Place names considered unusual

The following international geographical names are either interesting or unusual. This list is provided chiefly for its entertainment value.

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.
  • 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 a geographical location. For example, Why, Old Harry, Mutters, 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 place many orders of magnitude more well-known, giving opportunity for confusion. For example New York, Lincolnshire, England
  • Some names of this kind are marked 9.

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 example of this is Fucking, Austria.

==A==

File:11mo06.jpg

The village of Å in Norway

• Å, Norway ²
• Å, Sweden ²
• Ål, Buskerud, Norway ²
• Abbess Roding, Essex, England
• Accident, Maryland, USA
• Adios, Navarre, Spain ("Goodbye" in Spanish)
• Ae, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland ²
• Agenda, Kansas, USA
• Agenda, Wisconsin, USA
• Ah Cut, Pitcairn Island
• Alphabet City, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA
• America, Limburg, Netherlands
• America, Cambridgeshire, England ⁹
• Amerika, Germany ⁹
• Ameryka, Hrubieszow County, Poland ⁹
• Ameryka, Opole Voivodship, Poland ⁹
• Amsterdam, New York, USA ⁹
• Anting, China ⁷
• 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)
• Arabia, Finland ⁹
• Arsenic Tubs, New Mexico, USA
• Arsoli, Lazio, Italy
• Arsy, Oise, France
• Asbestos, Quebec, Canada
• Assawoman, Virginia, USA ¹
• Assens, Island of Fyn, Denmark
• Athens, Alabama, USA ⁹
• Atlantic City, Wyoming, USA ⁹
• 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)

==B==

Road sign for Boring, Oregon

• Bad Kissingen, Bavaria, Germany
• Bagdad, Tasmania, Australia ⁹
• Bald Knob, Arkansas, USA
• Banana, Queensland, Australia ^{7 & 8}
• Bang Bang Jump Up, a rock formation in Australia
• Barrow, Alaska (northernmost city in the USA.)
• Barrow-in-Furness, England
• Bastardo, Italy
• Bat and Ball, a railway station in Sevenoaks, Kent, England
• Batman river, Turkey
• Beaver, Pennsylvania, USA ^{1 & 7}
• Beer, Devon, England ⁸
• Belcher, Louisiana, USA
• Belchertown, Massachusetts, USA
• Bendery, Moldova
• Bethlehem, Carmarthenshire, Wales ⁹
• Bethlehem, Pennsylvania ⁹
• Beverley Hills, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ⁹
• Bidon 5, Sahara Desert, Africa ⁵
• Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, USA
• Big Ugly Wilderness Area, West Virginia, USA
• Bischofsloch ("Bishop's Hole"), Germany
• Bitey Bitey, Pitcairn Island
• Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, USA
• Blubberhouses, Yorkshire, England
• Blow Me Down, Provincial Park in Newfoundland, Canada
• Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA
• Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, USA
• Blue Ball, Pennsylvania, USA ¹
• Blunts, Cornwall, England (a number of miles southeast of Big Willy)
• Bø, in Telemark and Nordland, Norway ²
• Boaz, Alabama (Boaz, which is a Biblical Hebrew name, is down the road from a town called Arab)
• Bob, Canada (After Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories, a poll was conducted as to what the remainder of the territory should be named. Retaining the name Northwest Territories won by a substantial margin, but a distant second place was Bob. [1])
• Boca Chica, Florida, USA ("little mouth" in Spanish)
• Boca Grande, Florida, USA ("big mouth" in Spanish)
• Boca Raton, Florida, USA ("Mouth of the mouse" in Spanish)
• Bombay, New Zealand ⁹
• Bong Bong, New South Wales, Australia
• Bong Recreational Area, Wisconsin, USA
• Boom, Belgium
• Boring, Oregon, USA
• Bottom, North Carolina, USA
• Boulevard Street, a dead-end street in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. (I guess they couldn't decide.)
• Bra, Cuneo, Italy
• Brasilien, Germany
• Brazil, Indiana, USA ⁹
• Breaky Bottom, Valley south of Lewes, East Sussex, England
• Broadstairs, Kent, England
• Broadway, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Worcestershire, United Kingdom ⁹
• Broadway Street, a main road in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA (Again, I guess they couldn't decide.)
• Broadway, Virginia, Broadway, North Carolina, and several other places in the USA. You'd think Broadway was a street, not a town. ⁹
• Broken Hill, Australia
• Brown Willy, a tor in Cornwall, England
• Bryndwr, Christchurch, New Zealand, which is as flat as the proverbial pancake. "Bryndwr" is Welsh for "Steep hill"
• Buckatunna, Mississippi
• Bucksnort, Tennessee, USA
• Buddha, Indiana, USA
• Bulls, New Zealand ⁷
• Bunny, Nottinghamshire, England ⁷
• Burrumbuttock, New South Wales, Australia

