Place names considered unusual

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are many unusual place names throughout the world. The study of placenames is known as toponymy.

Types of placenames often seen as unusual include:

  • Names with unorthodox spelling or sound.
  • Names which are extremely short (e.g., one-letter names) or extremely long.
  • Names that describe something that is commonly not a geographical location.

Many place names that appear odd to English-speakers are from other languages. Often they are innocuous in their own tongue. Well known examples of this are the French town of Condom, and the Austrian village of Fucking and the town Hell in Norway.

Some parts of the world have been seen as places which are famous for a large number of unusual names such as Dorset[1] in England; Ireland;[2] Antarctica;[3] Alberta[4] and Newfoundland[5] in Canada, and also Canada itself;[6] and Arkansas,[7] Texas,[8] Kentucky,[9] Minnesota[10] and Pennsylvania[11] in the United States. Many of these are the result of local dialect or family names, so may more accurately be considered picturesque rather than unusual.

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  1. ^ BBC placenames
  2. ^ Odd or Interesting Irish Place Names
  3. ^ Partial list of Antarctic place names
  4. ^ University of calgary press "Alberta has its share of striking and unusual place names"
  5. ^ Newfoundland Placenames "Newfoundland has the most unusual collection of place names of any country in the world."
  6. ^ Canadian Place Names "There are a fair share of weird & unusual Canadian place names"
  7. ^ Arkansas's Colorful Names Amuse Some, Intrigue Others
  8. ^ Texas town names
  9. ^ From Red Hot to Monkey's Eyebrow. Unusual Kentucky Place Names (1997)
  10. ^ The Pocket Guide to Minnesota Place Names "how did these places get such unusual names"
  11. ^ Unusual Town Names of Lancaster County