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

The village of Å in Norway

• 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

Road sign for Boring, Oregon

• 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

Old cargo handling office, Hell railway station, Norway

• 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")

L

A sign showing the name and English translation of the town

• Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada; Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Ladysmith, Wisconsin, USA
• Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, Australia
• Lake Minnewanka, Alberts, Canada
• Lake Tahoe, USA
• Lake Titicaca, in Peru and Bolivia
• Lame Deer, Montana
• Latex, Texas
• Learned, Mississippi, USA
• Levelland, Texas, USA
• Liberal, Kansas, USA
• Lickey End, Worcestershire, England
• Licking, Missouri, USA
• Licking County, Ohio, USA
• Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA¹
• Little Big Horn, Montana, USA
• Little Five Points, Atlanta, Georgia, USA ⁵
• Little George Coc'nuts, Pitcairn Island
• Little River, Victoria, Australia
• Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
• Livermore, California, USA
• Liverpool, Great Britain
• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales ²
• Llanhyfryddawelllehynafolybarcudprindanfygythiadtrienusyrhafnauole (normally Llanfynydd), Wales ²
• Llanddewi Brefi, Wales, UK (not to be confused with the fictional Llandewi Breffi featured in Little Britain)
• Locust Valley, New York, USA
• Log Cabin, Texas, USA
• Loggerheads, Wales
• Lolita, Texas
• Loogootee, Indiana, USA
• Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Lorne, Victoria, Australia
• Lost, Scotland
• Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland (pronounced "Lock Nay")
• Louny, Czech Republic
• Loveland, Ohio, USA
• Loveland, Colorado, USA
• Lover, Wiltshire, England
• Loving, New Mexico, USA
• Loving County, Texas, USA
• Loyal, Oklahoma, USA
• Loyal, Wisconsin, USA
• Luck, Wisconsin, USA
• Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

M

• Macgillicuddy's Reeks, mountains in Ireland
• Magnet, Nebraska, USA
• Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, USA
• Mahwah, New Jersey, USA
• Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta, Canada (beach)
• Manteca, California, USA, Spanish word for lard.
• March, Cambridgeshire, England ⁴
• Martin's Heron, Berkshire, England
• Masai, Johor, Malaysia
• Mashpee, Massachusetts, USA
• Mavis Enderby, Lincolnshire, England
• Maybee, Michigan, USA
• Mayo, Yukon, Canada⁸ (named after Alfred Mayo)
• Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
• Melbury Bubb, Dorset, England
• Meridian, Mississippi, USA
• Merrybent, County Durham, England
• Metropolis, Illinois, USA
• Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico (portmanteau of "Mexico" and "California"; it lies by the international border [see also Calexico])
• Mexican Hat, Utah, USA
• Mianus, Connecticut, USA
• Middelfart, Funen, Denmark
• Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England
• Mineral, Virginia, USA - pronounced min-rul by locals
• Mockbeggar, England
• Mold, Wales
• Money, Mississippi, USA
• Monks Risborough, England
• Monster, Netherlands
• Montezuma, Indiana, USA
• Moosehead Lake, Maine, USA
• Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada
• Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Morehead, Kentucky, USA
• Moretonhampstead, Devon (longest one-word place name in England)
• Moron, USA (the original name of Taft, California)
• Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Morón, Spain (Morón Air Base is the home of the 496th USAF Air Base Squadron)
• Mough, Ireland (pronounced Muff) ¹
• Mount Disappointment, Victoria, Australia
• Mount Hopeless, Australia
• Mousehole, UK
• Muck, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
• Muckanaghederdauhaulia, Ireland
• Muff, County Donegal, Ireland
• The Mullet, an island off the coast of Ireland
• Muleshoe, Texas, USA
• Mumbles, Wales
• Murderkill River, Delaware, USA