C

• Cabra, Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain (means goat in Spanish) ⁷
• Cairo, Illinois, Cairo, New York, and several other places in the USA ⁹
• California, Buckinghamshire, England ⁹
• California, Falkirk, Scotland ⁹
• California, Maryland, USA ⁹
• California, Norfolk, England ⁹
• California, Pennsylvania, USA ⁹
• Canada, Hampshire, England ⁹
• Cape Catastrophe, South Australia
• Cape Circumcision, Bouvet Island
• Cape Disappointment, Oregon and Washington, USA
• Cape Flattery, Queensland, Australia
• Catbrain Hill, South Gloucestershire, England
• Carne Asada, Portugal (meaning "roasted meat") ⁸
• Carneys Point, New Jersey, USA
• Chard, Somerset, England
• Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, Massachusetts, USA ²
• Cheesequake, New Jersey ⁸
• Chicken, Alaska, USA ^{7 & 8}
• Chinaman's Knob, Australia
• Christmas Island, Australia ⁴
• Christmaspie, Surrey, England ^{4 & 8}
• Chlebowo, Poland (meaning "bread"; renamed from Niemaschchleba meaning "no one has bread") ⁸
• Chunky, Mississippi, USA
• Climax, Colorado, USA
• Climax, Michigan, USA
• Climax, Minnesota, USA
• Climax, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Clit, Arad, Romania ¹
• Coca Cola, Colón, Panama
• Cockburn, Western Australia (pronounced "Co-burn")
• Cockermouth, Cumbria, England
• Cold Christmas, Hertfordshire, England
• Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland, Canada
• Come-by-Chance, New South Wales, Australia
• Condom, Gers, France ¹
• Cool, California, USA
• Coolville, Ohio, USA
• Cow Head, Newfoundland, Canada ⁷
• Cowes, Isle of Wight
• Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
• Coxsackie, New York, USA
• Crap Sogn Gion, Graubünden, Switzerland
• Crapolla, Italy
• Crawley, West Sussex, England
• Crowborough, East Sussex, England (Yes, there are a lot of crows there.) ⁷
• Cumming Street, Suva, Fiji ¹
• Cunter, Graubünden, Switzerland ¹
• Cuntis, Pontevedra, Spain ¹
• Cut n' Shoot, Texas, USA
• Cut Off, Louisiana, USA

D

• Delaware, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Delaware, Ohio, and several other places in the USA ⁹
• Dial Post, West Sussex, England
• Die, Drôme, France
• Dildo Island, South Dildo, and Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada ¹
• Ding Dong, Texas, USA ^{1 8}
• Dismal, Tennessee, USA
• Dix Hills, New York, USA ¹ (pronounced "dicks hills")
• Dondangadale, Victoria, Australia
• 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
• Dresden, Staffordshire, England
• Dry Prong, Louisiana, USA
• Duel, Michigan, USA
• Dummer, New Hampshire, USA

