User:Jooler/List of interesting or unusual place names

The following international geographical names are either interesting or unusual. This list is provided chiefly for its comparative value as part of social linguistics.

Exactly what is "interesting or unusual" is of course open to debate, but most of the names fall into recognisable categories:

Names suggesting matters sexual or scatological or insulting, usually unintentionally. For example Intercourse, Shitlington Crags, or Silly, Belgium.
- Some sex-related names are marked 1 below
Names of unorthodox spelling or sound. For example Å or Woolloomooloo.
- Candidates for the shortest or longest word in English or other languages are marked 2.
- Names that are also listed on inherently funny word are marked 3.
Names that describe something that is in no apparent sense as to a geographical location. For example, Why, Pity Me, and Die.
- Some calendar-related names are marked 4
- Some numerical names are marked 5
- Some names that are interrogative pronouns are marked 6
- Some living organisms' names are marked 7
- Some names relating to food or drink are marked 8
Names that match or resemble the name of another much better known place, giving opportunity for confusion (for example New York, Lincolnshire, England, or Boston (also, coincidentally, in Lincolnshire)) can be found in the List of misleading place names.
Names that are insulting or may hurt some groups of people, such as the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia (literally "the defeat of Siam") , or the small settlement of La-Mort-aux-Juifs (literally "the death of the Jews"), in the municipality (commune) of Courtemaux, France.

Many place names that appear odd to English-speakers are from other languages. Often they are either meaningless or innocuous in their own tongue. The arguably best-known examples of this are the town of Condom, France, and the village of Fucking, Austria.

Because of problems associated with an unusual place name, some towns and cities have chosen to rename themselves.

Any places on this list must be notable enough for their own article (i.e. towns and suburbs are acceptable but minor streets, lookouts, streams, ETC are not).

0–9

1770, Queensland, Australia

A

Å in Norway & 13 places in Sweden². Its name is Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish for "small river".
Aars, Denmark
Abbess Roding, Essex, England
Accident, Maryland, USA
Adios, Navarre, Spain ("Goodbye" in Spanish)
Advance, Indiana, USA
Ae, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland ²
Agency, Iowa, USA
Agenda in Kansas, & Wisconsin, USA
Ah Cut, Pitcairn Island
Ål, Buskerud, Norway ². Its name is Danish, Norwegian and Swedish for "eel".
Alpha, Michigan, Alpha, Minnesota, and Alpha, New Jersey, USA
Alpha, Queensland, Australia
Alphabet City, a neighborhood of New York City, USA
Amarillo, Texas, USA: Spanish for "yellow", although most Texans pronounce the two "ll"'s as l's like in english, not like a y as in spanish.

Anaconda, Montana, USA
Anaheim, California, USA, named by German settlers as the home or heim of the Santa Ana River; unusual combination of Spanish and German
Apples, Vaud, Switzerland ⁸
Arab, Alabama, USA (Pronounced "ay-RAB," Arab is down the road from a town called Boaz, which is a Biblical Hebrew name)
Arresting, Lower Bavaria, Germany
Arsoli, Lazio, Italy
Arthur Kill, New York and New Jersey, USA
Artichoke, Minnesota, USA
As, Limburg, Belgium
Aš, Czech Republic
Ås, five places in Sweden (means small mountain ridge)
Asbestos, Quebec, Canada
Assawoman, Virginia, USA ¹
Asse, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
Assens, Island of Fyn, Denmark
Atomic City, Idaho, USA
Au, several towns in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland ²
Avenue Road, a main street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in other cities (there are six in London)
Azusa, California, USA