N

• Nacogdoches, Texas, USA
• Nar Nar Goon, Victoria, Australia
• Nasty, Hertfordshire, England
• Nauraushaun, New York, USA
• Navasota, Texas, USA
• Neck City, Missouri, USA
• Needles, California, USA
• Nempnett Thrubwell, Somerset, England
• Nether Wallop, Hampshire, England
• Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, England
• New Invention, Shropshire, England
• New Invention, Walsall, England
• Niceville, Florida, USA
• Nimrod, Minnesota, USA
• Ninety Six, South Carolina, USA ⁵
• Nobber, County Meath, Ireland
• Nobottle, Northamptonshire, England
• Nogo, Arkansas, USA
• Nome, Alaska, USA (after the nearby Cape Nome; '? Name' misread by a map maker as 'C. Nome')
• No Place, County Durham, England
• Norco, California, USA; abbreviation of "North Corona"
• Normal, Illinois, USA
• Normal Heights, a community in San Diego, California, USA
• North, South Carolina, USA
• North Freedom, Wisconsin, USA
• North Pole, Alaska, USA
• Nothing, Arizona, USA
• Notrees, Texas, USA
• Novice, Texas, USA
• Nunhead, London, England
• Nyah West, Victoria, Australia

O

• Oatman, Arizona, USA
• Odd, West Virginia, USA
• Odder, Denmark
• Ogre, Latvia
• Ojos de Agua, El Salvador (Spanish for "Eyes of water")
• Okonoko, West Virginia, USA
• Old, Northamptonshire, England
• Old Crow, Yukon, Canada
• Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, England
• Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England
• Old Swan, Liverpool, England
• Old Warden, Bedfordshire, England
• Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, Canada
• Oma, Wisconsin, USA, the German shortened version for grandmother
• One Hundred and Two River, Iowa and Missouri, USA
• One Tree Hill, South Australia
• Oombulgurri, Western Australia, Australia
• Opa-locka, Florida, USA
• Opelousas, Louisiana, USA
• Opp, Alabama, USA
• Orange, California, USA, city in Orange County, and Orange, New Jersey, USA⁸
• Oroszlány, Hungary (a twist on "oroszlán", meaning "lion"; spelled this way, it translates to "Russian girl" in Hungarian)
• Oroville, California, USA ("Oro" is Spanish for "gold")
• Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
• Os, Hedmark, Norway ²
• Os, Hordaland, Norway ²
• Oskaloosa, Iowa and Oskaloosa, Kansas, USA
• Otterup, Denmark
• Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso
• Owanka, South Dakota, USA ¹
• Oxnard, California, USA
• Oy, Germany

P

• Pahrump, Nevada, USA
• Paint, Pennsylvania, USA
• Pakenham Upper, Victoria, Australia
• Panthersville, Georgia, USA
• The Paps of Jura, mountains on the Isle of Jura, Scotland
• Parachute, Colorado, USA
• Paradise, New Zealand
• Paradise, California, USA
• Paradise, Michigan, USA
• Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA
• Patriot, Indiana, USA
• Pease Pottage, West Sussex, England ⁸
• Peck, Michigan, USA ¹
• Peculiar, Missouri, USA
• Pee Pee Township, Pike County, Ohio, USA
• Peel, Ontario, Canada
• Penguin, Tasmania, Australia ⁷
• Penisarwain, Gwynedd, Wales ¹
• Peñíscola, Spain (also means (the) penis sticked in French) ¹
• Penistone, South Yorkshire, England ¹
• Pennycomequick, Plymouth, Devon, England
• Perisher Blue, New South Wales, Australia
• Petting, Germany
• Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA
• Phuket, Thailand ¹
• Piddle, river in Dorset, England, which runs from near Puddletown to Poole harbour
• Piddletrenthide and Piddlehinton, located on this river
• Pidley, Cambridgeshire, England ¹
• Pity Me, County Durham, England
• Placentia, California, USA
• Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹
• Plain Dealing, Louisiana, USA
• Plaster City, California, USA
• Pleasureville, Kentucky, USA
• Point Blank, Texas, USA
• Police, Poland
• Port Radium, Northwest Territories, Canada
• Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, USA
• Possum Trot, Missouri, USA
• Pratt's Bottom, London, England ¹
• Prattville, Alabama
• Prickwillow, England ¹
• Princes End, Tipton, England
• Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA
• Purgatory Chasm State Reservation, a state park in Sutton, Massachusetts, USA
• Pussy, France ¹
• Puzzletown, Pennsylvania, USA

