{"id":1817984,"date":"2023-08-17T20:16:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T00:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1817984"},"modified":"2023-08-17T20:16:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T00:16:04","slug":"the-origins-of-u-s-county-names","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/08\/the-origins-of-u-s-county-names\/","title":{"rendered":"The Origins of U.S. County Names"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curious about the origins of American place names, Lia Prins built a dataset of U.S. county names<\/a> and categorized them by what they\u2019re named for and the language they\u2019re named in. There\u2019s an interactive map, detailed inset maps showing how names types are clustered, and a discussion of methodology. [Maps Mania<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Curious about the origins of American place names, Lia Prins built a dataset of U.S. county names and categorized them by what they\u2019re named for and the language they\u2019re named in. There\u2019s an interactive map,… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[692],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-1817984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-toponyms","tag-usa","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1788968,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/07\/racist-place-names-in-quebec-removed-in-2015-remain-on-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":0},"title":"Racist Place Names in Quebec, Removed in 2015, Remain on Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 July 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Despite the fact that Quebec\u2019s Commission de toponomie removed 11 offensive place names, some involving the n-word or its French equivalent, in 2015, those names still appear on maps from third parties, including Google Maps. The commission says it asked Google to remove the names, but as the person behind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Toponyms"","block_context":{"text":"Toponyms","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/toponyms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1436,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/04\/washington-state-senator-seeks-removal-of-offensive-place-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":1},"title":"Washington State Senator Seeks Removal of Offensive Place Names","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 April 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"A Washington state senator, Pramila Jayapal, is pushing for\u00a0some three dozen racially charged place names to be changed\u00a0(her press release). A list and map of the place names is here. From the\u00a0Crosscut article: Changing place names can be a laborious process. The\u00a0Washington State Committee on Geographic Names\u00a0reviews proposals, and recommends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Toponyms"","block_context":{"text":"Toponyms","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/toponyms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1805664,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/12\/the-place-names-behind-the-ikea-products\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":2},"title":"The Place Names Behind the IKEA Products","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 December 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FDpoZdL1g0E IKEA\u2019s propensity for naming its products after locations in Sweden (among other things) has led to the unintended consequence of search results for those products drowning out search results for the lakes and towns they\u2019re named after. Sweden has launched a more-than-tongue-in-cheek tourist campaign to counter that, inviting people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Toponyms"","block_context":{"text":"Toponyms","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/toponyms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/FDpoZdL1g0E\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3516,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/12\/xkcds-u-s-state-names\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":3},"title":"xkcd’s U.S. State Names","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 December 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"Randall is messing with us again in today's xkcd, which assigns malapropisms and synophones to U.S. state names.\u00a0The results are about what you'd expect. Previously:\u00a0xkcd\u2019s United States Map.","rel":"","context":"In "Unusual Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Unusual Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/unusual-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Randall Munroe, ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/us_state_names.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/us_state_names.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/us_state_names.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/us_state_names.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1838803,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/04\/apple-maps-adds-indigenous-lands-and-place-names-to-australia-and-new-zealand\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":4},"title":"Apple Maps Adds Indigenous Lands and Place Names to Australia and New Zealand","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"1 April 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Apple announced last week that Apple Maps will now display Indigenous lands, place names and other content in Australia and New Zealand. Beginning today, Apple Maps now displays Indigenous lands in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. By gathering information from Indigenous advisors, cartographers, Traditional Owners, language holders, and community members,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Toponyms"","block_context":{"text":"Toponyms","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/toponyms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1836474,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/02\/google-and-the-gulf\/","url_meta":{"origin":1817984,"position":5},"title":"Google and the Gulf","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"11 February 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"What I see here in Canada. Google Maps (screenshot) Three weeks to the day after Trump\u2019s executive order directing that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed Gulf of America, the new name now appears on Google Maps for U.S. users; outside the U.S. and Mexico, users see both names. A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Toponyms"","block_context":{"text":"Toponyms","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/toponyms\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/google-gulf-america.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1817984"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1817985,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817984\/revisions\/1817985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1817984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1817984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1817984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}