One-word descriptive city names

[xzmattzx]

I was reading about Cobh in Ireland, and "cobh" is Irish for "cove". So the city's name is effectively Cove.

There are other cities with names that are one-word descriptions of what's there. If you include "the" in the name, there are several Spanish ones. But there are very few in Anglophone countries like the the US. Cities that translate into one word in English, like Detroit, don't really count. Cities with an English word for an object/noun, but are not of an actual thing that was there, such as Buffalo or Providence, also do not count.


True one-word city names describing what's there:
~ Bend, OR
~ Anchorage, AK
~ Butte, MT

True city names describing what's there, but with "The" in front:
~ The Woodlands, TX
~ The Dalles, OR

City names that are one word and descriptive, and are in another language but have become English words:
~ Mesa, AZ

One-word city names that seem to be descriptive of a place, but are actually not:
~ Spring, TX (named for Spring Creek)



Are there any missing in the Anglosphere? Why aren't there Anglophone cities named things like "Port" or "Rapids" or "Hill" or "Bay"?

[SIGSEGV]

Portage, IN
College, AK
Delta, BC

Not in English but:
La Grange, IL (assuming once upon a time there were barn there?)
Vik, Iceland

[edale]

Grand Junction, Colorado. The junction point of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers.

[badrunner]

There's a bunch of them in the west named after a local mineral, plant or geographic feature.

Rhyolite, NV
Boron, CA
Trona, CA
Goldfield, NV
Quartzite, AZ
Mesquite, NV
Ocotillo, CA
Weed, CA

[Steely Dan]

"Chicago" is an English derivation of a French derivation, "Checagou", of the indigenous Algonquian word "Shikaakwa" which was the native name for a type of wild onion (Allium tricoccum) that once grew abundantly in the area where the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan. The river first took its name from the plant, and then the city that was later founded there took its name from the river.

but it all goes back to this:


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_tricoccum

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by badrunner

There's a bunch of them in the west named after a local mineral, plant or geographic feature.

Rhyolite, NV
Boron, CA
Trona, CA
Goldfield, NV
Quartzite, AZ
Mesquite, NV
Ocotillo, CA
Weed, CA

Yeah, to add more:

Sulphur, NV (ghost town)
Topaz, CA
Crystal, NV
Galena, IL (and other places)
Wells, NV
Beryl, UT
Goodsprings, NV
Ridgecrest, CA
Aspen, CO
Granite, CO

[kool maudit]

Malmö:

"The earliest written mention of Malmö as a city dates from 1275. It is thought to have been founded shortly before that date as a fortified quay or ferry berth of the Archbishop of Lund, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the north-east. Its original name was Malmhaug (with alternate spellings), meaning "Gravel pile" or "Ore Hill". An alternate story stems from a more gruesome tale that suggests that a maiden was once ground up in a mill on what is now the town square. The name would originate from 'Mal Mö', which translates to 'Ground up maiden.'"




Pretty rough if it's the second.

[SIGSEGV]

Matches the reputation better, no?

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Here are some from Alabama:

Northport (northernmost port on the Black Warrior River)
Demopolis("City of the People")

[bilbao58]

Notrees, TX

[Pedestrian]

Yerba Buena (original name of San Francisco) = "good herb" or "good grass" which has fit well at least since the 1960s.

[ChiSoxRox]

Platinum, Alaska, back in WWII the only domestic source of platinum ore in the US.

[harryc]

Waukegan, Ill. -- little fort

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

"Chicago" is an English derivation of a French derivation, "Checagou", of the indigenous Algonquian word "Shikaakwa" which was the native name for a type of wild onion (Allium tricoccum) that once grew abundantly in the area where the Chicago River emptied into Lake Michigan. The river first took its name from the plant, and then the city that was later founded there took its name from the river.

but it all goes back to this:


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_tricoccum

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Yerba Buena (original name of San Francisco) = "good herb" or "good grass" which has fit well at least since the 1960s.

Originally Posted by harryc

Waukegan, Ill. -- little fort

To me, these don't count because they're in other languages. It would be different if they were in English, and you had cities named "Onion", "Grass", and "Fort".

[xzmattzx]

One more to add to the list: Boulder, CO

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

To me, these don't count because they're in other languages. It would be different if they were in English, and you had cities named "Onion", "Grass", and "Fort".

Well, your initial example was in irish, so I assumed non-english languages were fair game.

[MolsonExport]

The toponym Montréal and its reversed form Réalmont, the direct Occitan translation of French mont royal (or royal mont), are common in southern France.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Well, your initial example was in irish, so I assumed non-english languages were fair game.

In Irish, but in Ireland, so effectively in a local language. Sorry, I thought I was clearer about similar one-word cities in English in the Anglosphere.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

In Irish, but in Ireland, so effectively in a local language.

Well, in Shikakwaa's case, Algonquian was the local language when the place assumed that name centuries ago.

That's obviously not the case anymore, for reasons I don't think we really wanna derail this thread with.

[InTheBurbs]

Asbestos, Quebec - though they just recently changed their name to Val-des-Sources.