Q

• Quail, Texas, USA
• Quaking Houses, County Durham, England
• Quamba, Minnesota, USA
• Queen Camel, Somerset, England
• Quicksand, Kentucky, USA

R

• Rabbit Ears Pass, Colorado, USA
• Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, USA
• Ramsbottom, Lancashire, UK (fr. Old English meaning "valley (botham) of wild garlic (rham)")
• Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA ³
• Rancho Mirage, California, USA; possibly the only place name in the world combining words from both Spanish and French
• Re, Vestfold, Norway ²
• Reading in various places (pronounced "Redding")
• Readymoney Cove, Cornwall, England
• Red Shirt, South Dakota, USA
• Rice, California, USA; abandoned small town in the southern Mojave Desert⁸
• Rifle, Colorado, USA
• Ringoes, New Jersey, USA
• Rising Sun, Indiana, USA
• Roach, Missouri, USA
• Robert Lee, Texas, USA
• Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile
• Rollingstone, Minnesota, USA
• Ronkonkoma, New York, USA (stress on the second syllable)
• Rosenhayn, New Jersey, USA
• Rottenegg (part of Geisenfeld), Germany
• Rough and Ready, California, USA
• Rule, Texas, USA
• Rum, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland ⁸
• Rum Jungle, Northern Territory, Australia ⁸
• Rust, Austria
• Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, England
• Ry, Denmark ²
• Rye, New York, USA
• Ryme Intrinseca, Dorset, England

S

Shag Point, New Zealand

• Saddam Hussein, Sri Lanka (the Iraqi dictator donated money to the town after a destructive 1978 cyclone.)
• Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada
• Saint-Tite, Quebec, Canada (pronounced "St Tit")
• Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada
• Sandwich, Illinois, USA ⁸
• Sandwich, Kent, England ⁸
• Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA ⁸
• Sandy, Bedfordshire, England – especially its informal postal abbreviation "Sandy Beds"
• Salsipuedes, Mexico (meaning: "leave if you can" in Spanish)
• Santa Claus, Georgia, USA
• Santa Claus, Indiana, USA'
• Satan's Kingdom, Connecticut
• Satsuma, Alabama, USA
• Schenectady, New York, USA (Pronounced "Ske-NECT-i-dee". It's ZIP code is "12345".)
• Scunthorpe, England. The name causes problems with some child-protection filters owing to the presence of the word "cunt".
• Searchlight, Nevada, USA
• Secretary, Maryland, USA
• Seldom Seen Roadhouse, Victoria, Australia
• Stepaside, Pembrokeshire, Wales
• Seven Corners, Virginia, USA
• Seven Hills, Ohio, USA
• Seven Mile, Ohio, USA
• Sexbierum, the Netherlands
• Sexmoan, Pampanga, Philippines (now renamed Sasmuan) ¹
• Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada ¹
• Shafter, California, USA¹
• Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. (A shag is a sort of seabird.)
• Shag Island, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indian Ocean (dependency of Australia)
• Shag Island, Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada ¹
• Shag River, New Zealand ¹
• Shahada, India (a town in Nandurbar District, Maharashtra state, India
• Shamrock, Texas, USA ⁷
• Shelfanger, Norfolk, England
• Sheriff Hales, Shropshire, England
• Shitlington Crags, Northumberland, England
• Shitterton, England (near Bere Regis)
• Shittlehope, Durham, England
• Show Low, Arizona, USA
• Siem Reab, Cambodia (meaning defeat Siam)
• Siesta Key, Florida, USA
• Silly, Belgium
• Simmering, Vienna, Austria
• Simplex Drive, Westminster, Massachusetts, USA (home of SimplexGrinnell)
• Siren, Wisconsin, USA
• Skaneateles, New York, USA (pronounced like skinny Atlas)
• Skookumchuck River, Washington, USA
• Skyline, Minnesota, USA
• Slapout, Oklahoma, USA
• Slaughter Beach, Delaware, USA
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan, USA
• Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, USA
• Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, USA
• Slough, England (rhymes with "cow")
• Slutsk, Belarus
• Smackover, Arkansas, USA
• Snodland, Kent, England
• Sort, Lleida, Spain (means luck in Catalan)
• Soweto, South Africa (derived from an abbreviation of "South Western Townships")
• Soso, Mississippi, USA
• Spit Junction, New South Wales, Australia
• Split, Dalmatia, Croatia
• Splott, Cardiff, Wales
• Spooner, Wisconsin, USA
• Spread Eagle, Wisconsin, USA ¹
• Spuzzum, British Columbia, Canada
• Stamping Ground, Kentucky, USA
• Stateline, Mississippi, USA
• Stateline, Nevada, USA
• Stiffkey, Norfolk, England
• Stocking, Austria
• Strata Florida Abbey, Dyfed, Wales
• Sugar Land, Texas, USA
• Sumerduck, Virginia, USA
• Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia
• Surprise, Arizona, USA
• Surprise, Nebraska, USA
• Swallow, Lincolnshire, England
• Swampoodle, District of Columbia, USA
• Swastika, Ontario, Canada
• Sweet Gum Head, Florida, USA
• Swords, County Dublin, Ireland
• Sylt, island in Germany; pronounced [zʏlt]

