Dumb.com >> Funny City Names
  Funny and Wacky City Names
  • Santa Claus, Indiana - Pioneers settled the area in 1854 and wanted to call the town Santa Fe, but they were rejected because there was already another Santa Fe, Indiana. Legend has it that they could not agree on a new name, so at the last town meeting of the year on Christmas Eve they heard sleigh bells and some kids shouted "Santa Claus!", so they decided to use that for the name.

  • Idiotville, Oregon - A former logging community near Portland that is now a ghost town. Most of the people who used to live there worked at a local logging camp, but it was so far away, locals said they must be idiots to live there.

  • Nothing, Arizona - Now abandonded, it was settled in 1977. It once had a gas station, a small convenience store, and a pizza place.

  • Knockemstiff, Ohio - There is no definitive explanation as to how the town got its name, but some people say a traveling preacher saw 2 women fighting over a man, and didn't think the man was worth fighting over, so he said that someone should "knock him stiff." Or, it may have been a preacher's advice to a woman who complained her husband was cheating on her. A totally different theory is that it is slang for the moonshine made by the locals.

  • Dumb Woman’s Lane, England - This narrow, winding, twisty road on the south coast is named for a woman who could not talk, and is not about intelligence level. It used to be a route smugglers took to bring in goods from France, and legend has it that one day a resident happened to see what was going on, and the smuggler's cut her tongue off so she could not tell anybody. An alternate explanation is that it was named for a mute woman who provided herbal cures to the people of Udimore.

  • Hell, Norway - It has a very cold climate and actually freezes over 1/3 of the year. The town's name come from the Old Norse word "hellir", which translates to "overhang".

  • Half.com, Oregon - The town is now called Halfway, but back in 1999 for a year it changed its name to be the same as the website Half.com as a promotional stunt for the discount shopping site, in exchange for $100,000, 20 computers for the school, and some other financial benefits. In 2000 ebay purchased the website Half.com for around $350 million.

  • Two Egg, Florida - During the Great Depression, 2 local boys would shop at the general store for their mom, trading two eggs for a package of sugar. The store got the nickname the "two egg store" which led to the town's name.

  • Ware, Massachusetts - Settled in 1717 and incorporated in 1775, the town's name is thought to be derived from a translation of the Native American word "Nenameseck," meaning fishing weir (pronounced Ware), which was used to capture salmon. It is a low dam built across a stream to divert its water, or a fence-like trap put on a stream for catching fish. The fact there was an the English town of Ware in Hertfordshire may have also been a factor in the naming.

  • boogertown, North Carolina - Possibly named for a man with the last name of booger that lived there and was murdered. Or, it may have taken the name when a wife, disgusted by her husband going to the local bar, referred to the patrons as a bunch of "boogers". Or, it may have been due to the legend that moonshiners created to keep people away, where they warned that the bogeyman lurked in the forest.

  • Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales - This small village holds the Guinness World Record for the internet's longest valid domain name (add a ".org.uk" to it). The name was created in the 1860s as a publicity stunt for their railroad station.

  • Quicksand, Kentucky - Legend has it the name is from a tragedy in the 1800s, where before a bridge was built, people rode horses across the river to the settlement. One day a man on a horse began to sink into the center of the river. He cried out for help but before onlookers could get to him, the man and his horse sank never to be seen again.

  • Rough and Ready, California - Founded as a mining towm, it was named after General Zachary Taylor (nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready") who had recently been elected the 12th President of the United States. Also of note is that Rough and Ready is the only mining town to have seceded from the Union and then voted itself back in. It seceded to avoid the tax on new mining claims and the prohibition of alcohol. On top of that, the US Postal Service was demanding they change the name of the town to either "Rough" or "Ready", but not both. Another incentive for secession may be found in the legend of a local con man. The con man would wager with miners that if he was able to prospect a certain amount of gold from their claims, he would pay them far more than their claim was worth. He would prospect until he had slightly less than the amount of gold needed to make good on his wager, then quit and keep the gold. Since he technically had not committed a crime, the courts were unable to prosecute him. It was decided in a town meeting in April 1850 to draw up articles of secession, forming the "Great Republic of Rough and Ready" (and according to legend, the con man was immediately hanged). Less than three months later, when discussing the issue on Independence Day celebration, community members regretted the secession, and the secession was rescinded by popular vote.