B

Bachelor's Bump, East Sussex, England
Bad Axe, Michigan, USA
Bad Gastein, Austria
Bad Kissingen, Bavaria, Germany
Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Bagdad, Arizona, USA
Bagdad, Tasmania, Australia
Bakewell, Derbyshire, England-known for its puddings
Bald Knob, Arkansas, USA
Ball, Louisiana, USA
Ballsbridge — a suburb of Dublin, Ireland
Bam, Iran
Banana, Queensland, Australia ^{7 & 8}
Bang Bang Jump Up, a rock formation in Australia
Bankass, Mali
Barf (Lake District), hill in the Lake District, England
Barking, Greater London, England
Barrow, Alaska (northernmost city in the USA)
Barrow-in-Furness, England
Bat and Ball, a railway station in Sevenoaks, Kent, England
Bath, Somerset, England
Bath, New York USA
Batman, Batman Province and Batman River, Turkey
Beaver City, Nebraska, USA
Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, USA
Bee, Nebraska, USA
Beer, Devon, England ⁸
Belcher in Louisiana
Belcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada
Belchertown, Massachusetts, USA
Belper, Derbyshire, England³
Bendery, Moldova
Between, Georgia, USA
Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Canada
Bidon 5, Sahara Desert, Africa ⁵
Big Bear City, California, USA ⁷
Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky, USA
Bishop's Itchington, Warwickshire, England
Bitche, France
Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, USA
Black Hammer Township, Minnesota, USA
Blackboy Hill, Bristol, England (At the top end of Whiteladies Road)
Bland, Missouri, USA
Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA
Blubberhouses, Yorkshire, England
Blue Ball, Pennsylvania, USA ¹
Blue Cow, New South Wales, Australia
Blunt, South Dakota, USA
Bo, Sierra Leone²
Bø, in Telemark and Nordland, Norway ²
Boaz, Alabama, USA (Boaz, which is a Biblical Hebrew name, is down the road from a town called Arab)
Boca Grande, Florida, USA ("big mouth" in Spanish)
Boca Raton, Florida, USA (lit. "Mouth of the mouse" in Spanish, idiom for "Den of Thieves")
Bonesteel, South Dakota, USA
Bong County, Liberia
Bong Recreational Area, Wisconsin, USA
Bongoville, Gabon (Named after President Omar Bongo of Gabon)
Bono, Arkansas, USA
Boom, Belgium
Booti Booti National Park, Australia
Boring, Oregon, USA
Boron, California, USA
Boutilimit, Mauritania
Braga, Portugal (it means "knickers" (U.K.) or "panties" (U.S.) in Spanish)
Braintree, a place name in the United Kingdom as well as both Massachusetts and Vermont, USA
Bras d'Or Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada
Breaky Bottom, East Sussex, England
Bredon Hill, England (translated: "hill hill hill")
Brest, France
Bright, Indiana, USA
Brighton & Hove England. Only city with an ampersand (&) in its name.
Broadstairs, Kent, England
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA
Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. Australian mining giant BHP stands for Broken Hill Proprietary Company
Brown Willy, a tor in Cornwall, England
Bruno, Minnesota, USA
Bryndwr, Christchurch, New Zealand (which is as flat as a pancake. "Bryndwr" is Welsh for "Steep Hill" (actually "wet hill" so not quite so funny)
Buckhead, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Bucksnort, Tennessee, USA
Buddha, Indiana, USA
Bullhead City, Arizona, USA; named for a nearby rock formation shaped like a bull's head; submerged soon after the completion of nearby Davis Dam
Bulls, New Zealand ⁷
Bullocks Flat, New South Wales, Australia
Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
Bunny, Nottinghamshire, England ⁷
Burnt Hill, Berkshire, England
Butt of Lewis, northernmost point of the Isle of Lewis, Scotland
Buttahatchee River, Alabama and Mississippi, USA
Butte, Montana, USA