T

• Tarzana, California, USA; based on the name of fictional character Tarzan
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Hill, New Zealand
• Tehachapi, California, USA and the corresponding Tehachapi Pass
• Ten Sleep, Wyoming, USA
• Te Puke, New Zealand
• Te Urewera National Park, New Zealand ("Te Urewera" is Maori for "the burnt penis")
• Terre Haute, Indiana, USA (pronounced "terruh hoat")
• Terry Hie Hie, New South Wales, Australia
• Texarkana, Texas, USA and Texarkana, Arkansas, USA are twin cities on their states' common border
• The Wash, eastern England
• The Woodlands, Texas, USA
• Them, Denmark
• Thong, Kent, England
• Thousand Oaks, California, USA ^{5 & 7}
• Thousand Palms, California, USA ⁵
• Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia
• Ticklerton, Shropshire, England
• Tiddleywink, Wiltshire, England
• Tightwad, Missouri, USA
• Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico; commonly credited to the Spanish phrase "Tia Juana", or "Aunt Jane". The name is actually from the Yuman tiwan, or "near the sea".
• Tis Grias To Pidima, Andros, Greece ("The Old Woman's Leap")
• Tittybong, Victoria, Australia ¹
• Toast, North Carolina, USA ⁸
• Tolstoy, South Dakota, USA; see also Tolstoy#Places
• Tombstone, Arizona, USA
• Tongue, Scotland
• Tool, Texas, USA
• Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
• Towcester, Northamptonshire, England (pronounced "toaster")
• Transylvania, Louisiana, USA
• Treinta y Tres, Uruguay (thirty-three)⁵
• Trepalle, Italy (meaning "three balls")
• Troia, Calabria, Italy (means "sow" or "slut" in slang) ¹
• Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, Canada
• True, Wisconsin, USA
• Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, USA; originally Hot Springs, but changed its name on a promise that a game show would tape an episode there.
• Tuba City, Arizona, USA
• Tubbercurry, County Sligo, Ireland
• Tumba, Sweden. (Spanish for "grave")
• Turda, Cluj, Romania
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
• Tuxedo, New York, USA
• Twatt, Orkney Islands, Scotland ¹
• Twatt, Shetland Islands, Scotland ¹
• Twenty, Lincolnshire, England ⁵
• Twentynine Palms, California, USA ⁵
• Twinsburg, Ohio, USA ⁷
• Twist, Arkansas, USA
• Two Egg, Florida