  • Noodle, Texas - Texans used to use the word "noodle" to mean "nothing", and when settlers arrived here there was nothing, so they gave it that name.

  • Sucker Flat, California - Formerly known as Gatesville (named for an early settler), the new name is based on the nickname of Illinois as the "Sucker State".

  • Hell, Michigan - The town was started by George Reeves who moved to the area in the 1830s from the Catskill Mountains in New York. He ran a sawmill, gristmill, distillery and tavern. When asked what he thought the town should be called and replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell for all I care." An alternate theory is that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schön hell!" (which translates to "So beautifully bright!"). Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck. Or, the name could have come from the "hell-like" conditions early explorers encountered, such as mosquitos and wetlands.

  • Embarrass, Minnesota - When the French-Canadians settled in this region in the 1700s, drift wood frequently got stuck in the shallow river, clogging it. The French called it "Rivière d'Embarras" ("River of Obstacles)." based on that, American settlers called it the Embarrass River. When Finnish immigrants created the town in 1905, they used the name of the local river.

  • Slapout, Alabama - In the early 1900s, when people asked the town grocer for things he did not have, he would say "I'm slap out of it".

  • Chicken, Alaska - This gold mining area was home to many Ptarmigan, which resemble a chicken and are now the state bird. Town founders wanted to call the town "Ptarmigan" with quoation marks, but some felt the quotation marks were too presumptuous, so they agreeed on Ptarmigan without the quotation marks instead. They could not agree on the spelling though, and they did not want to be laughed at, so they decided on "Chicken."

  • Jot-Em-Down, Texas - The town's name comes from the name of the fictional store in the Lum and Abner radio show which ran from 1931 to 1954. The show was set in the fictional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas, and Lum and Abner were co-owners of the store.

  • lizard lick, North Carolina - The town may have been named due to a passerby who saw many lizards sunning and licking themselves on a rail fence. Or, it could be because it was home to a federally operated liquor still, and lizards were brought in to cut down on the insects. The town became famous in 1998 when Nintendo first released the Nintendo 64 game "Yoshi's Story" there, due to Yoshi's ability to extend his tongue over a long distance. The town gained nationwide fame again in 2011 when the TruTV cable network created a reality show called lizard lick Towing about a local towing/repo business run by honorary "Mayor" Ronnie Shirley and his wife Amy.

  • Horseheads, New York - in 1779, army forces returning from a long mission had to dispose of a large number of sick and disabled horses. Native Iroquois collected the skulls and arranged them in a line along the trail, and from then on that spot was referred to as the "valley of the horses' heads". When settlers arrived a few years later, they named the town after this.

  • Hot Coffee, Mississippi - Located at the crossroads of two popular travel routes, the name comes from a popular inn and store started in 1870 by Levi Davis where he hung a coffee pot over his door, advertising "the best hot coffee around". He sold it to travelers and gave it to his hotel guests. Soon the inn began to be called Hot Coffee, and so did the surrounding area.

  • Looneyville, Texas - Named for John Looney in the 1870s, who was a storekeeper that received the town’s mail.

  • Earth, Texas - Started in 1924 as Fairlawn, but a year later they had to change the name because there was already another Fairlawn in Texas. The townsfolk sent in suggestions and voted on the best name ("Earth").

  • Worms, Germany - The name is not related to the worm animal, instead it is of Celtic origin: borbetomagus meant "settlement in a watery area". This was eventually transformed into the Latin name Vormatia, in use since the 6th century, which was preserved in the Medieval Hebrew form Vermayza and the contemporary Polish form Wormacja.

  • Christmas, Florida - In 1837, U.S Army soldiers and Alabama Volunteers construct a fort in the area, and named it Fort Christmas, because they started working on it on that day.

  • Chunky, Mississippi - Originally named Chunkyville, it was shortened in 1861 to Chunky when the town moved a few miles to be closer to a newly built train route. Local Choctaw Indians played a sports game called Chunka (played with spears and round stones) in a nearby area called Chunky Shoals on the Chunky River.