C

Cumming Street and Seaman Avenue in Manhattan New York City

Cabra, Andalusia, Spain (means goat in Spanish) ⁷
Calabasas, California, USA; Spanish for "pumpkins"
Calexico, California, USA (portmanteau of "California" and "Mexico"; it lies by the border between the two [see also: Mexicali])
Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada, USA; portmanteau of California, Nevada and Arizona
Canal Street, Manchester, UK; a street with many popular gay bars and clubs. The first letter of each word is often scratched out for ironic purposes.
Cape Circumcision, Bouvet Island
Cape Disappointment, Oregon and Washington, USA
Cape Flattery, Washington, USA
Cape Foulwind, South Island, New Zealand
Caress, West Virginia, USA
Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, USA
Carpinteria, California, USA; Spanish for "carpenter shop"
Carsick, Sheffield, England
Catbrain Hill, Gloucestershire, England
Cathedral City, California USA; named not for the house of worship but for a rock formation. There are no cathedrals in Cathedral City.
Cathole, Devon, England
Cattewater, Devon, England
Center of the World, Ohio, USA
Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA, built on property that was once the backlot of Twentieth Century Fox
Cereal, Alberta, Canada ⁸
Chaldon Herring, Dorset, England
Chard, Somerset, England
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, Massachusetts, USA ²
Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
Chew Magna, England
Chicken, Alaska, USA ^{7 & 8}
Chili, New York, USA⁸ (pronounced CHYE-lye, often mispronounced by non-locals)
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.
Chino, California, USA ("Chino" is the Spanish word for "Chinese man".)
Chipping Sodbury, England
Christmas Island, Australia ⁴
Christmas, Michigan, USA ⁴
Christmas Pie, Surrey, England ^{4 & 8}
Chugwater, Wyoming, USA
Chulahoma, Mississippi, USA
Chunky, Mississippi, and the nearby Chunky River, USA
Climax, Colorado, Climax, Michigan, Climax, Minnesota, and Climax, Georgia, USA¹
Climax Springs, Missouri, USA ¹
Clit, Arad, Romania ¹
Clitherall, Minnesota, USA ¹
Clowne, Derbyshire, England
Coachella, California and the corresponding Coachella Valley, USA; etymology uncertain, but generally attributed to a misspelling of the Spanish word conchella, or seashell.
Coalinga, California, USA; attributed to a Standard Oil installation in the area called "Coaling Station A," used as a fueling point for steam locomotives.
Coca Cola, Colón, Panama
Cockburn, Western Australia (pronounced "Co-burn") ^{1 & 7}
Cockermouth, Cumbria, England
Cockfosters, London; Name of a station on the tube.
Cocks, Cornwall, England
Coffeeville, Mississippi, USA
Colon, Michigan, USA
Combined Locks, Wisconsin, USA
Come-by-Chance, New South Wales, Australia
Commerce, California, USA
Conception Bay, Newfoundland
Conception Junction, Missouri, USA ¹
Concepcion, Texas, USA
Condom, Gers, France ¹
Coolville, Ohio, USA
Cornville, Maine, USA ⁸
Cosmos, Minnesota, USA
Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
Coxsackie, New York, USA
Crackpot, Yorkshire, England
Cranberry Portage, Manitoba, Canada
Crapolla, Italy
Crawley, West Sussex, England
Crested Butte, Colorado, USA
Crowborough, East Sussex, England (Yes, there are a lot of crows there.) ⁷
Cumbum, India
Cumming, Georgia, USA ¹
Cunter, Graubünden, Switzerland ¹
Curry Mallet, Somerset, England
Cut n' Shoot, Texas, USA
Cut Off, Louisiana, USA
Czar, West Virginia, USA

D

Sign pointing to Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador

D'Lo, Mississippi, USA
Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany ("Intestine City")
Deaf Smith County, Texas, USA
Death Valley, California, USA
Defiance, Ohio, USA
Del Mar, California, USA (grammatically-incorrect Spanish; simply translates to "of the sea")
Delta in many places
Desert Center, California, USA
Destruction Bay, Yukon, Canada
Devils Elbow, Missouri, USA
Devil's Beef Tub, Scotland (A large depression where border rievers hid stolen cattle)
Devil's Dyke, Sussex, England
Devil's Playground, in Mojave, California, USA
Dial Post, Sussex, England
Die, Drôme, France
Dildo Island, South Dildo, and Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada ¹
Disappointment Islands
DISH, Texas, named so to obtain free Dish Network for 10 years
Dix Hills, New York, USA ¹
Doo Town, Tasmania, Australia (all houses are called something to do with "doo", eg. Doo Little, Doo Drop In, Didgeri-doo, etc.)
Double Trouble, New Jersey, USA (also name of a state park)
Drain, Oregon, USA
Drama Near Thessaloniki, Northern Greece
Drogen, Germany (translates as "drugs")
Dry Prong, Louisiana, USA
Duel, Michigan, USA
Dummer, New Hampshire, USA