E

• Eagle, Lincolnshire, England
• Earth, Texas, USA ⁹
• East Fishkill, New York, USA
• East Northport, New York, USA (um, which direction?)
• Easter Island, Chile ⁴
• Ecce Homo, Schwyz, Switzerland ¹
• Economy, Indiana, USA
• Economy, Pennsylvania, USA
• Ed, Upper Austria, Austria ²
• Ed, Sweden ²
• Eel Pie Island, London, England
• Effort, Pennsylvania, USA
• Egg, Austria ⁸
• Egg, Zürich, Switzerland ⁸
• Egypt, Buckinghamshire, England ⁹
• Eighty Eight, Kentucky, USA ⁵
• Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, USA ⁵
• Elephant Butte, New Mexico, USA ⁷
• Embarrass, Minnesota, USA
• Erode, India
• E. S. Nigger Brown Stand, a section of a rugby stadium in Toowoomba, Australia ⁷
• Esquilant Bivouac, New Zealand
• EU, Normandy, France ^{2 & 9} (formerly Eu)
• Eye, Cambridgeshire, Eye, Herefordshire, Eye, Suffolk, England River Eye, England
• Eyebrow, Saskatchewan, Canada

F

• Fa, Aude, France ²
• Fakaofo, Tokelau ¹
• Fakfak, Indonesian New Guinea¹
• Felch, Michigan, USA
• Fertile, Minnesota, USA
• Fishwick, Lancashire, England ⁷
• Five Corners (several), USA ⁵
• Five Forks (several), USA ⁵
• Five Points (several), USA ⁵
• Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada
• Florence, New York, USA ⁹
• Florida, New York, USA ⁹ (also Florida, Massachusetts, USA)
• Flying H, New Mexico, USA
• Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC, USA
• Forks of Salmon, California, USA
• Foul Mile, West Sussex, England
• Foulness, Essex. England
• French Lick, Indiana, USA
• Frenchman's Butte, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Fresh Kills, Staten Island, New York, New York, USA
• Friendly, Maryland, USA
• Friendly, West Virginia, USA
• Friendship, Wisconsin, USA
• Frisby on the Wreake, Leicestershire, England
• Fucking, Upper Austria, Austria ¹
• Fuku, China ¹

G

• Gander, Newfoundland, Canada ⁷
• Gap, Pennsylvania, USA
• Garden, Michigan, USA
• Gas, Kansas, USA
• Gay Head, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA (recently renamed Aquinnah)
• Gaylord, Michigan
• George, Washington, USA
• Gibraltar, Buckinghamshire, England ⁹
• Gimli, Manitoba, Canada (a rural municipality)
• Gland, Aisne, France
• Gland, Vaud, Switzerland
• Gnaw Bone, Indiana, USA
• Goobies, Newfoundland, Canada
• Goodyear, Arizona, USA ⁴
• Goonoo Goonoo, New South Wales, Australia (pronounced "gunna g'noo")
• Goose Green, Vermont, USA; also in the Falkland Islands
• Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion, a train station in Gwynedd, Wales ²
• Grand Tetons, a mountain range in Wyoming, USA (meaning: "big tits" in French) ¹
• Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina, USA
• Grandmother Gap, North Carolina, USA
• Great Neck, New York, USA
• Grong Grong, New South Wales, Australia
• Gross, Nebraska, USA
• Grosse Water Beach, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
• Grosse Tête, Louisiana, USA (meaning: "big head" in French)
• Gun Barrel City, Texas, USA
• Gunbarrel Highway, Western Australia, Australia
• Gunbarrel, Colorado, USA
• Gy, Geneva, Switzerland ²

