Naming oddities

10 oddly named US towns and cities and their surprising stories

America is home to over 19,000 incorporated cities and towns. While many have familiar names, others sound so unusual that they often force credibility. However, behind these atypical names, there are stories rooted in America's past, from the Gold Rush and the westward expansion to local legends that have endured for generations. Let's walk through some of the most peculiar city names out there and discover their surprising origins.

Founded in 1879 by prospector Ed Schieffelin, Tombstone owes its notoriously bleak name to a sarcastic remark. While searching for silver in southeastern Arizona, Schieffelin was warned by soldiers that the only thing he would find in Apache territory was his own tombstone.

Instead, Schieffelin struck one of the richest silver deposits in the American West. He named his mining claim Tombstone, and the booming town that sprang up around it quickly became one of the frontier's most prosperous communities, best remembered today by Old West figures like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.

Originally known as Hot Springs, this community was founded in the late nineteenth century around a series of natural mineral springs that attracted visitors. By the middle of the twentieth century, it had become a well-known spa destination in the Southwest.

Everything changed in 1950, when radio personality Ralph Edwards announced that he would broadcast the anniversary episode of his wildly popular show Truth or Consequences from any town willing to adopt the show's name. In one of the most successful publicity campaigns in American history, the residents of Hot Springs voted in favor of the change, and the town still bears its unusual name more than 70 years later.

In 1944, minister and radio evangelist Curtis Howe Springer established a health resort in the Mojave Desert and deliberately named it Zzyzx. Springer claimed that he chose that specific name with the intention of making it the last word of the English dictionary.

Although the resort eventually closed and the federal government reclaimed the land, the name survived: today, Zzyzx is home to a desert studies center operated by California State University, and remains one of the most unusual names in America.

Founded during the colonial era, Accident traces its origins to a remarkable surveying mistake during the 1750s. Two surveyors, working independently, selected exactly the same 315-acre parcel while mapping western Maryland.

The overlapping claim became known as "The Accident", and when settlers established a community there, the name stuck. More than two centuries later, the town continues to embrace the name and its fortuitous history.

The community of Chicken was established during Alaska's gold rush around 1902. Prospectors frequently hunted the local ptarmigan for food and originally wanted to name the settlement after the bird.

The problem was that few of the miners could agree on how to spell ptarmigan. Rather than risk embarrassment, and because the two species share some similarities, they chose the much simpler name Chicken.

Founded in 1868, as the railroad expanded across western Missouri, the community encountered an unexpected problem when applying for a post office: Every proposed town name had already been claimed elsewhere in the state.

The story goes that the local postmaster, in frustration, wrote to Washington stating that he didn't care what the town was called as long as it was something "peculiar." More than 150 years later, Peculiar still bears the name with pride.

"Why" is a community located in the Sonoran Desert, whose unusual name is the product of an unexpected legal technicality. The settlement developed during the early twentieth century at the point where the State Routes 85 and 86 intersected in the shape of the letter "Y."

The community originally wanted to call itself "Y" in honor of that intersection, but because Arizona law required community names to contain at least three letters, they spelled it out. As a result, even after the intersection has since been redesigned, the town of Why still keeps one of the most curious and memorable names in America.

While the name "Boring" may sound unflattering, its story is a pretty common one. The town is named after William Harrison Boring, a Union Army veteran who moved into the area in the 1870s and became one of its earliest settlers.

Over time, the accidental double meaning of Boring turned it into a tourist curiosity. The community, rather than shy away from the jokes, embraced them, even forming a lighthearted partnership with the village of Dull, Scotland, to celebrate their similarly harsh names.

Hell began as a small milling community in southern Michigan during the 1830s, when pioneer George Reeves established it along nearby waterways. The exact origin of its name is shrouded in legend and local folklore.

One of the most popular stories claims that, when Reeves was asked what the settlement should be called, he jokingly replied: "Call it Hell for all I care." On the other hand, some historians believe that the name evolved from early German settlers using the word hell, meaning "bright".

While the true origin of the name may never be known, the town of Hell fully embraced its reputation, welcoming thousands of visitors each year with thematic attractions and souvenirs.