  • Toad Suck, Arkansas - There is no official story as to how the town got its name, but it may have been that steamboats would stop along the river next to the town and visit the tavern where they would "suck on the bottle until they swelled up like toads". Another possible explanation is that the name is an English corruption of a French word given to the area by French Explorers.

  • Waterproof, Louisiana - In the 1830s, this area was a popular spot for covered wagons crossing the Mississippi River, carrying settlers bound for Texas. Some got tired of the long journey and made a home in what is now Waterproof. Much of the time the area was flooded, and one of these times an early settler named Abner stood high and dry up on a small strip of land waiting for a steamboat and the captain cried out to him, "Well Abner, I see you're waterproof," and that is how the town got its name.

  • Ding Dong, Texas - Located in bell County (this is just a funny coincidence), the name came from a sign of the general store owned by Zulis bell and his nephew bert. They hired a local painter to make them a sign, and on the sign he drew two bells with the bells’ names on them, and the words "Ding Dong" coming out the bottom of the bells. This eventually led to the town's name.

  • Celebration, Florida - A planned community developed by The Walt Disney Company near the Walt Disney World Resort in the Orlando/Kissimmee area.

  • Pukë, Albania - The name Pukë comes from Latin via publica "public road" as it was located on an old trade route.

  • Cut and Shoot, Texas - Legend has it that there was a fight over a church matter in the early 1900s in this unnamed community near Houston. Just as violence was about to break out, a boy told his family he was going to "cut around the corner and shoot through the bushes." In court, the judge asked a witness where this happened, and since the town did not have a name, the witness said "I suppose you could call it the place where they had the cutting and shooting scrape".

  • Accident, Maryland - King George II of England was in the process of giving George Deakins 600 acres of land in Western Maryland in repayment of a debt, so Mr. Deakins sent out two corps of engineers to survey the best land in that area, each without knowledge of the other. both groups ended up marking up the same Oak tree as their starting and returning points, so Mr. Deakins called it the "The Accident Tract", which later became the town name.

  • Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec - The "The Ha! Ha!" part is French for an unexpected obstacle or dead end, which refers to how Lake Témiscouata came into view suddenly for French explorers.

  • No Name, Colorado - When Interstate 70 was being built, the developers planned an exit at a then unnamed area, and marked the exit sign "No Name". People who lived there decided to keep that name.

  • black Jack, Missouri - A second-ring suburb of St. Louis, named for three large blackjack Oak trees at the intersection of Old Halls Ferry and Parker Roads early in the nineteenth century. The three trees gave shade and shelter to farmers hauling their crops to market, and also acted as a meeting place and rest stop. The three trees became known as "the black Jacks".

  • Dinkytown, Minnesota - There are 4 theories on how the town got its name. The most widely accepted one is that the area had lots of trolleys and rail cars, which were referred to as "Dinkys." Three other theories are: 1. Dinkytown has always been a small community. 2. There used to be a small, 4 row theater, nickamed "The Dinky." 3. The town had a clothing business named "Grodnik", in Slavic may have mean "town of small size."

  • boring, Oregon - Named after Union war veteran William H. boring, who lived there after the war. The town's slogan is "The most exciting place to live", and was the inspiration for the Disney show Gravity Falls.

  • D'Lo, Mississippi - Located on the Strong River, founders had wanted to call it Millhaven, but the Postmasgter General rejected it, so they founders chose De'l'eau (French (meaning simply "of water"), or possibly "de'l'eau sans potable" (meaning "bad drinking water"). It has since been shortened and spelled phonetically as "D'Lo".

  • Truth or Consequences, New Mexico - A spa city with a 2012 population of 6,411. Its original name was Hot Springs (due to several hot springs within the city), but in 1950 the name was changed to Truth or Consequences to match the hit NbC Radio quiz show because the host (Ralph Edwards) said he would air the program from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Edwards then visited the town during the first weekend of May for the next 50 years.