==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.)
• Half.com, Oregon, USA (Yes, it is sponsored by eBay)
• Halfway Bush, Dunedin, New Zealand
• Halfway House, Newfoundland, Canada
• Ham, Kent, England (Compounded by its proximity to Sandwich) ⁸
• Hard, Austria
• Hazardville, Connecticut, USA
• Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a historic site in Alberta, Canada
• Hel, Poland ⁹
• Hell For Certain, Kentucky, USA
• Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA
• Hell Gate, a portion of the East River in New York, New York, USA
• Hell Hole Gorge National Park, Australia
• Hell, Michigan, USA ⁹
• Hell, Norway ⁹
• Hell, Grand Cayman, British West Indies ⁹
• Hells Gate Roadhouse, Australia
• Helper, Utah, USA
• Hempstead, New York, USA
• Hérisson, Allier, France (meaning: "hedgehog") ⁷
• Hicksville, New York, and Hicksville, Ohio, USA -- they aren't even in hick states!
• High Point, a mountain in Sussex, New Jersey, USA -- the highest point in the state!
• Himmelspforte, Germany (meaning: "heaven's gate")
• Hoard, Wisconsin, USA
• Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, USA
• Homosassa, Florida, USA
• Honor, Michigan, USA
• Hornytown, North Carolina, USA ¹
• Hotazel, Northern Cape, South Africa. (pronounced "hot-as-hell").
• Hot Coffee, Mississippi, USA ⁸
• Houston Street, a main road in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City (pronounced "HOW-stin")
• How, Wisconsin, USA ⁶
• Howlong, Victoria, Australia
• Humptulips, Washington, USA
• Humpty Doo, Northern Territory, Australia
• Hungry Law, a peak on the English-Scottish border
• Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia, USA

I

• Ii, Finland (two identical vowels) ²
• IJ, river in the Netherlands
• Index, Washington, USA
• Indian Queens, Cornwall, England
• Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA ⁹
• Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California: street with the head office of Apple Computer
• Innaloo (suburb of Perth, Western Australia)
• Intercourse, Pennsylvania, USA ¹
• Iowa, Louisiana, USA ⁹
• Ireland, Bedfordshire, England ⁹
• Ironia, New Jersey, USA
• Isles of Scilly, England (pronounced "silly")

J

• Jackpot, Nevada, USA
• Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, USA (You'd think that would be in New Jersey [or have a shore].) ⁹
• Jerusalem, Lincolnshire, England ⁹
• Jerusalem, New Zealand ⁹
• Jerusalemi, Finland ⁹
• Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, USA
• Jobsville, New Jersey, USA
• Jockey End, Hertfordshire, England
• Joe Batt's Arm, an offshore fixture in Newfoundland, Canada
• John Catch a Cow, Pitcairn Island
• Jot Em Down, Texas, USA
• Jupiter, Florida, USA ⁹
• Jupiter, Romania, and the nearby towns of Saturn, Venus, and Neptun ⁹

K

• Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
• Kalifornien, Germany
• Kissimmee, Florida, USA (properly pronounced "kis-SIMM-ee" (IPA [kǝˈsɪmɪ]), but usually mispronounced "KISS-a-me" ([ˈkɪsǝmiː]) by non-locals)
• Kellys Knob, Kununurra, Western Australia, Australia
• Kissing, Bayern, Germany
• Knob Lick, Missouri, USA
• Kokomo, Indiana, USA
• Koolyanobbing, Western Australia ¹
• Korea, Poland ⁹
• "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit", the poetic name of Bangkok, Thailand ²

L

• La Hoz de la Vieja ("The Old Woman's Sickle"), Teruel, Spain
• Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, South Australia, Australia
• Lake Titicaca, in Peru and Bolivia
• Largo Labia, Rome, Italy
• Le Net, Brittany, France
• Liberal, Kansas, USA
• Lickey End, Worcestershire, England
• Lignumvitae Key, Florida, USA (one of the Florida Keys, and a nature preserve)
• Lititz, Pennsylvania, USA¹
• Little Five Points, Atlanta, Georgia, USA ⁵
• Little George Coc'nuts, Pitcairn Island
• Lizard Lick, North Carolina
• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales ²
• Llanhyfryddawelllehynafolybarcudprindanfygythiadtrienusyrhafnauole (Normally Llanfynydd), Camarthenshire, Wales ²
• Long Island, Massachusetts, USA ⁹
• Lord Hereford's Knob, hill on the Welsh border
• Los Rábanos ("the radishes"), Soria, Spain
• Lost, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (renamed Lost Farm in 2004)
• Lough Neagh (pronounced "Lock Nay"), Northern Ireland
• Loveland, Ohio, USA
• Loveland, Colorado, USA
• Loveladies, New Jersey
• Lover, Wiltshire, England
• Love, Illinois, USA
• Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England
• Loyal, Oklahoma, USA
• Loyal, Wisconsin, USA
• Luck, Wisconsin, USA
• Lü, Graubünden, Switzerland ²

