Locations in the United States with an English name explained

A large number of places in the U.S were named after places in England largely as a result of English settlers and explorers of the Thirteen Colonies.

Some names were carried over directly and are found throughout the country (such as Manchester, Birmingham and Rochester). Others carry the prefix "New"; for example, the largest city in the US, New York, was named after York because King Charles II gave the land to his brother, James, the Duke of York (later James II).[1] [2] Some places, such as Hartford, Connecticut, bear an archaic spelling of an English place (in this case Hertford).

Washington, D.C., the federal capital of the U.S., is named after the first U.S. President George Washington, whose surname was due to his family holding land in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

- Portland

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Other

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The New Jersey Colony. MrNussbaum.com. May 10, 2011.
  2. Web site: KINGSTON Discover 300 Years of New York History DUTCH COLONIES. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. May 10, 2011.
  3. .
  4. http://www.leedsalabama.gov/about.aspx "History"
  5. http://www.woodstockalabama.com/history.html "History of Woodstock, AL"
  6. Gudde, Erwin and Bright, William. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. University of California Press, 2004.
  7. http://cityofexeter.com/about/history.html "History"
  8. http://www.town.avon.ct.us/Public_Documents/AvonCT_AvonInfo/Facts "Avon Facts in Brief"
  9. http://bolton.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={58048A37-C3F0-41D5-8559-54C88D2EE4E2} "Bolton History Summary"
  10. Norton, Milo Leon. "Bristol", The Connecticut magazine: an illustrated monthly, Volume 5. The Connecticut Magazine Co., 1899, p.4
  11. http://www.colchesterct.gov/Pages/ColchesterCT_WebDocs/about "About Colchester"
  12. Eno, Joel N. "Connecticut Towns in the Order of their Establishment; with the Origin of Their Names", Connecticut State register and manual. Connecticut Secretary of State, Hartford, 1917, pp.422–427.
  13. http://www.hartford.gov/history/default.htm "City of Hartford History"
  14. Capace, Nancy. "Dictionary of Places", Encyclopedia of Delaware, North American Book Dist LLC, 2001, p.331.
  15. Morris, Allen Covington and Morris, Joan Perry. Florida Place Names: Alachua to Zolfo Springs. Pineapple Press Inc, 1995, p.198.
  16. Morris, Allen Covington and Morris, Joan Perry. Florida Place Names: Alachua to Zolfo Springs. Pineapple Press Inc, 1995, p.256.
  17. http://www.chesterill.com/index.php?id=23 "A Bit of a Chester History Lesson"
  18. Savage, Tom. A dictionary of Iowa place-names. University of Iowa Press, 2007.
  19. .
  20. Named after Bromley, the birthplace of Charles Collins, a pharmacist who laid out the town in Kentucky in 1848. .
  21. Possibly named after Dover, believed to be the birthplace of the founder's father. .
  22. .
  23. Manchester's founders envisioned it would become a large industrial city like Manchester, England..
  24. Believed to have been originally named after Willoughby, England, from where the ancestors of the area's settler's were thought to have emigrated; the name "Williba" was supposedly a corruption adopted by its first postmaster to fit the name on a rubber stamp. .
  25. .
  26. Named after Old Boothby in Lincolnshire. .
  27. .
  28. .
  29. http://www.cambridgemaine.com/about/ History of Cambridge, Maine
  30. .
  31. Named after the manor of Kittery Court, located on Kittery Point in Kingswear, the birthplace of founder Alexander Shapleigh. .
  32. Book: Coolidge, Austin J.. John B. Mansfield . A History and Description of New England. A.J. Coolidge . 1859. Boston, Massachusetts. 292–299. coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859. . .
  33. .
  34. .
  35. Book: The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States . Govt. Print. Off. . Gannett, Henry . 1905 . 15.
  36. Web site: Profile for Cambridge, Maryland, MD. ePodunk. 8 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20150910071115/http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2482. 10 September 2015. dead.
  37. Book: The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States . Govt. Print. Off. . Gannett, Henry . 1905 . 148.
  38. Book: The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States . Govt. Print. Off. . Gannett, Henry . 1905 . 173.
  39. Book: Nancy M. Warner . Ralph B. Levering . Margaret Taylor Woltz . Carroll County, Maryland: a history, 1837-1976. United States. 1976. 35.
  40. Web site: Olney History. Olney Chamber of Commerce. 8 April 2016.
  41. Book: Upham, Warren. Minnesota Place Names: a geographical encyclopedia. 2001. Minnesota Historical Society Press. 256.
  42. (named for Leeds in Yorkshire).
  43. ("The name came from the parish housing the Kilbourne family estate in Kent, England.").
  44. ("Railroad official Charles Peach named the site for his native Chelsea, England.").
  45. ("Historian George Shirk asserts that the town was named for Manchester, England, while Charles Gould claims it refers to a former hometown in the East.").
  46. Debated. Possibly named in reference to Westerleigh, South Gloucestershire, or simply for its position at the westernmost edge of the state. See Westerly, Rhode Island#History.
  47. Book: Van Cott, John W . Utah Place Names . University of Utah Press . Salt Lake City . 1990 . 978-0-87480-345-7.

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