  • Imalone, Wisconsin - Nobody knows the exact origin of the name, but some say that it relates to the gas station owned by Snowball Anderson, who created the town. One day bill Granger was running the gas station and a salesman asked for the name of the town to use on an invoice. Granger replied, "I'm alone," meaning he had nobody to ask what the official name of the town was, but the salesman wrote "Imalone" on the invoice. Another possible origin of the town name is that Anderson was pretty much alone in the town, so he gave it that name.

  • Why, Arizona - Two major highways originally intersected the town in a Y-intersection. They could not call it "Y" like they wanted because at the time Arizona law required all city/town names to have at least three letters, so they used "Why" instead.

  • Whynot, Mississippi - Originally named Whitesville, then changed to Why Not, then shortened to one word instead of two.

  • bird-in-Hand, Pennslyvania - Founded in 1734, legend says that two road surveyors were trying to decide to stay at their present location or go on to the town of Lancaster. One of them supposedly said, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," meaning they should play it safe and stay where they are. Soon other road surveyors started staying at the local hotel instead of returning to Lancaster every day, and that hotel became known as the bird-in-Hand Inn, which later gave name to the town.

  • Peculiar, Missouri - After the Civil War, the first settlers couldn't decide on a town name, so they asked the postmaster general to choose which of the 3 names that he liked best, agreeing to let him make the final decision. They said "We don’t care what name you give us, so long as it is sort of peculiar." All of the 3 choices were already taken, so the postmaster chose "Peculiar" for the name.

  • Rabbit Hash, Kentucky - The hamlet was originally known as Carlton but had to change its name because mail was being mixed up with nearby Carrollton. Legend has it that in the 1840s a flood caused a hundreds of rabbits to run from the riverbank into the stew pots of hungry settlers. Whatever happened, it was well known for a rabbit hash meal and steamboats would stop for it as they traveled along the Ohio River. It has a population of 315 (2010 census) and has had a string of canine mayors since 1998.

  • Jackpot, Nevada - The town was created in the 1950s when Idaho outlawed casinos, and Cactus Pete's and the Horseshu Club moved from Idaho to this new location. In 1958 it became officially recognized as the unincorporated town of Horse Shu, but Cactus Pete's objected, so a month later Elko County commissioners changed it to "Unincorporated Town No. 1". Nobody was happy with that, so the 2 casino owners compromised on the name "Jackpot" in 1959.

  • Nameless, Texas - Also known as Cross Creek or Fairview, the Post Office turned downs the names the founders wanted, so out of desperation they chose "Nameless".

  • bald Head Island, North Carolina - The name was given to the area in the 1700s by Cape Fear River pilots. They would watch for approaching ships on a high dune headland on the southwest point on the island, so they could offer their navigational services. This waiting area was worn bare of vegetation, making it stand out in contrast to the forest behind it. This "bald" headland acted as reference point for ships entering the Cape Fear River river, hence the island name.

  • Monkeys Eyebrow, Kentucky - It may have been given this unique name because it is located at the western end of Kentucky, which looks like the profile of a monkey’s face, and the eyebrows are where the town is. Or, it may have been because the first settlers sat at the base of a brush-topped ridge that like the eyes under a monkey's eyebrows.

  • Cookietown, Oklahoma - In the early 1900s, the owner of the general store gave a cookie to a child, who exclaimed, "I don’t want to leave Cookietown."

  • Glen Campbell, Pennsylvania - It is not named after the famous country singer, but instead after Cornelius Campbell who was the head of the local mining company. The "Glen" part means valley" in Scottish.

  • Cool, California - Some locals believe that a beatnik named Todd Hausman named the town during a cross country trip. Local historians say the town was named after Aaron Cool during the days of the Gold Rush.

  • Pity Me, Durham, England - Nobody knows for sure how the town got its game, but some say it was just a whimsical name given to it because it was a geographically difficult place to live. Others say it is derived from the French word "Petit Mere" which means a shallow lake.

  • bountiful, Utah - Dettled in 1847 by Perrigrine Sessions, it was initially known as Sessions' Settlement until 1855 when it was officially named bountiful. It is an appropriate name, as it is known as the garden spot of Utah. It was also a Mormon area, and "bountiful" is the name of a city in the book of Mormon.