M

• Macgillicuddy's Reeks, mountains in Ireland
• Mahwah, New Jersey (This name has been called weird on national TV.)
• Malta, Austria ⁹
• Manunka Chunk, New Jersey, USA
• March, Cambridgeshire, England ⁴
• Mars, Pennsylvania, USA ⁹
• Maryland, Gwent, Wales, United Kingdom
• Masai, Johore, Malaysia
• Mashpee, Massachusetts, USA
• Matching Tye, Essex, England
• Meat Camp, North Carolina, USA
• Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
• Memphis, Tennessee, USA ⁹
• Metropolis, Illinois, USA
• Mexico, New York, USA ⁹
• Miami, Manitoba, Canada ⁹
• Mianus, Connecticut, USA
• Middelfart, Funen, Denmark
• Milton Keynes, England
• Mockbeggar, England
• Money, Mississippi, USA
• Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky, USA
• Monroe, Maryland, USA
• Monster, Netherlands
• Moose Factory, Ontario, Canada
• Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Moretonhampstead, Devon. Longest one-word place name in England.
• Moron, the original name of Taft, California, USA
• Moron, Mongolia
• Morón, Spain, Morón Air Base is the home of the 496th USAF Air Base Squadron.
• Moron, a mountain and a village in the Jura mountains, Switzerland
• Moscow, Idaho (Home of the U. of Idaho)
• Moscow, Scotland
• Moscow, Tennessee, USA ⁹
• Mough (pronounced Muff), Ireland¹
• Mount Jerome, Ireland
• Mount Hopeless, South Australia
• Muck, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
• Muff, Northern Ireland
• Mumbles, Wales
• Mutters, Austria

N

• Nar Nar Goon, Victoria, Australia
• Nasty, Hertfordshire, England
• Natters, Austria
• Nauraushan, New York, USA
• Neck City, Missouri, USA
• New Invention, Shropshire, England
• New Invention, West Midlands, England
• Newtwopothouse and neighbouring Twopothouse in Ireland - Among the few properly translated placenames in Ireland!
• Newyork, Argyll and Bute, Scotland ⁹
• New York, Lincolnshire, England ⁹
• New York, North Yorkshire, England ⁹
• New York, Tyne and Wear, England ⁹
• New York Mills, Minnesota, USA ⁹
• New Zealand, Buckinghamshire, England ⁹
• Nightcaps, Southland, New Zealand
• Ninety Six, South Carolina, USA ⁵
• Ninety Six Corners, New York, USA ⁵
• Ninetynine Oaks, California, USA ^{5 & 7}
• Nobber, County Meath, Ireland
• Nogo, Arkansas, USA
• No Guts Captain, Pitcairn Island
• Nomansland, Wiltshire, and Nomansland, Devon, England
• Nome, Alaska, USA, No Name misread by a map maker as Nome
• No Name, Colorado, USA
• No Name Key, Florida, USA (one of the Florida Keys)
• No Place, County Durham, England
• Noone, New Hampshire, USA
• Normal, Illinois, USA
• Normandy, Surrey, England
• North, South Carolina, USA
• Nunhead, London, England
• Nyah and Nyah West, Victoria, Australia

O

• Öd, Lower Austria, Austria ² (also meaning "deserted" in German)
• Ogre, Latvia
• Ohio, New York, USA ⁹
• Old Harry, Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada
• Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, England
• Old Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England
• Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, Canada
• Ontario, California, USA ⁹
• Opelousas, Louisiana, USA
• Oroville, California and Oroville, Oregon, USA ("Oro" is Spanish for "gold")
• Os, Hedmark, Norway ²
• Os, Hordaland, Norway ²