E

Eagle, Lincolnshire, England
Eagle Butte, South Dakota USA
Earth, Texas, USA
East Fishkill, New York, USA
East Northport, New York, USA
East Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada
Easter Island, Chile ⁴
Eaton, Ohio
Ecce Homo, Schwyz, Switzerland ¹
Eclectic, Alabama, USA
Ed, Sweden ²
Eek, Alaska, USA
Eel Pie Island, London, England
Egg, Austria ⁸
Egg, Switzerland ⁸
Egg Harbor, New Jersey, USA
Eighty Eight, Kentucky, USA ⁵
Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, USA ⁵
El Cajon, California, USA (Spanish for "the box" or "the coffin")
El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de la Porciuncula, USA (Full name of Los Angeles, California)
Elephant Butte, New Mexico, USA ⁷
Elephant and Castle, London, England (a well-known road intersection)
Embarrass, Minnesota, USA
Embarrass, Wisconsin, USA
Empire, Michigan, USA
Erode, India
Eromanga, Australia (Japanese for hentai manga)
Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ("Food") ⁸
Eustace, Texas, USA
Eye, Cambridgeshire, Eye, Herefordshire, Eye, Suffolk, as well as the River Eye, England, and River Eye, Scotland

F

Fakaofo, Tokelau ¹
Fanny, West Virginia, USA
Faro, Yukon, Canada, named after the Faro card game
Felch, Michigan, USA
Fertile, Minnesota, USA
Fine, New York, USA
Fingringhoe, Essex, England
Fish Camp, California, USA
Fishkill, New York, USA ("kill" is an old Dutch word for a small stream)
Fister, Norway
Five Corners (several), USA ⁵
Five Forks (several), USA ⁵
Five Points (several), USA ⁵
Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
Flippin, Arkansas, USA
Florala, Alabama, USA
Foch, West Virginia, USA
Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC, USA
Fonzo, West Virginia, USA
Forks of Salmon, California, USA
Fort Bliss US Army Post, Texas, USA
Foul Mile, Sussex, England
Foulness, Essex, England
French Camp, California, USA
French Lick, Indiana, USA
Fresh Kills, Staten Island, New York, USA
Friendly, Maryland, USA and Friendly, West Virginia, USA
Friendship, Wisconsin, USA
Frisby on the Wreake, Leicestershire, England
Fryingpan River, Colorado, USA
Fryup, Yorkshire, England ⁸
Fucking, Austria ¹
Fyshwick, A.C.T., Australia

G

Gander, Newfoundland, Canada ⁷
Gap, Pennsylvania, USA
Garden, Michigan, USA
Gary, Indiana, USA
Gas, Kansas, USA
Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA (recently renamed Aquinnah)
Gaylord, Michigan, USA and Gaylord, Minnesota.
Gaylordsville, Connecticut
Gayton (several places in England) ¹
Gay, Michigan, USA
Gay, West Virginia, USA
Gays, Illinois, USA
Gay City, Connecticut
George, Washington, USA
Germfask, Michigan, USA
Giggleswick, North Yorkshire, England
Gimli, Manitoba, Canada (a rural municipality)
Gip, West Virginia, USA
Gland, Switzerland
Glasscock County, Texas, USA
Gnaw Bone, Indiana, USA
Goodyear, Arizona, USA ⁴
Goose Green, Vermont, USA; also in the Falkland Islands
Goree, Texas, USA
Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion, a train station in Gwynedd, Wales ²
Grand Tetons, a mountain range in Wyoming, USA (meaning: "big nipples" in French) ¹
Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina, USA
Grandmother Gap, North Carolina, USA
Great Neck, New York, USA
Gropecunt Lane, England, United Kingdom
Grosse Tête, Louisiana, USA (meaning: "big head" in French)
Gun Barrel City, Texas, USA
Gunbarrel Highway, Western Australia, Australia
Gunbarrel, Colorado, USA
Gy, Switzerland ²
Gypsy, West Virginia, USA

