They were still Europeans when they did the naming
Not necessarily. The majority of current US was colonised long after it became an independent state.
I'd argue the majority of English-based naming though are in the original 13 colonies and were named prior to 1776. Having lived on both coasts, it sure seems that is the case.
A lot of the other places are likely due to later immigrants building their own communities west of those colonies, and then there are a lot of coincidences as well.
And then there's a ton of cities named after Bible references.
True. Not a ton of "New"s out west, but there is certainly a lot of repetition.
New Zealand did it with a whole ass country
US did it with a whole country named after a continent. What's your country? those states who decided to unite. Which ones? The ones of America. Ah those ones.
Europeans love to point that stuff out. They always say it with this sort of relish like 'you call yourselves Americans, but isn't that the continent name?'
What the alternative, Statesians? US American? Who do they think named it anyway? It's not like we just made the call - it was their anscestors as much as mine who did it!
Australia to a lesser extent too.
York isn't a city in England. It's a city in Pennsylvania.
It's originally a city in North Yorkshire, so the English aren't all that original with their city names either.
Are you suggesting the city was named after the area?
Sometimes they don’t even put new in front of it. Illinois has a Milan, but they pronounce it My-lan. Smh
Bagdad, Arizona
No I did not misspell that.
New York has a Chili, but they pronounce it like Chai lie.
Joke can be equally made with Native American names, especially Michigan which is named from Algonquin word "Mishigamaw," meaning “big lake” or “great water,” deriving its name from the lake of the same name.
Native American words for landmarks are so cool, much better than the colonial equivalents.
Mt. McKinley - Denali
Mt. Adams - Klikitat
Mt. Jefferson - Seekseekqua
Mt. Rainier - Tacoma
Mt. Shasta - Ako-yet
Seekseekqua
Nemesis of Hidehidequa
This too should be a proper post on this community!
What's always seemed so strange to me is how common the amount of vehicles that steal indigenous names from various places.
Cherokee (car and a plane)
Comanche
Tacoma
Cheyenne
Dakota
Taos
Pontiac (entire company)
Winnebago
Touareg
Indian (motorcycles)
Aztek
Chieftain
Star Chief
Super Chief
Thunderbird
Chief
Scout
Dark Horse
Qashqai
Oroch
Black Hawk
Chinook
Apache
These are all brand names, names of cars, motorhomes, motorcycles, military vehicles, etc. Apparently decades ago, the manufacturers didn't even shy from how these were named, and there were a lot of questionable ads.
Probably tons more throughout the world.
A lot of the Seattle area has retained its original indigenous names... Seattle itself was the name of the local chief, Tukwila, Sammamish, Issaquah, Tacoma, Puyallup, Snoqualmie.
Thia should be a post on thia sub on its own instead of a throwaway comment on a meme. This is the kinda stuff I would love to see here!
The city of York used to be called Amsterdam before, right?
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So, take me back to Constantinople.
The Dutch "lost" New York to the English. They surrendered when a large force of Englishmen demanded the surrender of the city. It had been awarded to the Duke of York. Hence the name.
I think so. Why they changed it? I can't say, seems they just liked it better that way.
better that way
I live in New England, USA. I was talking with a Brit about the British show The Archers. The Brit asked me whether I could tell which places were made up for the show and which were real. I told him that if I new a place in New England named something, it was probably a real place in the UK.
Pennsylvania has a York and a Lancaster. And their very own War of the Roses.PA War of the Roses
The King of Prussia lives on in Pennsylvania as well.
Funny, since across the Atlantic, both the king and Prussia have ceased to exist!
We have a Miami in Spain!
York isn't just a city in England, it's also a city in Pennsylvania.
Also, the existence of New Caledonia and New Britain tells me it's not just Americans doing this.
I believe there's also a New London, pop 15 plus someone's dog, which shows a distinct lack of imagination.
Can't believe those Americans, capturing New Netherland from the Dutch and renaming it in honor of the Duke of York. Just like an American to do that
The third one in this series is my favorite
We even do it to ourselves
Indigenous PNWers call white folks bostoners because of how many of them originally came from Mass and named their new settlements after towns in Mass
I mean, they weren't always Americans at the time, but it's still funny :)
Besides, it was the new world (in that it was new to Europeans)
There are like twelve Londons in the US. Looks like we exported only the best and the most creative.
There's a London in Ontario too
Bunch of Paris too.
I remember flying to NYC from Europe and being very confused at seeing the very same names on the in-flight map as when we departed. Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris.. they had all of them!
Where is “Jack City” located in Europe?
Sir New Jack is a wrestler not a city. (Unless youre talking about the movie)
As a former resident of Norfolk, sometimes we just took the name and fuck the new.
