They were still Europeans when they did the naming
Not necessarily. The majority of current US was colonised long after it became an independent state.
I’d argue the majority of English-based naming though are in the original 13 colonies and were named prior to 1776. Having lived on both coasts, it sure seems that is the case.
A lot of the other places are likely due to later immigrants building their own communities west of those colonies, and then there are a lot of coincidences as well.
And then there’s a ton of cities named after Bible references.
I’ve lived in the Midwest, and after moving to New England, this it very much the case. Most of the 4-5 states that make up New England are full of towns with the same names from old England used over and over.
But in the plus side we don’t sound like idiots when we visit and know how to pronounce Gloucester and Worcester.
French Canadians in New England did the opposite though, and seem to aggressively mispronounce their French locations (Calais, Barre, Montpelier).
New Zealand did it with a whole ass country
And a tiny village in the east of the Netherlands nowhere near the sea, funnily enough
US did it with a whole country named after a continent. What’s your country? those states who decided to unite. Which ones? The ones of America. Ah those ones.
It’s not ‘United States of North America’, it’s just United States of America. America is actually two continents.
Not like that makes it any better LOL, just saying…
We’re also not the only union of states in the Americas either. Mexico and Brazil both have states, too.
Europeans love to point that stuff out. They always say it with this sort of relish like ‘you call yourselves Americans, but isn’t that the continent name?’
What the alternative, Statesians? US American? Who do they think named it anyway? It’s not like we just made the call - it was their anscestors as much as mine who did it!
I understand there are people who say that while being serious, but just in case I was joking in the same sense as the New Zealand one. I’m sure if we look up real meaning of some old countries names they turn out to be weird or too simple.
York isn’t a city in England. It’s a city in Pennsylvania.
It’s originally a city in North Yorkshire, so the English aren’t all that original with their city names either.
Hey now. York isn’t THAT bad, even though a Google search for “York PA” has a video called “York Pennsylvania Sucks” as one of the top results…
I used to have a motorcycle that was manufactured there.
EDIT: I checked out of curiosity and I still have a motorcycle that was manufactured there.
Sometimes they don’t even put new in front of it. Illinois has a Milan, but they pronounce it My-lan. Smh
Supposedly that city is named after a dad who ran a mining operation loading stuff out in bags. Ridiculous.
There’s also a Bagdad in Florida.
I’ve heard that but I highly doubt it. seems like a post 9/11 freedom fries kinda deal. When I was a kid I remember hearing that they named it that way because the founder had been to Baghdad and thought it the most beautiful desert city in the world, so he wanted to invoke that spirit. Doubt the spelling was nearly as standardized back then.
Like so many cities in the US, the name is used a lot because of biblical references to it. American Christians are not a very creative bunch.
The city of York used to be called Amsterdam before, right?
I think so. Why they changed it? I can’t say, seems they just liked it better that way.
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can’t say
People just liked it better that way