Unlike many Western towns that grew naturally around mines or railroads, Jackpot was created almost overnight in 1954 as a direct result of Idaho banning casino gambling. Entrepreneurs realized they could attract Idaho residents simply by building casinos just across the Nevada border.

The new community was aptly named Jackpot, and it quickly became a thriving destination. Few towns have a name that so perfectly matches the reason they came into existence.

Identity crisis

How Siam became Thailand and 9 other countries that chose to rebrand

Image: pure julia

Countries rename themselves for many reasons—shedding colonial pasts, embracing local languages, or settling political disputes. Some changes are subtle, others dramatic, but each reflects deep historical, cultural, or geopolitical shifts. Here are 10 times a nation decided to swap out its old name for a new identity.

Image: Yves Alarie

In 1989, the ruling military junta of the country changed "Burma" to "Myanmar" to reflect what it said was a more inclusive, indigenous identity. The name "Burma" was strongly associated with British colonialism and the dominant Bamar ethnic group.

The UN and many countries recognized the change, but some, like the U.S. and UK, resisted for years as a political stance against the unelected military regime behind the change.

Image: S'mile Vilakati

In 2018, King Mswati III declared that Swaziland would become Eswatini, meaning "land of the Swazis" in the local language. He announced the change during the country’s 50th independence anniversary.

The king cited confusion with Switzerland and a desire to break with colonial-era names as reasons. Also, the new name had already been in unofficial use for years during local events.

Image: Hendrik Cornelissen

In 1972, the island nation officially changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka after becoming a republic. "Sri Lanka" derives from Sanskrit, meaning "resplendent island."

The name "Ceylon" was tied to Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial rule. However, some companies (like Ceylon Tea) still use the old name as a global brand.

Image: Kaysha

In 1997, after the dictatorial regime of Mobutu Sese Seko was overthrown, Zaire reverted to its pre-1971 name: the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"Zaire" had been Mobutu’s attempt to Africanize the nation, but reverting to the original name also caused its own problems, since its neighbor is also named the Republic of the Congo, leading to some confusion for both locals and tourists.

Image: Ljupco Dzambazovski

After years of dispute with Greece over the name "Macedonia," the country officially became North Macedonia in 2019. Greece claimed "Macedonia" implied a territorial claim over its northern region of the same name.

The compromise unblocked North Macedonia’s path to NATO and EU talks. Though controversial domestically, the change ended a decades-long diplomatic standoff.

Image: allPhoto Bangkok

Under the Khmer Rouge regime, the country was known as Democratic Kampuchea. After the regime’s fall in 1979, the name gradually returned to "Cambodia," the anglicized form of the original name.

By 1993, with the monarchy restored and a new constitution, "Kingdom of Cambodia" became official. "Kampuchea" is still used in the Khmer language, but not internationally.

Image: Road Ahead

In 1984, revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara renamed Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning "Land of Incorruptible People" in local languages. The old name referred to river tributaries of the region.

Sankara saw the change as a break from colonial legacy and a tribute to national dignity. The people became known as Burkinabé, a new term coined to reflect unity.

Image: Azhar J

This was more a rebranding than a true name change. "The Netherlands" has always been the country’s official name, whereas "Holland" refers only to two provinces. In 2020, the Dutch government stopped using "Holland" in international marketing to avoid confusion.

The change was part of a tourism and trade branding overhaul, with major events like Eurovision and the Olympics adopting "Netherlands" exclusively in their materials.

Image: Mathew Schwartz

In 1939, and again officially after WWII in 1949, the country dropped the name Siam to become Thailand, meaning "land of the free."

The change was mainly driven by a nationalist movement that sought to unify the country under a more inclusive Thai identity. While the name "Siam" carried some specific cultural connotations, the name "Thailand" emphasized sovereignty and the ethnic majority’s rule.

Image: Chloe Evans

In 1980, the unrecognized white minority government of Rhodesia was replaced, and the country became Zimbabwe, derived from "Great Zimbabwe," an ancient city of the region.

The old name honored British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. The new one reclaimed African history and identity after years of brutal conflict.