Blossoms, which strikes fear in nobody. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/98 "2019-02-25T15:37:58Z")
> [@ohiomstr2](#): > > I grew up in Silver Spring not far from the spring in the name. It is called Acorn Park now. Located at East West Highway and Newell Street. When I was a kid it was an actual spring near the Post Office > > Didn’t mean to hijack, just thought the poster might be interested. Interesting, thanks ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/99 "2019-02-25T17:01:43Z")
I just drove past Speculator, NY this weekend. ---
**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 25, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028/100 "2019-02-25T17:15:26Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > The old story from my youth in Minnesota regarding the towns of Fertile and Manley (in southern Minnesota). A couple got engaged, she from Fertile and he from Manley. The wedding announcement in the paper was “Manley man marries Fertile woman.” > > Minnesota also has Apple Valley and Blooming Prairie. The Blooming Prairie school mascot is the Blossoms, which strikes fear in nobody. There’s a spot (definitely not a city) called Brushy Prairie in northern Indiana. Non-intimidating mascots would be a great thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-american-cities-with-names-that-actually-man-something-in-english/830028.md?page=6)