# What's the largest US city with a smaller same named counterpart? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667 "2015-09-11T13:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/1 "2015-09-11T13:30:25Z")
For example, Houston, TX has a population of approx. 2.2 million, while there is a Houston, Arkansas with a population of about 173. Are there other examples? ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/2 "2015-09-11T13:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > New York, Kentucky > > New York is an unincorporated community located in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. It is part of Ballard County Kentucky, and has a population of 10. > **[New York, Kentucky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_Kentucky)** > > New York is an unincorporated community located in Ballard County, Kentucky, United States. It has a population of 10, and is about 19 miles away from the city of Paducah. > > This Ballard County, Kentucky state location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/3 "2015-09-11T13:37:13Z")
Looks like we have a winner! ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/4 "2015-09-11T13:42:51Z")
Just to be safe: [Los Angeles, Texas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_Texas) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/5 "2015-09-11T13:43:01Z")
Hot damn! A winner in five minutes. SD is weird. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/6 "2015-09-11T13:48:04Z")
Chicago (just the plain name) seems to be unique. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/7 "2015-09-11T14:13:35Z")
Here’s a variation: 1. large US city (pop. \> 100,000) 2. smaller US city with the same name as 1. 3. not Kansas City What’s the city combo with the smallest ratio: pop. city #1/pop. city #2 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/8 "2015-09-11T14:26:33Z")
The closest (geographically) same name case I know of is Newark, NJ (~ quarter million people) and Newark, DE (~32,000) which are only about 120 miles away, making it plausible that someone might actually go to one of the Newarks while intending to go to the other one (yes, I know the cities’ names are pronounced differently). ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/9 "2015-09-11T14:37:25Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Here’s a variation: > > 1. large US city (pop. \> 100,000) > 2. smaller US city with the same name as 1. > 3. not Kansas City > > What’s the city combo with the smallest ratio: > > pop. city #1/pop. city #2 Some combination of Springfields, I’m certain. First two in Wiki that I looked at: MO: 159,498 IL: 116,250 Ratio: 1.37 ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/10 "2015-09-11T14:42:17Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Here’s a variation: > > 1. large US city (pop. \> 100,000) > 2. smaller US city with the same name as 1. > 3. not Kansas City > pop. city #1/pop. city #2 I nominate Springfield MA/Springfield IL = 153060/116250 = 1.317 as of 2010 census. Of course Springfield MO comes in at 537,631, but you didn’t say I had to chose the largest city of a given name. And I see I used metro pop for Springfield MO, so the best is S MO/S MA = 1.042 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/11 "2015-09-11T14:46:21Z")
Little Rock, AR 197,357 Area:117 square miles Little Rock, CA 1,377 Area: 1.8 square miles ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/12 "2015-09-11T14:46:47Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I nominate Springfield MA/Springfield IL = 153060/116250 = 1.317 as of 2010 census. > > Of course Springfield MO comes in at 537,631, but you didn’t say I had to chose the largest city of a given name. > > And I see I used metro pop for Springfield MO, so the best is S MO/S MA = 1.042 I’d assume that Springfield is a hot contender either way! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/13 "2015-09-11T14:58:23Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The closest (geographically) same name case I know of is Newark, NJ (~ quarter million people) and Newark, DE (~32,000) which are only about 120 miles away, making it plausible that someone might actually go to one of the Newarks while intending to go to the other one (yes, I know the cities’ names are pronounced differently). Considering that a couple of people have gone to Auckland, New Zealand, while attempting to go to Oakland, California, this is indeed plausible.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/14 "2015-09-11T14:58:39Z")
If you want to go worldwide, the largest city is Shanghai with a population of over 24 million. There is also an unincorporated town in Virginia also called Shanghai. I can’t find the population but I assume it’s quite low. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/15 "2015-09-11T15:06:06Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Considering that a couple of people have gone to Auckland, New Zealand, while attempting to go to Oakland, California, this is indeed plausible.😉 Also high up on the list of geographical confusions is Sydney, Nova Scotia vs. Sydney, Australia. There have been several news articles over the years about hapless travelers who ended up in the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/16 "2015-09-11T15:14:33Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Also high up on the list of geographical confusions is Sydney, Nova Scotia vs. Sydney, Australia. There have been several news articles over the years about hapless travelers who ended up in the wrong place. The mechanical dragon for Wagner’s opera at Beyreuth, Germany was sent to Beirut, Lebanon. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/17 "2015-09-11T16:02:19Z")
Portland, Maine vs Oregon. I bet that has confused a lot of travelers. I live in Portland, Maine and the reason our airport is called the Jetport is because the “Portland International Airport” is in Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/18 "2015-09-11T17:12:28Z")
Philadelphia, PA (pop 1,560,297) and Philadelphia, TN (pop 533). Seems like it could make the top 10. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/19 "2015-09-11T17:48:44Z")
Honorable mention to New York Mills, Minnesota (in Otter Tail County). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667/20 "2015-09-11T17:52:36Z")
Another record-holder: the largest city in the US with another city larger than it having the same name is Columbus, Georgia. I’m not sure what would be, world-wide, the largest second-largest city with the same name [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-us-city-with-a-smaller-same-named-counterpart/730667.md?page=2)