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About This Quiz
Welcome to America! We're a nation of innovators -- except when it's time to name our cities, towns and small, unincorporated townships. Then we borrow. A lot.Â
In America's earliest days, colonial settlers named towns after the places in the British Isles they'd left behind. The most famous, of course, is "New York," named after the English city of York. Or, because some of them were devoutly religious, they took geographic names from the Bible. Out West, you'll find a variety of places with the names of saints in Spanish, like Santa Maria. Most of those names are shared with cities throughout Latin America.Â
Do you know, for example, the name of the Washington town that Kurt Cobain was born in? It's named for a Scottish fishing port. Or which American city was named after an Egyptian one, which, in turn, was named for a famous conqueror and was home to a vast library of the ancient world? Do you know which California city shares a name with a Central American capital?
Our place names tell us a great deal about our ancestors: Where they came from, what they valued, and the parts of history they chose to honor. So if you're a geography buff or a student of history, you're likely to enjoy this quiz on American place names. Settle in and take a peek into the pages of history!Â
New York state has a small town called Phoenix. Where is the better-known Phoenix located?
Arizona
Phoenix is the capital of Arizona. It is named for a mythical bird that seems to die, but rises from its own ashes.
North Dakota
Nevada
New Mexico
Many US states have a Springfield. On which one is the town in "The Simpsons" based?
Ohio
Massachusetts
Missouri
No one knows
The series has deliberately confounded viewers' attempts to locate it; Springfield has a coastline, a desert, a glacier, and it borders more states than is geographically possible. Oregonians like to think it's their Springfield, though, as Matt Groening is from Oregon, and Springfield, Oregon, has a bar named "Mo's."
Duluth is a city name found in which two US states?
California and Nevada
Minnesota and Georgia
The town in Minnesota is actually quite scenic. Situated at the edge of Minnesota's low "Iron Range" mountains, this border town sits right on the edge of Lake Superior, with great bridges spanning the lake over to Wisconsin.
Alabama and Arkansas
Florida and South Carolina
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Greece and Florida have towns that share this name not just which each other, but with an athletic event, the _________.
Slalom
Curling
Marathon
Marathon, Greece, was the site of a battle in ancient times. A messenger ran from there to Athens to announce the victory, and so the long-distance running event was named.
Pole vault
Both the nation of France and the state of Texas have a _______.
Le Mans
Nantes
Crecy
Paris
Of course, the answer is Paris. Paris, Texas, gained a bit of fame from an independent movie of the same name.
New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous for its Mardi Gras celebration. Where is the original Orleans?
England
France
Louisiana was sold to the United States by French leader Napoleon. Louisiana's French roots means that a number of its cities take their names from ones in France.
Greece
Spain
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How many US states have a Springfield?
Five
12
17
25
America has not been wildly original in naming towns. Ohio alone has 11 "Springfield Townships."
California has a sizable San Jose, south of San Francisco. San Jose is also the capital of which nation?
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small, famously friendly country in Central America. San Jose is not only its capital, but its largest city.
El Salvador
Peru
Suriname
Texas has a mid-size city called Odessa. Where would you find the larger Odessa?
Brazil
China
Guyana
Ukraine
Odessa is a lovely smaller city on the Black Sea. It isn't the capital of Ukraine, though; that's Kiev.
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If you wanted to visit cities named for Athens, Rome, Dublin, and Smyrna, what state would you visit?
Alaska
Arizona
Georgia
Georgia has no shortage of towns named for famous world cities (and one ancient one; that's Smyrna, in Greece). But its capital is named for the Atlantic Ocean. It's a shortening of "Atlanta-Pacifica," an earlier but unwieldy proposed name.
Mississippi
San Antonio is a very popular town name in Latin America. In the US, the most famous one is in _______.
Alaska
Iowa
New York
Texas
In Latin America, there are a number of "San Antonios" even within one country, state or province. That's because there is usually a descriptor at the end of the name, like "San Antonio Acutla" or "San Antonion de la Cal" in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Utica, Tunisia, left only ruins where it used to stand. Where would you find the (still thriving) US city of Utica?
California
Iowa
Arkansas
New York
Ancient Utica was destroyed in relentless fighting over territory among various world powers after the Roman empire declined. It has given its name to several US cities, the most famous of which is in New York state.
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Troy, New York, is named after an ancient city in what modern country?
France
Italy
Turkey
The ancient Troy was better known in its day as "Ilium." It was suspected to be solely legendary until ruins were discovered. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ukraine
__________ is the name of an ancient city in Greece, a modern one in New York, and a university.
Buffalo
Rochester
Syracuse
The old Syracuse is on the coast of Sicily, which once used to be a Greek holding. This inspired the name of a city in New York state and its university.
Yonkers
Kurt Cobain grew up in this town named after one in Scotland.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is a working-class town in Washington, near Seattle, the city with which Cobain and Nirvana are most associated. Nowadays, Aberdeen's city-limits sign reads "Come As You Are" in Cobain's honor.
Bellevue
Columbia
Yelm
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Massachusetts and Oregon both have a city with this name we associate with witch trials. Which is it?