P

• Panthersville, Georgia, USA
• Parachute, Colorado, USA
• Paradise, New Zealand
• Paradise, California, USA
• Paradise, Michigan, USA
• Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA
• Paradiso, Ticino, Switzerland -- "paradiso" means "paradise" in Italian
• Paris, Tennessee, USA ⁹
• Pease Pottage, West Sussex, England ⁸
• Peckerwood Lake, a lake in Arkansas, USA ¹
• Peculiar, Missouri, USA
• Peep-o-Day, near Wanganui, New Zealand
• Peinlich, a village on the Isle of Skye, UK (means embarrassing in German)
• Penisarwain, Gwynedd, Wales ¹
• Peñíscola, Spain ¹
• Penistone, South Yorkshire, England ¹
• Pennsylvania, Gloucestershire, England
• Peor es nada, Chile (means worse is nothing in Spanish)
• Perl, Saarland, Germany (and those who work with the Web may be amused to find Apach, France adjacent)
• Petting, Bavaria, Germany
• Philadelphia, Mississippi, USA
• Phuket, Thailand ¹
• Pickle Street, West Virginia (unincorporated, on US 33)
• Picpus (Paris underground railway station)
• Piddle, river in Dorset, England, which runs from near Puddletown to Poole harbour
• Pidley, Cambridgeshire, England ¹
• Pie Town, New Mexico, USA ⁸
• Pis Pis River, Nicaragua
• Pittsburg, New Hampshire, USA ⁹
• Pity Me, County Durham, England
• Placentia, Newfoundland, Canada ¹
• Plain Dealing, Louisiana, USA
• Police, Poland
• Poowong, Victoria, Australia
• Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas, USA
• Pratt's Bottom, London, England ¹
• Prickwillow, England ¹
• Prussia Cove, Cornwall, England
• Pukë, Albania
• Punkeydoodles Corners, Ontario, Canada
• Pussy, Savoie, France ¹
• Puzzletown, Pennsylvania, USA

Q

• Quebec, County Durham, England ⁹
• Queen Camel, Somerset, England

R

• Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, USA
• Ramrod Key, Florida, USA
• Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA ³
• Re, Vestfold, Norway ²
• Reading, Berkshire, England (pronounced "Redding")
• Reading, Pennsylvania, USA (pronounced "Redding")
• Reading, Massachusetts, USA(pronounced "Redding")
• Rectum, The Netherlands
• Rest and be thankful, Argyll and Bute, Scotland
• Rifle, Colorado, USA
• Ringoes, New Jersey, USA
• Robert's Arm, Newfoundland, Canada
• Robert Lee, Texas, USA
• Ronkonkoma, New York, USA (stress goes on the second syllable)
• Rosenhayn, New Jersey, USA
• Rottenegg, Upper Austria, Austria ⁸
• Root, Lucerne, Switzerland
• Rough and Ready, California, USA
• Rule, Texas, USA
• Rum, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland ⁸
• Rum, village in Tyrol, Austria ⁸
• Rum Jungle, Australia ⁸
• Rust, Austria
• Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire, England
• Ry, Denmark ²
• Ryme Intrinseca, Somerset, England