  • burnt Corn, Alabama - There are several theories as to how the town got its name: 1. The town was named for the time that a group of Indians left an ailing companion with a supply of corn, and he had no way to carry it home when he recovered, so it eventually burnt in his campfire. This was noted by other travelers who camped at the place where the "corn had burnt." 2. When white settlers moved into to the area they burned the Creek Indian's corn fields to clear land to settle on. 3. The Creek Indians burned the white settlers' corn to drive them away.

  • Protection, Kansas - There are several theories as to how the town, founded in 1884, got its name: 1. Cowboys tried to frighten the early settlers by saying they were being attacked by Indians, and the settlers gathered in that location for protection. 2. The town had a very protective sherrif during the decade when it was named. 3. The people who started the town were all die hard Republicans, including the Postmaster who was given the task of choosing the name, so "protection" was a political philosophy which was basically the opposite of "free trade". 1884 was an election year and a protective tariff was an issue in the 1884 presidential campaign, so the locals would have supported this tax.

  • Deadhorse, Alaska - Located 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, there is only one shop. No bars, restaurants, banks or police. It is thought the name comes from a local trucking company in the late 1960s and 1970s called "Dead Horse Haulers" trucking company.

  • Carefree, Arizona - An upscale master-planned community built in the 1950s, with street names such as Tranquil Trail and Easy Street. Developers K.T. Palmer and Tom Darlington named their business "Carefree Development Corp." and since the town also had a carefree feel to it, the name stuck.

  • Fries, West Virginia - Pronounced "freeze", it was named for North Carolina cotton mill owner Colonel Francis Fries. Fries purchased farmland and hired a local labor force to build a dam, a cotton mill and a full-service company owned town. In 1901 Fries petitioned the Virginia State Legislature to incorporate the new town of Carico, VA in honor of Jim 'Pipe' Carico who had lived in the next town over and had suggested the project to Fries. For some reason though, the town was officially named Fries when it incorporated in 1902.

  • Gassville, Arkansas - The town's first postmaster in 1878 was named P.A. Cox. He was very chatty, and referred to as a "gasser" which eventually led to the town's name.

  • Goobertown, Arkansas - When Confederate troops camped in the area during the Civil, they ate the wild peanuts in the area, and after the war was over they came back and made a living raising peanuts.

  • Greasy Corner, Arkansas - Mack's Corner for local landowner and business owner b.M. McCullom. One day a farmer dining in the restaurant was given a plate with a grease stain by an auto mechanic. He commented that the community should be called "Greasy Corner" instead.

  • Hippo, Kentucky - Named for local resident bee Madison "Hippo" Craft. At the time, "Hippo" was short for hypochondriac, which was Southern slang for an irritable and complaining person.

  • Hungry Horse, Montana - Named after two draft horses, Tex and Jerry, that wandered off during the bad winter of 1900. A month later they were found alive, but weak and hungry.

  • bald Knob, Arkansas - Named because of a prominent ridge that served as a landmark to pioneers.

  • Fair Play, Colorado - Founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush by settlers who were upset by the way mining claims were given out, so they promised a more fair way.

  • Eclectic, Alabama - Founded in the late 1800s by Dr. M.L. Fielder, who practiced eclectic medicine, which made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, similar to how Native Americans used medicinal plants.

  • bat Cave, North Carolina - As one might expect, it was named after a nearby cave where bats live.

  • beehunter, Indiana - Took its name from beehunter Creek. I am not sure how the creek got its name.

  • Cheesequake, New Jersey- The name comes from the Lenni Lenape word "Cheseh-oh-ke", meaning "upland".

  • beauty, Kentucky - The exact origin of the name is unknown, but it is either for the pretty landscape, or for Kentucky beauty Coal.

  • ben Hur, Texas - Originally named Cottonwood when it was founded after the Civil War, in 1895 it changed to the new name to honor the author of the book ben Hur, and also possibly because there were several other places named "Cottonwood" in Texas.

  • best, Texas - Named after Tom best, an English stockholder of the Orient Railroad, which established a railroad switching station in the town in 1924.

  • bigfoot, TX - Named for William A. A. "bigfoot" Wallace, who was a resident of the town and a famous Texas Ranger.