Cullum
Lincoln
Oakport
Salem
Salem was a common name in the early US because it is taken -- sort of -- from the Bible. It's short for Jerusalem. Of course, Salem, Massachusetts, is now notorious for the witch trials of its early years.
The state of Georgia has a town called Bremen. Where would you find the better-known one?
Germany
Bremen is a town in northern Germany. It has gorgeous old churches and quite a few museums.
Italy
Scotland
Wales
The small town of Brandenburg, Kentucky, shares its name with a city where?
England
Germany
Locals in the Kentucky town say it wasn't named for the German city, but for an early bar owner. We're not going to argue with them!
Italy
Portugal
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Saint-Quentin is a small city in France. For what is San Quentin, California, known?
An opera house
A U.S. Mint facility
A prison
Other notable California prisons include Folsom and Pelican Bay. But San Quentin is the most notorious. It's where California's executions are held.
Wine-making
Both the vast nation of Russia and the state of Idaho have a ______.
Leningrad
Boise
Moscow
The town in Idaho is pronounced with a soft "oh" at the end, compared to "Mosc-ow," the hard pronunciation of the Russian city. Of course, Russian speakers call their capital "Moskva," so the similarity is somewhat moot.
St. Petersburg
Which Middle Eastern country has about 40 US towns named for it?
Dubai
Lebanon
Lebanon is mentioned several times in the Bible, which may explain its popularity as a town name in early America. Many "Lebanons" are in the East or Midwest.
Saudi Arabia
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"Riverside" is a common town name in America. Which of these states, though, is home to "UC Riverside"?
California
Riverside is a Southern California town. It's home to one of the University of California campuses.
Connecticut
Colorado
both #1 and #3
Austin, Texas, is famous for its laid-back vibe and counterculture. Where is the smaller US town named Austin?
Georgia
Florida
Minnesota
Austin, Minnesota, isn't a well-known town. Unless you love SPAM, the canned meat product. That's where it's made.
New Mexico
Which of these common US city names might have honored a king, a president, or someone else entirely?
Georgetown
There are many Georgetowns in the US. They might have been named to honor King George III (before the American Revolution), George Washington, or just a prominent local.
Clinton
Lincoln
Litchfield
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Ithaca, New York, is home to Cornell University and named for Ithaca, ______.
Andorra
Greece
Ithaca was the home to which Odysseus sought to return after the Trojan War. Modern Ithaca is home to Cornell University, where Carl Sagan taught and Bill Nye studied. Nye occasionally also returns there to teach.
Egypt
Wales
New York's Manhattan is one of the most densely populated islands in the world. Where would you find the Manhattan with about 50,000 residents?
Alaska
Kansas
You want to tell Kansans to their faces that their Manhattan is insignificant? Manhattan, Kansas, has its own airport, just like New York City (although technically, none of NYC's airports are in Manhattan), and proudly calls itself "The Little Apple."
Iowa
New Hampshire
Lafayette, Indiana, is home to Purdue University. Where else would you find other cities named Lafayette?
California
France
Louisiana
All of these
Only #1 and #3
"Lafayette" is a family name in France, not a city. Founding "Lafayettes" have given their names to towns in Louisiana (naturally), California (where Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin is from), and other states.
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Which of these states does NOT have a town called Washington?
California
California shares a number of Spanish-language names (like San Jose) with other states and countries. It does not, however, have a town named for the first president.
Connecticut
Ohio
Vermont
Which of these American cities shares a name with a port city in Egypt?
Alexandria
Alexandria was named after a Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great. It was also known for the Library of Alexandria, the greatest storehouse of knowledge the ancient world had ever known.
Ben-salem
Freetown
Sparta
Which of these US cities shares its name with absolutely no others?
Litchfield
Fairview
Midway
Truth or Consequences
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, was renamed from "Hot Springs" in order to win a contest, which got the popular game show, "Truth or Consequences," to broadcast a special episode from the town. Which just goes to show you the lengths people will go to for entertainment when living in the middle of nowhere.
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Another city that almost certainly doesn't share its name is Show Low. Where would you find it?
Arizona
Show Low reputedly got its name from an epic poker game over the ownership of land. Which eccentric name do you like better -- "Show Low" or "Truth of Consequences"?
Arkansas
New Hampshire
Vermont
Memphis, Tennessee, is named for an ancient city in _______.
Egypt
Memphis was once the capital of Egypt. Today you can only see ruins where it used to stand.
Spain
Russia
Turkey
Oregon, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania all have cities named Damascus. Where is the original?
England
Greece
Syria
Damascus, in Syria, lays claim to being one of the oldest cities in the world to have been continuously inhabited. It is also the capital of Syria.
Turkey
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Cairo is a well-known and populous city in Egypt. Which of these states has a city named after it?
Hawaii
Illinois
Driving around America's back roads, you can find no shortage of towns with exotic names. Cairo, at the southern tip of Illinois, counts as one of these. If you have a choice, we'd recommend a visit to the "city of a thousand minarets" instead of the Illinois town.
Oklahoma
Vermont
You Got:
/35
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