10 Oddly Named Cities

Written on 07/21/2010 by Andrew Hickey in Travel

Chicago, Dublin, London, Montreal and New York. All great city names that really need no explanation.

But from time to time when I am traveling, I will come across a city name that really stands out. I mean I grew up in a city called Rockaway.

While I do not know the real origin of the name, I do remember our elementary teacher explaining to the class that a boy came home from school with a rock.

Upon entering the kitchen, his mother noticed it and said throw that rock away! They even made us sing a damn song about it in the school play. The tune sadly is ingrained in my head to this day. So from the funny to the strange, here are 10 cities with – ahem – “unique” names.

Brilliant, Alabama

Brilliant, Alabama

Square Butte, Montana

Square Butte, Montana

Fucking, Austria

Fucking, Austria

Boring, Oregon

Boring, Oregon

Hell, Michigan

Hell, Michigan

Accident, Maryland

Accident, Maryland

Dildo, Newfoundland

Dildo, Newfoundland

Crapstone, United Kingdom

Crapstone, United Kingdom

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

St. Louis de Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada

St. Louis de Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

25 Comments - Leave a comment!
  • http://www.adventurouskate.com Adventurous Kate

    It’s always fun to drive a big truck through Mianus…..

    ….Connecticut.

  • http://the-corny-travelers-chronicles.blogspot.com/ Abhi

    I read somewhere that long back, every town (I guess, its post office) was ‘allowed’ to choose its own name, and that’s how a lot of US towns got such interesting names.

    Once I was going through the atlas, and saw a place called ‘Truth or Consequences’! Brilliant, isn’t it?

  • http://www.hikebiketravel.com Leigh

    Enjoyed your selection of names.

    Newfoundland has some great town/village names – Dildo, Heart’s Content, Blow me Down, Come By Chance, Black Tickle…

  • Andrew Hickey

    Abhi, Truth or Consequences is in New Mexico. http://bit.ly/brG2Ha

  • Andrew Hickey

    Leigh – I may have to visit Newfoundland just to take a tour of the great names. Blow me Down? haha

  • http://www.thejetpacker.com The Jetpacker

    We did a post not too long ago on cities with dirty sexual names, and some of yours made the list:

    http://thejetpacker.com/69-towns-and-cities-with-funny-dirty-names/

    It’s a life goal of mine to go to Fucking… and steal a sign.

  • Andrew Hickey

    You wouldn’t be the first. Fucking actually has had a problem for years with people stealing signs.

  • http://thetravelprovocateur.com/ Jen Laceda

    Waaaay too funny! i love this! thanks for the laugh…

  • http://www.solofemaletraveler.com Sabina

    I grew up in Peculiar, Missouri.

  • http://unexpectedtraveller.wordpress.com Unexpected Traveller

    Here’s another one for you from Belgium: http://wp.me/ppqxP-wZ

  • http://www.twitter.com/martijnherrman Martijn

    There is a small town in the Netherlands called Grave. It is said that, nearing the end of WW2, allied soldiers refused to fight a battle near this place…

  • http://Website Michael

    How about Blue Ball, PA

  • http://www.sheila0gh.wordpress.com sheila gallant-halloran

    I’m from Newfoundland! It’s a fantastic spot, wonderfully hospitable people, terrific culture, and is making hot spot lists for summer vacations (including msn) – gorgeous countryside, on the ocean, untamed nature…but it’s list of oddly named spots was only touched upon here. There are many more (Twillingate, Joe Batt’s Arm, Cow’s Head, just to name a few…). You really should visit.

  • Andrew Hickey

    Sheila – I need to get in touch with Newfoundland tourism and get a trip out there to visit each of these oddly named cities. Would make for a helluva story.

  • Andrew Hickey

    Michael – People from Blue Ball really like visiting nearby Intercourse.

  • http://seekingrb.blogspot.com/ Andy Murdock

    I’ve always been a fan of the strangely suggestive Humptulips, Washington. I like tulips as much as the next guy, but clearly someone loves them more.

  • http://vagabonderz.com Carlo

    Haha. Too funny! I would like to hear the song about Rockaway. Perhaps you could post a podcast…

  • Andrew Hickey

    Carlo,

    I don’t remember much from my elementary school years education wise, but that lame song haunts me over 20 years later.

    I can not remember the entire tune, but the chorus rings loud and clear in my head.

    The name was here to stay
    They called it Rockaway!

    Ugh.

  • http://dangerousbusiness.wordpress.com Amanda

    Haha! What a fantastic list. Funny finds like these are one of my favorite things about traveling. Recently, on a trip to Alaska, we drove down “Ragged Ass Road.” Amazing.

  • http://Website Michael

    The Blue Ball residents do indeed like visiting Intercourse. But they also like going to Mount Joy and to visit Lititz!

    When we visited Amish country last year we drove around stopping to take pictures of the signs as did some others. Definiltey made for some fun wanderings!

  • http://www.insiderperks.com Brian Searl

    Great article.. There was a even a few I hadn’t heard of. Would be great to do a follow-up series of posts on each of these towns and explore a little of their history and why they ended up with these names.

    Thanks!

  • http://Website Katie

    There’s a great one a bit west of us in Vail: No Name, Colorado. We’re a creative bunch.

  • http://gardenfaerie.blogspot.com Monica the Garden Faerie

    I’ve been to Hell and it’s not really as cool (or hot) as it sounds. Fucking, Austria is a new one to me. Speaking of Dildo, NFD, you may like this song about other bizarre place names in Newfoundland.

  • http://Website Name

    I was visiting a friend in NC, we passed a sign for Climax and High Point.

  • http://www.eurotriptips.com Eurotrip Tips

    Ha! Ha! is also a lake in the Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region, in Quebec. Gotta love these funny names!