S

• Saddam Hussein, Sri Lanka (The infamous Iraqi dictator donated money to the town after a destructive 1978 cyclone.)
• Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada
• Saint-Tite (pronounced "St. Tit"), Quebec, Canada
• Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada
• Samendorf, Upper Austria, Austria (town of semen)
• San Francisco, Costa Rica ⁹
• Sandwich, Kent, England ⁸
• Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA ⁸
• Salsipuedes, California, USA (meaning: "leave if you can" in Spanish)
• Santa Claus, Georgia, USA
• Santa Claus, Indiana, USA
• Santa Claus, Ohio, USA (There is a Christmas-related theme park there)
• Satan's Kingdom, Vermont, USA
• Schenectady, New York, USA (pronounced "Ske-NECT-i-dee")
• Scotland, Lincolnshire, England ⁹
• Scotland, West Yorkshire, England ⁹
• Scunthorpe, England
• Secretary, Maryland, USA
• Seldom Seen Roadhouse, Victoria, Australia
• Semen, Indonesia ¹
• Seven Corners, Virginia, USA
  • Also the name of an intersection in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (now rebuilt in a more traffic-friendly arrangement)
• Seventeen Seventy ('1770'), Queensland, Australia ^{4 & 5}
• Sex Rouge, a mountain in the Swiss Alps ¹
• Sexbierum, the Netherlands
• Sexmoan, Pampanga, Philippines (now renamed Sasmuan) ¹
• Sexsmith, Alberta, Canada ¹
• Shafter, California, USA
• Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Shag Island, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indian Ocean (dependency of Australia)
• Shag Island, Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada ¹
• Shag Point, New Zealand ¹
• Shag River, New Zealand ¹
• Shag Rocks
• Shitagoo Lake, Quebec, Canada
• Shitlington Crags, Northumberland, England
• Shittlehope, Durham, England
• Siem Reab, Cambodia (meaning defeat Siam)
• Siesta Key, Florida, USA
• Silly, Belgium
• Simmering, Vienna, Austria
• Siren, Wisconsin, USA
• Sissy, France (commune)
• Six, West Virginia (Actually done with the number 6, but shown here with the word for alphabetical purposes. The town has since been renamed) ⁵
• Skaneateles, New York, USA (pronounced like skinny Atlas)
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan, USA
• Slough, England (rhymes with "cow")
• Smackover, Arkansas, USA
• Snafu Creek, Yukon, Canada
• Snapfinger, Georgia, USA
• Snodland, Kent, England
• Sommerloch, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany ⁴ (meaning: "summer slump")
• Sort, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain (means luck in Catalan)
• Soweto, South Africa (an acronym)
• Spit Junction, New South Wales, Australia
• Splatt, Devon, England
• Splott, Cardiff, Wales
• Spooner, Wisconsin, USA
• Spunk Creek, Minnesota, USA and related bodies of water such as Middle Spunk Lake ¹
• Spuzzum, British Columbia, Canada
• Stockolm, Finland ⁹
• Stora Stjärtvecket, Sweden
• Strata Florida Abbey, Dyfed, Wales
• Suez, Finland ⁹
• Sugar Land, Texas, USA
• Sugar Tit, South Carolina, USA ¹
• Surprise, Arizona, USA
• Surprise, Nebraska, USA
• Swastika, Ontario, Canada, in Northeastern Ontario near Kirkland Lake
• Swords, outside Dublin, Ireland
• Syberia, Poland ⁹

T

• Taintsville, Florida, USA
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Hill, New Zealand
• Te Puke, New Zealand (pronounced "pookey")
• Te Urewera National Park, New Zealand ("Te Urewera" is Maori for "The burnt penis")
• Terry Hie Hie, New South Wales, Australia
• Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu, New Zealand ²
• Texas, Queensland, Australia ⁹
• Thong, Kent, England
• Thousand Oaks, California, USA ^{5 & 7}
• Tiddleywink, Wiltshire, England
• Tightwad, Missouri
• Titisee, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Titlis, Central Switzerland
• Tittybong, Victoria, Australia
• Titz, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Toadsuck, Collinsville, Texas, USA
• Toadsuck, Perry County, Arkansas, USA
• Toast, North Carolina, USA ⁸
• Tombstone, Arizona
• Toronto, County Durham, England ⁹
• Toowoomba, Australia
• Towcester, Northamptonshire, England (pronounced "toaster")
• Treinta y Tres (Thirty-Three), Uruguay
• Troia, Calabria, Italy (signifies "slut")
• True, Wisconsin, USA
• Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, USA
• Tubbercurry, County Sligo, Ireland
• Turda, Cluj, Romania
• Tutaekuri River, New Zealand ("Tutaekuri" is Maori for "Dogshit")
• Twatt, Orkney Islands, Scotland
• Twatt, Shetland Islands, Scotland
• Twenty, Lincolnshire, England ⁵
• Twentynine Palms, California, USA ⁵
• Twinsburg, Ohio, USA ⁷
• Two Boars Roll, Pitcairn Island

