Tidbits: What’s in a name? A list of city- and other-related eponyms
Jeffrey Hill | Thu, Jan 24th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: jeffrey hill, most popular city name, names, catholic saints, laughable cities, flu strains asia, john f kennedy memorials
31 U.S. Cities and Towns are named after the wealthy French financier of the American Revolution, Marquis de La Fayette.
11 U.S. Cities are named after Catholic saints.
The state capitals named after U.S. presidents are: Lincoln, NE, Jackson, MS, Madison, WI, and Jefferson City, MO. Monrovia, Liberia, is the only capital city outside of the U.S. to be named after a U.S. president.
-image courtesy of Mustangs1985.com
There are 115 places in the United States named after the nature writer, John Muir. These places range from high schools to exhibits at the Epcot Center.
Adelaide, South Australia, is the only capital city named after a woman. (Queen Adelaide)
There are 18 U.S. cities named “Athens.”
There are 19 U.S. cities named “Troy.” Troy wins.
The most popular name for a city in the U.S. is Riverside. All but 4 states have at least one Riverside.
The least popular is Lufkin. Only Texas has a city named Lufkin.
There is only 1 city in America named after a game show, Truth Or Consequences, N.M. Originally called “Hot Springs”, it took the name of a popular radio game show program in 1950, when Truth Or Consequences host Ralph Edwards announced that he would do the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Ralph Edwards came to the town during the first weekend of May for the next fifty years. This event was called the “Fiesta” and included a beauty contest, parade, and a stage show.
-image courtesy of WestCoastRoads.com
730 American cities have named a street after Martin Luther King Jr.. 70 percent of these streets are in seven Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas. King’s home state of Georgia has the most, with 105 streets. Only 11 states in the country d0 not have a street named after King.
Flu strains are named after cities in Asia! According to Earl Henderson, Ph.D., professor of microbiology at Temple University School of Medicine, there are a variety of reasons the flu always seems to originate in that part of the world. “The large population and crowded conditions in Asia, especially in China, make it a perfect place for new strains of the flu to arise,” he says. “The flu needs a large population to exist due to its rapid spread and the protective immunity that develops in people. In addition, vaccinations against the flu are not very common in Asia.” –Science Daily
The City Of New York dedicated the corner of Bowery and Second Street as Joey Ramone Place on November 30th, 2003
There are no towns or cities named after Elvis Presley.
President John F. Kennedy has the most memorials in the U.S. There are close to 1,000 schools named after him. Also included in this list are streets, a performance arts center, a library and a launch pad.
U.S. Cities with names that make 13-year-olds laugh- Bangs Beach (Maine), Dickeyville (Wisconsin), Bone Gap (Illinois), Tightsqueeze (Virginia), Climax Springs (Missouri), Fertile (Minnesota), Ironwood (Minnesota), Willacoochie (Georgia), Moreheadsville (Pennsylvania), Seman (Alabama), Onacock (Virginia), Butztown (Pennsylvania), Elephant Butte (New Mexico), Assinippi (Massachusetts), Dyckesville (Wisconsin), Euren (Wisconsin), Cockland (Ohio), Maggie’s Nipples (Wyoming), and Bloody Dick (Montana).
Jeffrey Hill is News Editor for Access Intelligence, a business and technology information firm, web editor for Next American City and a freelance writer based in Washington D.C.
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RWB
Thu, Jan 24, 2008 at 11:40am
San Francisco, San Diego, San Antonio, Santa Clara, San Jose, St. Louis, St. Paul, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Santa Fe, St. Cloud, San Mateo, Santa Rosa, etc., etc. There are a whole lot more than 11 cities named after saints in the U.S.
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Jeffrey Hill in Washington, D.C.
Thu, Jan 24, 2008 at 12:28pm
San Diego is not named directly after a specific saint, St. Louis is named after King Louis IX, “Santa” can also mean holy, and “fe” means faith, so Santa Fe = holy faith. St. Cloud (named after Clovis) is not a CATHOLIC saint… which is what the statistic refers to.
Jeffrey Hill in Washington, D.C.
Thu, Jan 24, 2008 at 12:41pm
There is one error in that statistic - it really should read “there are 11 catholic saints with cities named after them.” This takes into consideration the doubles. My mistake.
Dave Steele
Thu, Jan 24, 2008 at 3:51pm
How many cities named after an individiual Native American, not a tribe?
Seattle is the only one I can think of, named after Chief Seattle.
JS
Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 12:28am
Victoria is the capital of British Columbia.
It’s my understanding that very few cities carry Native American names because Native Americans themselves did not establish cities as they are conventionally defined and understood in contemporary culture. They did, however, have names for their landscapes and broad spaces, which is why the majority of states are derived from Native American names.