Your city's name

[Ruso]

Do you know the origin of your city's name?

Quito, officially named San Francisco de Quito by the Spaniards, was named that way because of the natives of the area, the "Quitus". According to that people, Quitu was a very "energetic", powerful name, based on the relevant position of the city at 0 degrees latitude.

[TheBostonian]

I think there is a Boston, England, from where some of the early settlers originated.

[TheGerbil]

Pittsburgh is named for William Pitt, an English Prime Minister. It was originally Pitts Boro.

[ZachariahDaMan]

Canton (Michigan) was named after the city in China.

[MrSmith]

MINNEAPOLIS

MINNE as in Minnehaha --Ojibwa for Laughing water

APOLIS --Greek for city

Minneapolis is built on a waterfall in the Mississippi

yesterday....and today

[PghUSA]

Pittsburgh is named for William Pitt, an English Prime Minister. It was originally Pitts Boro.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gerbil you're too humble don't forget that William Pitt was so loved by his subjects he was known as the "Great Commoner". The best comparision would be that he was the 1700's FDR or Kennedy, and like those two great leaders he left a political legacy, his son and his daughter (through political marriage) both served as Prime Minister.

Pittsburgh was named for him by in large because the King and the nobility that were to blame for the stamp and tea taxes, and the monopolistic trade practices keeping America disablly dependent on London, also wanted to hem the colonists in by preventing them from going west. Pitt encouraged it, funded it and argued till his dying breath on Parliments floor for the recension of the vindictive taxes, and monopolistic trade control London had on America. In some ways he was the founding father of our country, holding back the powerful British hard line when smugglers, tax protestors and western pioneers from the colonies stepped up and demanded more freedom.

Really was a very interesting character (imagine JFK's son and daughter serving as President as well and you get an idea of what a true political dynasty Pitt started), and to think of the entrenched powers he took on in London, the absolute power of the crown which he defied to give the world more freedom. To be fair he would have hated the fact that America was lost to the British Empire--he passed away during the opening salvos of the war--but his ideal of British Empire was a strong, independent, and proud America free of stamp and tea taxes, free to trade with anyone and everyone, free to expand itself across the continent, free to have self rule. In many ways the foundations of the American Republic have their origins with ideals William Pitt championed for the whole British Empire.

Oh and it wasn't quite Pitts boro when it was founded in the 1750's.

As you taught me Gerbil, the Feds took our "H" away for about 30 years during the turn of the century, the area successfully lobbied to be "H"ed again partly due to a letter General Forbes wrote to Pitt in 1758 declaring this area:

"Pitts Borough"

Never take the H from a Pittsburgher (plus how can we spell Heinz Field without it )

[DruidCity]

Choctaw chief Tuscaloosa ("Black Warrior" ) was encountered by Hernando DeSoto in 1540.

[TheGerbil]

Wow, PghUSA, you know a lot more about it than I do.

[SOCOM]

Hartford, CT is named in honor of Hertford - a commuter suburb of London, England. Hence our regions name, New England.

God save the queen!

[bjfan82]

Buffalo -

came from a mispronounciation by english speaking settlers of the original French name of "Beu Fleuve"...meaning "Beautiful River"

There were no Buffalos running around here

[TheGerbil]

Buffalo -

came from a mispronounciation by english speaking settlers of the original French name of "Beu Fleuve"...meaning "Beautiful River"

There were no Buffalos running around here

How interesting. I never knew that.

[Michi]

Detroit is French for "City of the Strait" (referring to the Detroit River which is technically a strait connecting two larger bodies of water (Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair)).

The French pronounce it le day-wah.

[ironchapman]

Atlanta:

Supposedly the feminine form of Atlanyta, as in the Western & Atlantic Railroads that used to use the city as a hub.

Past names of Atlanta:

• Marthasville-The name of the ex-governor's, at the time mayor's, daughter, Martha Lumpkin.

• Terminus: the city was the terminus of the Western & Atlantic railroad at the time

[jmanhsv]

Huntsville- named after the founder, John Hunt. The first name of the city was Hunt's Spring, named after the underground creek downtown, known today as Big Spring. Then a British businessman named Leroy Pope bought the land and renamed the town Twickenham. Soon after, the townspeople voted to rename the city Huntsville.

[*Sweetkisses*]

Philadelphia is a biblical name that is greek for city of brotherly love. William penn decided to name it Philadelphia because he wanted it to become a mecca for religious freedom or something like that.

[Angelina]

Los Angeles: what's in a name

Although the area we know today as greater Los Angeles was inhabited by several native American tribes including the Chumash and the Tongva, when the Spanish first founded the mission town in 1781, they named it El Pueblo de Nuestra Se

[Aessotariq]

Very interesting! That name is quite a mouthful.

Miami probably comes from the Tequesta word "Mayaimi", which means either "sweet water" or "big water".

[ironchapman]

Very interesting! That name is quite a mouthful.

Miami probably comes from the Tequesta word "Mayaimi", which means either "sweet water" or "big water".

Speaking of long names, Santa Fe, New Mexico's name is the 2nd longest place name on this continent (I believe).

It's full name is:

La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de As

[cedes27]

Charlotte, NC-- The Queen City, named after King George III's wife Charlotte.

[Chtimi]

This thread is a very good idea. I like the toponymy and etymology.

Detroit is French for "City of the Strait" (referring to the Detroit River which is technically a strait connecting two larger bodies of water (Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair)).

The French pronounce it le day-wah.

Yes, we say day-trwah.

How you pronounce ? Dee-troy ?

The head city of my area is Avesnes-sur-Helpe [pronounce Aven], our celebrity is Jess

[ironchapman]

Yes, we say day-trwah.

How you pronounce ? Dee-troy ?

Many Americans pronounce it "Dee-troyt".

At least where I come from. Natives may say it differently.

[rusthebuss]

Norfolk comes from the founders hometown in England and so does Portsmouth. All the names for the area are from England, especially Jamestown.

[Garris]

Great thread...

Providence, RI from Wikipedia: "Providence was named by Roger Williams in honor of "God's merciful Providence" in his finding this spot to settle when expelled by the Puritans from Massachusetts. The official name of the state [Garris: the nation's longest] includes the name of the city, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."

- Garris

Providence, RI

[PghUSA]

Garris great pic up there I like it.

Was watching the History Channel today on the St. Valentines Massacre of 1929, heard a pretty good one.

CHICAGO was a derivation of an Indian term meaning "Bad Smell"

[Chtimi]

Garris great pic up there I like it.

Was watching the History Channel today on the St. Valentines Massacre of 1929, heard a pretty good one.

CHICAGO was a derivation of an Indian term meaning "Bad Smell"

That's interesting because I believed at another meaning. Unfortunately I can't remember where I had read it but -by memory- the Indian name of Chicago would be "Checagou" and would mean "wild onion"