  • brilliant, Ohio - Originally known as Philipsburg, in the late 1800s it changed to the new name after the name of a local glass company.

  • bucksnort, Tennessee - Named for a sound heard by deer hunters.

  • bummerville, California - Nobody knows exactly where the name came from, but people say it was due to the type of people who lived there, and it was may have originally been called bum Town.

  • Aromas, California - Originally known as Sand Cut after a nearby railroad tunnel, the name was later changed to Vega. Then in 1918, it changed its name to Aromas.

  • Coffeeville, Alabama - Originally known as Murrell’s Landing after an early settler named William Murrell, but later renamed Coffeeville in honor of war hero General John Coffee.

  • batman, Turkey - Named after a local river.

  • Town of Duck, North Carolina - An Outer banks resort community incorporated in 2002. It started in 1984 as a North Carolina beautification District established by the North Carolina General Assembly.

  • Fickle, Indiana - Named for Isaac Fickle, one of the early settler.

  • Chocolate bayou, Texas - It looks like a river of chocolate, and runs into Chocolate bay, so that is how it got its name.

  • little Hope, Texas - It is populated only by a church congregation. The town name is due to the fact that in 1881 when the Missionary baptist Church organized here, many people said it had "little hope" of lasting a year.

  • Enigma, Georgia - When it was incorporated in 1906, founder John A. ball said it was a puzzle to name the town, hence the name.

  • Humansville, Missouri - Named for settler James Human.

  • Flat, Texas - Originally named Mesquite Flat, that name was rejected when they applied for their own post office, so they settled on the name Flat instead.

  • Eureka, California - Named for the exuberant statement made by California gold rush miners when they found gold.

  • Dinosaur, Colorado - Originally named Artesia, but changed in 1966 to capitalize on the town's proximity to Dinosaur National Monument.

  • Flippin, Arkansas - Thomas J. Flippin and several members of his family set out from Kentucky in 1820 to find new land in Arkansas, and settled in this area. Over the years it grew into a town, and a traveling salesman called the place Goatville, but locals thought it should be called Flippin barrens to honor the Flippin family and because there were very few trees there. In 1904 the railroad came through fields almost a mile from the town and the town moved closer to the railroad and was renamed to Flippin.

  • Loveladies, New Jersey - Thomas Lovelady owned a small 10 acre island near what is now the town, and the area was called "Lovelady's". This later evolved into "Loveladies".

  • Happy Camp, California - Named by gold miners.

  • Friendly, West Virginia - Named for Friend Cochrane Williamson, the grandson of Thomas Williamson, an early settler on the land.

  • Admire, Kansas - Named for Jacob Admire, who was one of the town's founders. It is rumored that there may actually have been straws drawn to determine the name, as some though it should be named at the McElfresh family as they have lived there longer.

  • Kermit, West Virginia - Previously known as "Lower burning Creek", "East Warfield", and "Warfield", in 1906 it was change to "Kermit" (after President Teddy Roosevelt's son).

  • Last Chance, Colorado - At the time it was named, it was the only place around for travelers to get fuel and provisions.

  • Oddville, Kentucky - When the Post Office opened in 1851, this name was chosen so it would be unique.

  • bowlegs, Oklahoma - Named after Lula bowlegs, who was an early resident and a descendant of the Florida Seminole Chief billy bowlegs.

  • Unalaska, Alaska - The island natives, who lived there for thousands of years, named it "Ounalashka", which means "near the peninsula".

  • Wahoo, Nebraska - Wahoo is a shrub found on the banks of Wahoo Creek.

  • Oatmeal, Texas - The first settlers in the 1840s were German families, and it may have been derived from Mr. Othneil who was the area's first gristmill owner. Or, it may have been a translation of the name Habermill ("Haber" meant oats in German).

  • Neversink, New York - Named for the nearby Neversink River, which is thought to be the birthplace of American fly fishing.

  • Elephant butte, New Mexico - This city was named from a butte (a type of hill) nearby thought to resemble an elephant.

  • Munster, Indiana - In the 1800s Jacob Munster, originally from the Netherlands, opened a General Store in the area, and the store was also home to the town post office, which was named Munster. As people moved to the area, they used that name for the town.