U

• Ubehebe Crater, geologic formation in Death Valley National Park, USA
• Ugley, Essex, England
• Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia
• Unalaska, Alaska, USA
• Uncertain, Texas, USA
• Unnamed Conservation Park, South Australia, Australia
• Upend, Cambridgeshire, England
• Upotipotpon, Victoria, Australia
• Upper Swan, Western Australia, Australia
• Upperthong, Yorkshire, England
• Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Usa, Oita, Japan
• Utopia, Texas, USA

V

• Vader, Small city in Southwest Washington
• Valtimo, Finland ⁷(means artery in Finnish)
• Varkaus, Finland (means theft in Finnish)
• Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe, Argentina (lit. "One-Eyed Deer")
• Venusberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Virgin, Utah, USA ¹
• Virginia Water, Surrey, England
• Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

Road sign with Wedding inscribed on it (Berlin, Germany)

W

• Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
• Wahoo, Nebraska, USA
• Walla Walla, Washington, USA ³
• Walnut, California, USA ⁸
• Wanda, Minnesota, USA
• Wangford, Suffolk, England ¹
• Wankers Corner, Oregon, USA ¹
• Wankie, former name of Hwange, Zimbabwe ¹
• War, West Virginia, USA
• Ware, Massachusetts, USA
• Ware, Hertfordshire, England ⁶
• Washington Court House, Ohio,USA
• Watanobbi, New South Wales, Australia
• Waterproof, Louisiana, USA
• Waxahachie, Texas, USA
• Weare, New Hampshire, USA (pronounced "ware") ⁶
• Wedding, Germany
• Weed, California, USA
• Weedpatch, California, USA
• Weequahic, Newark, New Jersey, USA (pronounced "weekwake")
• Weir, Mississippi, USA (Pronounced "ware") ⁶
• Welcome, Minnesota, USA
• Welcome, South Carolina, USA
• Westward Ho!, Devon, England (the punctuation mark is part of the name. The town takes its name from the title of a book by Charles Kingsley)
• Wetwang, Yorkshire, England ¹
• Whakapapa skifield, New Zealand, and many other similar placenames ("Wh-" is pronounced as "F" in some dialects of Maori) ¹
• What Cheer, Iowa, USA
• Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma Gate (street), York, North Yorkshire, England
• Whorehouse Meadows, Frenchglen, Oregon
• Why, Arizona, USA ⁶
• Whynot, Mississippi, USA
• Wide Open, Tyne and Wear, England
• Window Rock, Arizona, USA
• Windpassing, Austria
• Wink, Texas – in Winkler County
• Winkler, Manitoba, Canada
• Winter, Wisconsin, USA ⁴
• Wisdom, Montana, USA
• Woodenbong, New South Wales, Australia
• Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia
• World's End, Berkshire, England
• Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (home of the Diet of Worms) ⁷
• Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia
• Wuxi, Jiangsu, China (means "no tin" in Chinese)
• Wymore, Nebraska, USA
• Wynot, Nebraska, USA

X

Xantippe, Australia

Y

• Y, Alaska, USA ²
• Y, Somme, France ²
• Yaphank, New York, USA
• Yazoo City, Mississippi, USA
• Ybor City, Florida, USA
• Yea, Victoria, Australia
• Yeehaw Junction, Florida, USA
• Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
• Youlgreave, Derbyshire, England
• You Yangs, a group of peaks near Geelong, Victoria
• Yp Desert, western United States
• Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
• Yreka, California, USA

Z

Sign to Zzyzx Road, on Interstate 15, California

• Zap, North Dakota, USA
• Zelienople, Pennsylvania, USA
• Zonguldak, Turkey
• Zzyzx, California, USA

See also

• List of short place names
• List of places with numbers in their name
• List of misleading place names
• List of tautological place names
• List of unusual English words
• Rude Britain
• Street sign theft
• List of toponyms (names derived from place names)
• Toponymy
• List of unusual personal names

Further reading

• Far from Dull: and other places ISBN 095422177X
• Rude Britain - with selected photographs and explanations of rude-sounding places and street names