Fun Town Names and a Give Away

by

It seems like every state has a few towns with truly unusual names. I wonder sometimes what it’s like to write ZZyzx, California as a return address on an envelope (and this is from someone who wrote Winnemucca, Nevada for 30 years.)

Idaho, the state where I grew up, has a lot of interesting names–Slickpoo, for instance, named after a man who gave land for a Jesuit mission. Washington state has many fun names that are impossible to pronounce unless you’re from the area.

Below I’ve listed a few of my favorites from around the country:

Why, Arizona  — named after a Y joining State Routes 85 and highway 86. Arizona law requires that a town’s name have three letters, so Y became Why.

Big Sag, Montana  — named for a large sag or dip in the landscape

Atomic City, Idaho — named after its proximity to the National Reactor Testing Station

Skookumchuck, Washington – means water in the Chinook language

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico — named after the Ralph Edwards radio show.

Hygiene, Colorado — named in the 19th Century by the National Cleanliness Society for a sanitarium nearby

Rough and Ready, California – named during the Gold Rush

Boring, Oregon – has a sister city in Scotland named Dull

Chicken, Alaska – named because the miners couldn’t spell ptarmigan.

Now it’s your turn. For a chance for a $10 Amazon gift certificate, add a  fun city name in the comments. The only caveat is that it has to be or have been populated at some point in time. I’m looking forward to reading the additions!

UPDATE: I’m reading the fun town names in the comments and loving them! I’m amazed at how the names evolve and stick. Thank you for making me smile and adding to the list! WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SUNDAY MARCH 29 along with a compilation of the names. I think we need a summary. 🙂

Website |  + posts

Jeannie Watt raises cattle in Montana and loves all things western. When she's not writing, Jeannie enjoys sewing, making mosaic mirrors, riding her horses and buying hay. Lots and lots of hay.

55 thoughts on “Fun Town Names and a Give Away”

  5. In Missouri: Tightwad (Henry County): Named after a stingy shopkeeper who allegedly cheated a mailman out of a watermelon,

  8. Intercourse, Pennsylvania – Intercourse, PA, founded in 1754, was originally named “Cross Keys” before changing its name around 1814. The name likely stems from the 19th-century use of “intercourse” to describe fellowship, social interaction, or the intersection of two major roads

  10. I live in MD, and there are some unusual town names here. 😀

    – Ladiesburg (Supposedly named after a census found only one man and seven women living there)
    -Accident
    -Boring
    -Funkstown
    -Girdletree
    -Detour
    -Pigtown

    • You’ve proved that we should read all comments before posting our own: I chose Accident, Boring and Detour a couple hours after you posted this.

  11. Boys town Nebraska. Was started by a Father Flanagan as a way to help homeless boys. It has expanded big time. It was founded in 1917 it has a post office and a fire station. Also a mayor of the town.

  12. I live in Arizona and there are some unusual names for cities/towns but funniest of all to me is how visitors pronounce some of them, such as Ajo, Gila Bend, and let’s not forget Fort Huachuca. Not far from me is Surprise, AZ, where many of my cousins live.

  15. I live in Tennessee and growing up each summer we would go to a family reunion and to get there we went through two small towns: Defeated and Difficult. Defeated is along Defeated Creek and it is believed to get its name after a group of the early settlers in the area were attacked by Cherokees led by Hanging Maw and were driven out of the area. Difficult is said to have gotten its name when the residents of the city applied to have a post office and the application was returned because the preferred name was “too difficult”.

  21. Florida has Christmas, Holly Hill (there are NO hills in FL!!), Frostproof, and Yeehaw Junction. I’m sure there are more, but I’ve actually been to Christmas, Frostproof, and Yeehaw Junction!

  26. Ajo , Arizona. Ajo is Spanish for “garlic” . Wild garlic plants grew in the surrounding mountains and were responsible for the naming of the town. It is pronounced ( ah-ho) but most out-of-staters give us a laugh by pronouncing it it (ah-joe).

  30. Welcome. Oh but this is fun. I lived in Apple Valley, CA and we often went to Big Bear, CA.
    I now live near Normal, IL.

  31. Ducktown, GA. But I don’t think it’s an official city anymore, I think it’s been merged in with another. Supposedly it got its name when the postman was given permission to change the name. He went outside after a rain and the road, being dirt at the time, was filled with puddles where all the ruts were. A local family’s ducks had taken over the road and were sitting in all the puddles and he decided the name of the city was Ducktown.

  32. What a fun article! Some of these town names are really silly. I live in Edcouch, TX and always get asked to spell it for some reason. Not sure how we got the name though.

  33. Cut and Shoot , Texas , it originated from a local dispute. Lots of strange names for cities and towns. Have a great day and a great week.

  36. I live in Sierra Vista, Arizona and I go through Whetstone to travel to Tucson. We are south of Why, AZ.

  37. Celeryville (Huron County): Settled in the late 1800s, this town is named for the rich soil that allowed Dutch farmers to grow celery very quickly.

  41. Washington has Fruitvale, near Yakima (Yakama) and Appleyard, near Wenatchee. Both of those honor the many acres of orchards in Yakima and Chelan Counties. Of course a lot of people mispronounce Yakima and Wenatchee both of which were local tribal names.

  42. North Carolina has Bear Grass, Lizard Lick, Why Not, Climax, Bat Cave, Bath, and Kill Devil Hills.

  43. Show Low, Az was named after a poker game played by two early settlers. They decided there wasn’t enough room for both in the community and agreed on a card game to decide who was to get the 100.000 acre ranch and who was to move on. They played for a long time and then decided to draw a card and who showed low was the winner. Mr Cooley drew a deuce of clubs and won and the other settler moved on never to be heard from again.
    Some of the streets have names indicative of cards- Ace of hearts way, blackjack road, and turn of cards street

  45. There is a small community near us in North Carolina called Forks of Ivy. Not a bad name but it makes me smile every time we drive by. Here in Tennessee, there are two areas nearby that were little communities back in the 1800’s but are now just crossroads with some of the old houses with the stores fallen down. One is called No Fatty and the other is Hog Eye. Sadly, Hog Eye lives up to its name. The houses there are not kept up and are surrounded by trash.

Comments are closed.