  • Nimrod, Minnesota - Named after the nearby ancient Nimrod Fortress.

  • Mexican Hat, Utah - Named for an overturned sombrero shaped rock formation, 60-foot wide by 12-foot thick, on the edge of town.

  • Wink, Texas - An oil town that was a temporary childhood home to singer Roy Orbison. In 1926 the residents wanted the town named Winkler after the name of the county, but the postal authorities rejected the application so it was shortened to Wink and in 1927 a post office was opened.

  • Wealthy, Texas - It is said that the town was originally called "Poor", but that name was rejected when they wanted a post office, so they changed it to Wealthy and the application was accepted.

  • Smackover, Arkansas - The area where the city was founded was originally covered with sumac trees, and sumac cover gradually became, with local pronunciation variations, Smackover.

  • Podunk, Massachusetts - An unincorporated area 15 miles west of Worcester, located mostly within the town of East brookfield. Podunk is an old Indian name that meant a river that turns on itself to make a U shape. The word became famous when George M. Cohen, who spent his summers in East brookfield, used the name in his vaudeville act, to refer to the place where all the yokels and hicks came from.

  • Panacea, Florida - The sulphurous mineral springs in the area were supposed to be able to cure any illness.
Other unusual town names, for which I have no explanation of their origin:

Happyland, Oklahoma
Gas, Kansas
Suckerville, Maine
Gripe, Arizona
Hallelujah Junction, California
Love, Saskatchewan, Canada
Nowhere Else, Australia
Nuttsville, Virginia
Lost, Scotland
Windpassing, Austria Lonelyville, New York - A beach community.
Pity Me, England - A suburban village of Durham.
bachelors bump, Essex, UK
bacon, Indiana
bagdad, Arizona
beans Corner bingo, Maine
broadbottom, Cheshire, UK
brokenwind, Aberdeenshire, UK
No Place, England - A small village near the town of Stanley in County Durham.
buttermilk, Kansas
Cat’s Ash, Monmouthshire, Wales
Condemned bar, California - A historic mining town.
Crackpot, North Yorkshire, UK
Cranky Corner, Louisiana
Crummies, Kentucky
Deadman Crossing, Ohio
Disco, Tennessee
Do Stop, Kentucky
Nowhere Else, Tasmania, Australia
Dog Walk, Kentucky
Echo, Oregon
Epiphany, South Dakota
Fail, Portugal
Fame, West Virginia
Fleatown, OH
Frogville, Pennslyvania
Goodfood, Mississippi
Handsome Eddy, New York
Hellhole Palms, San Diego County California - Located in Hellhole Canyon.
Husband, Pennsylvania
Knockerdown, Derbyshire, UK
Lovely, Kentucky
Flushing, New York
Delightful, Ohio
Odd, West Virginia
Screamer, Alabama
Okay, Oklahoma
Oniontown, Pennsylvania
Ordinary, Kentucky
Parachute, Colorado
Paradise, Michigan
Parrot, Kentucky
Paw Paw, Michigan
Peach bottom, Pennsylvania
bath, Pennsylvania
Picnic, Florida
Pie Town, New Mexico
Pigeon Town, New Orleans
Ragtown, California
Spot, Tennessee
Embarrass, Minnesota
Middelfart, Denmark
Secretary, Maryland
Slaughterville, Oklahoma
Satans Kingdom, Massachusetts and Vermont
Coward, South Carolina
Speed, Victoria, Australia
Squabbletown, California
Success, Missouri
Surprise, Arizona
Sweet lips, Tennessee
Tarzan, Texas
Tea, South Dakota
Tick bite, North Carolina
Tincup, Colorado
Trophy Club, Texas
Tuba City, Arizona
Turkey, Texas
Ugley, England
Eureka, Utah
Valentine, Texas
bread Loaf, Vermont
Viper, Kentucky
Antlers, Virginia
big Chimney, West Virginia
Walla Walla, Washington
Wise, Virginia
Yeehaw Junction, Florida
Yellow Jacket, Colorado
Yellville, Arkansas
You bet, California - A mining town.
Zigzag, Oregon