H

Hackensack, New Jersey, USA (this name has been referenced on many rock and popular music songs from as early as 1918)
Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Missouri, USA
Half.com, Oregon, USA (it is sponsored by eBay)
Halfway Bush, Dunedin, New Zealand
Halfway, Missouri, USA
Halfway House, Newfoundland, Canada
Halo, West Virginia, USA
Ham, Wiltshire in England ⁸
Hamtramck, Michigan, USA
Happy, Texas, USA
Happy Adventure, Newfoundland, Canada
Hard, Austria
Hawaiian Gardens, California, USA
Hazard, Kentucky USA
Hazardville, Connecticut, USA
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a historic site in Alberta, Canada
Headland, Alabama, USA
Hel, Poland
Hell, Norway
Hell Corner, Berkshire, England
Hell For Certain, Kentucky, USA
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, USA
Hell Gate, a portion of the East River in New York, USA
Hell Hole Gorge National Park, Australia
Hell, Michigan, USA & Hell, Grand Cayman, British West Indies
Hella, Iceland
Helper, Utah, USA
Hempstead, New York, USA
Hetch Hetchy Valley, California, USA
Hicksville, New York, and Hicksville, Ohio, USA
High Level, Alberta, Canada
High Point, a mountain in Sussex, New Jersey, USA — the highest point in the state
Hīt, Iraq
Ho, Ghana
Hoard, Clark County, Wisconsin, USA
Hoeryong, North Korea (similar to Dutch "hoerenjong", meaning literally "child of a whore")
Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, USA
Hokah, Minnesota, USA
Hole in the Wall, Bahamas
Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Hometown, Illinois
Hometown, Pennsylvania
Hometown, West Virginia
Homosassa, Florida, USA
Honor, Michigan, USA
Hooker, Oklahoma, USA
Horace, North Dakota, USA
Horse Heaven, Connecticut
Horsleydown, London, UK
Houston Street, a main road in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York (pronounced "HOW-stin")
How, Wisconsin, USA ⁶
Howard City, Michigan, USA
Humptulips, Washington, USA
Humpty Doo, Northern Territory, Australia
Hungry Horse, Montana, USA
Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia, USA
Hurricane, Utah, USA
Hurricane, West Virginia, USA (pronounced Her-i-kin)
Hurt, Virginia, USA
Hustler, Wisconsin, USA

I

Idiotville, Oregon
Idle Hour, New York, USA
Idyllwild, California, USA
Ii, Finland ²
IJ, river in the Netherlands
Indented Head, Victoria, Australia
Index, Washington, USA
Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Canada
Indian Queens, Cornwall, England
Industry, California, USA
Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California (street with the head office of Apple Computer)
Innaloo (suburb of Perth, Western Australia)
Intercourse, Alabama and Intercourse, Pennsylvania, both in USA ¹
Iron Knob, South Australia, Australia
Island, Kentucky, USA
Isles of Scilly, England (pronounced "silly")

J

Jackman, Maine, USA
Jackpot, Nevada, USA
Jedi Way, East Freetown, Massachusetts (street)
Jerry City, Ohio, USA
Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, USA (about 250 miles from the Jersey Shore)
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, USA
Joe, Montana, USA (Joe Montana is a famous NFL Quarterback)
John o' Groats, Scotland
Jupiter, Florida USA
Juiz de Fora, Brazil (foreign judge in Portuguese)

K

Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Kalifornien, Germany (German for California)
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Karkkila, Finland (Candyland)
Keno City, Yukon, Canada, named after the Keno gambling game.
Kiester, Minnesota, USA ¹
Kill, County Kildare, Ireland
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA
Kill Van Kull, New York and New Jersey, USA
Killingworth, Tyne and Wear, England
Kilmacow, Co. Waterford, Ireland
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
Kiritimati Island, Kiribati (pronounced "Christmas" and is in fact an alternate name for the island; "ti" in Gilbertese is the "s" sound in English)
Kissimmee, Florida, USA (properly pronounced "kis-SIMM-ee" (IPA [kǝˈsɪmɪ]), but usually mispronounced "KISS-a-me" ([ˈkɪsǝmiː]) by non-locals). The Osceola Astros Class A Minor league baseball team changed its name to the Cobras when they moved to Kissimmee.
Kissing, Germany
Klang Valley, Malaysia
Kloten, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Kloten is the Dutch word for "testicles," and is frequently used as an expletive.
Knob Noster, Missouri, USA
Knotty Ash, Liverpool, England
Kokomo, Indiana, USA
Koochiching County, Minnesota, USA
Koolyanobbing, Western Australia ¹
Koshkonong, Wisconsin, USA
Krk, Croatia
Kumamoto, Japan (amusing/offensive only to speakers of Swahili--it translates as "fire cunt")