U

• U, Coclé, Panama
• Ugley, Essex, England
• Ultima, Victoria, Australia
• Unalaska, Alaska, USA (how very Un-Alaska!)
• Unnamed Conservation Park, South Australia, Australia
• Up In Ti, Pitcairn Island
• Upotipotpon, Victoria, Australia
• Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England
• Upper Swan, Western Australia, Australia
• Uranium City, Saskatchewan, Canada
• Usa, Oita, Japan ⁹ (Rumors that the town was so named so its exports could bear the label "Made in USA" are apocryphal.)
• Useless Loop, Western Australia, Australia

V

• Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta, a train station on the Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu-Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh, India
• Venusberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Void, Meuse, France (Now merged with neighbouring place to form Void-Vacon)
• Vienna, Virginia, USA ⁹
• Virgin, Nevada, USA
• Virgin, Utah, USA
• Virginia Water, Surrey, England
• Virginville, Pennsylvania, USA
• Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

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

W

• Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
• Wahoo, Nebraska, USA
• Waikikamukau, New Zealand (fictitious place name)
• Walla Walla, Washington, USA ³
• Wanglik (Hengli), Guangdong, China
• Wangs, Sankt Gallen, Switzerland
• Wangs, Minnesota, United States
• Wank, mountain in Bavaria, Germany ¹ (see List of British English words not used in American English)
• Wankdorf, suburb of Bern, Switzerland, and motorway interchange A1 / A6 ¹
• Wankers Corner, Oregon, USA ¹
• Wankham, Upper Austria, Austria
• Wankie, former name of Hwange, Zimbabwe ¹
• Ware, Massachusetts, USA
• Ware, Hertfordshire, England (I'm from Ware?) ⁶
• Watanobbi, New South Wales, Australia
• Weare, New Hampshire, USA (pronounced "weer," but often pronounced "where?" or "we are" by non-locals) ⁶
• Wedding, Germany
• Weed, California, USA
• Weir, Mississippi (Pronounced "where") ⁶
• 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, East Riding of Yorkshire, England ¹
• Whakapapa skifield, New Zealand, and many other similar placenames ("Wh-" is pronounced as "F" in Maori) ¹
• Wham, North Yorkshire, England
• What Cheer, Iowa, USA
• Where Freddy Fall, Pitcairn Island
• Where Minnie Off, Pitcairn Island
• Where Reynolds Cut The Firewood, Pitcairn Island
• Whroo, Victoria, Australia
• Why, Arizona, USA ⁶
• Wide Open, Tyne and Wear, England
• Wigley, Derbyshire, England
• Wigley. Hampshire, England
• Wigley, Shropshire, England
• Wigtwizzle, South Yorkshire, England
• Winter, Wisconsin, USA ⁴
• Wisdom, Montana, USA
• Woodenbong, New South Wales, Australia
• Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia
• Woon Gumpus Common, Cornwall, England
• Wong Way , street in Singapore
• Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (home of the Diet of Worms) ⁷
• Wynot, Nebraska, USA
• Wyoming, New South Wales, Australia ⁹

Y

• Y, Alaska, USA ²
• Y, Somme, France ²
• Yaphank, New York, USA

==Z==

Sign to Zzyzx Road, on Interstate 15, California

• Zap, North Dakota, USA
• Zig Zag, New South Wales, Australia
• Zonguldak, Turkey
• Zzyzx, California, USA

See Also

• List of unusual English words
• Street sign theft
• List of toponyms (names derived from place names)
• Toponymy

Further Reading

• Far from Dull: and other places ISBN 095422177X