# What is the most popular City name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784 "2004-02-18T13:44:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/1 "2004-02-18T13:44:30Z")
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=SeaGreen] Hello Everyone! A co-worker came to me with an interesting question today. Her son has a homework assignment, and the bonus question is: in the 48 contiguous states, one city name can be found in all of them. What is it? And, thinking this was a simple search, I started looking, and found it quite a pesky thing to discover. So, I come to the place I know has all the answers. So tell me, fellow TM’s, what is the most popular city name in the U S of A? Thanks, as always, in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/2 "2004-02-18T13:47:17Z")
WAG: Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/3 "2004-02-18T13:47:25Z")
I’ve heard Springfield but no cite to prove anything ---
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/4 "2004-02-18T13:48:52Z")
Are you sure that Springfield was not started by some Simpson’s fans? Also, does anyone have a proof of which I may be pointed? ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/5 "2004-02-18T13:52:14Z")
Hmm. A few sites on google suggest that it’s actually Fairview. I haven’t found a non-personal page to cite yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/6 "2004-02-18T14:02:13Z")
Springfield (or some variant like W. Springfield) = 34 Fairview = 20 Greenville (my guess) = 26. My source is going to [weather.com](http://weather.com) and just entering the city name, no state. You are then presented with all the cities [weather.com](http://weather.com) is aware of in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Frumpy\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Frumpy\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumpy_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/7 "2004-02-18T14:46:01Z")
I just did the same query in [weather.com](http://weather.com), and it seems various forms of “Washington” exist out there (Washington, Fort Washington, Mount Washington, etc… a total of 48 actually (Though one is in the UK… but let’s not quibble)… So perhaps that is the answer. Actually, a search on the web brought me to Database forum asking this same question. The eggheads there had said they had a DB of zip codes, city, state, and were trying to find out what city was the most popular. Unfortunately, no answer was provided. If I could get my hands on that data, I could probably pound out a DB query myself. Curse my co-worker for hooking me on this… ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/8 "2004-02-18T14:55:01Z")
I always heard “Greenville”, but my sources (bar trivia night, those little “Did You Know?” filler boxes in newspapers) aren’t the best… ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/9 "2004-02-18T15:15:27Z")
[From “The Top 10 of Everything - 2002” by Russell Ash.](http://www.bookfinder.us/review0/1402872860.html) US Top 10 - City Names (Most Common) 1 Fairview 2 Midway 3 Oak Grove 4 Franklin 5 Riverside 6 Centerville 7 Mount Pleasant 8 Georgetown 9 Salem 10 Greenwood ---
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/10 "2004-02-18T16:41:36Z")
> [@Frumpy Jones](#): > > Are you sure that Springfield was not started by some Simpson’s fans? The way I heard it, Springfield was chosen for the Simpson BECAUSE it was the only place name that occured in all US states ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/11 "2004-02-18T18:14:28Z")
Nope, just one of the most popular. But apparently not even in the top ten, if Mr. Ash’s list is correct. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/12 "2004-02-18T19:02:32Z")
See here: [Common Placenames](http://www.nwlink.com/~dtilque/WWarticles/CommonPlacenames.html) Summary: depends on how you count. If you want the most places with the name, then the answer is either Fairview or Midway depending on your counting criteria. If you want the one in the most states, then the answer is Riverside. As far as why the Simpsons are in Springfield, partly it’s because the show is a sort of parody of _Father Knows Best_, which is also in Springfield. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/13 "2004-02-18T19:34:56Z")
There’s a database “USGS Mapping Information: Geographic Names Information System(GNIS)”. You’ll need to google for the URL. The good news, it’s free and it’s fantastic. The bad news: it can be about five times more difficult to get into than this board. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/14 "2004-02-18T19:56:06Z")
> [@aahala](#): > > There’s a database “USGS Mapping Information: Geographic Names Information System(GNIS)”. Thank you for the (indirect) mantle, **aahala**. What I mean by a mantle here is a **mantle of invisibility** , as it’s known on Dave Wilton’s WordOrigins message board. In other words, you posted the same thing I did, without giving any acknowledgement or indication that you’d even read my post. At any rate, if you read the article I gave a link to, you would have found that I already did the counts on the GNIS database for you. All you have to do is read the article. And of course, comprehend it. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/15 "2004-02-18T21:37:51Z")
I went to high school in the town of Princeton, California, which is a town with a population of 405. Individual people, that is, not thousands. Anyway, once a couple came through in an RV who were touring the country visiting towns called Princeton–they claimed that there was one in every state, and that they were nearly done, having started somewhere in New England. I imagine they excluded Alaska and Hawaii from their RV tour. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/16 "2004-02-18T21:40:12Z")
Uh, the point is, it might not fit the thread title’s description of “most popular” but if those people weren’t off their rockers there’s evidently one in each of the 48 contiguous. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/17 "2004-02-18T22:21:58Z")
GNIS has Princetons in 32 states, although 3 of those are labeled historical. I don’t want to cast aspersions on the truthfulness of people I don’t know, but could they really have meant that they had visited all the Princetons in the US and while they were at it, had visited all the states? Or something along that line. Anyway, if someone wants to visit the name located in the most states, they need to visit all the Riversides out there. There’s one in every state but Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alaska, and Hawaii. There used to be one in OK and there’s some indications on the web (genealogical pages) that there used to be one in Louisiana as well. ---
**Author:** ![LemonThrower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LemonThrower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonThrower)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/18 "2004-02-18T22:47:57Z")
I looked this up in an Atlas several years ago. Its Fairview. If I recall correctly, there are actually 54 of them in the U.S. There are 3 in Tennessee, and 2 in Alabama, and 1 in each other state according to my early 1960’s World Book Encyclopedia Atlas. I think I was playing trivial pursuit and guessed Springfield and was shocked I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![LemonThrower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LemonThrower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonThrower)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/19 "2004-02-18T22:51:52Z")
this site says there are actually 170 places in the U.S. called Fairview, although it acknowledges that this includes districts, counties, etc. [http://baja.sscnet.ucla.edu/~longcore/fairview.html](http://baja.sscnet.ucla.edu/~longcore/fairview.html) ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784/20 "2004-02-19T00:14:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > GNIS has Princetons in 32 states, although 3 of those are labeled historical. I don’t want to cast aspersions on the truthfulness of people I don’t know, but could they really have meant that they had visited all the Princetons in the US and while they were at it, had visited all the states? Or something along that line. Could be, or it could be my marijuanified faulty memory 😉 ~mixie [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-popular-city-name/229784.md?page=2)