place names considered unusual

File:Kimmel for Dildo Mayor.jpg launched a satirical candidacy for Mayor of Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.{{cite web |first=Meghan |last=McCabe |title=Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez does Dildo – reluctantly |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/guillermo-rodriguez-dildo-1.5245559 |work=CBC.ca |date=2019-08-13 |access-date=2020-06-01}}]]

Some place names can be offensive or humorous in other languages, like Rottenegg or Fucking (renamed to Fugging in 2021) in Austria, or Fjuckby in Sweden, where the name can be associated with the word "fuck". Although as a place name Fucking is benign in German, in English the word is usually vulgar. Its earliest recorded use in England is within a 14th-century Bristol field name, Fucking Grove, although it is unclear whether the word was considered obscene at that time. Similarly, when they hear of the French town of Condom, English speakers will likely associate it with condoms.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html |work=The New York Times |title=No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else |first=Sarah |last=Lyall |date=22 January 2009}}

File:Bösgesäß.jpg

Conversely, a number of place names can, by folk etymology or otherwise, be considered humorous or offensive by their inhabitants, such as the Italian towns of Bastardo ("Bastard") and Troia ("Slut", literally the female of the pig; the same name is used in Italian for the ancient city of Troy), the German towns Affendorf ("Monkey Village"), {{ill|Bösgesäß|de}} ("Bad-Ass" or "Evil-Buttock"), {{ill|Faulebutter|de}} ("Rancid Butter"), {{ill|Fickmühlen|de}} ("Fuck Mills"), {{ill|Himmelreich|de|Himmelreich (Landkreis Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald)}} ("Kingdom of Heaven"), which appropriately lies at the edge of the Höllental ("Hell's Valley"), {{ill|Katzenhirn|de}} ("Cat Brain", nearest to Mindelheim), Lederhose (Lederhosen, leather trousers), {{ill|Neger, Olpe|lt=Neger|de|Neger (Olpe)}} ("Negro"), {{ill|Plöd|de}} ({{lang|de|blöd}} means "stupid", renamed in 2009), {{ill|Regenmantel, Falkenhagen (Mark)|lt=Regenmantel|de|Regenmantel (Falkenhagen (Mark))}} ("Raincoat"), and {{ill|Warzen|de|Warzen (Alfeld)}} ("Warts").{{cite news |title=Schluss mit Plöd! – Wie ein lustiger Ortsname zur Last wird |url=http://www.tz-online.de/aktuelles/bayern/schluss-mit-ploed---wie-ein-lustiger-ortsname-zur-last-wird-72134.html |newspaper=TZ |location=Munich |language=de |date=14 November 2008}} Petting, Bavaria is a village in Bavaria meaning Petting both in German and English. The Austrian municipality Unterstinkenbrunn and the cadastral community Oberstinkenbrunn ("Lower Stinking Well" and "Upper Stinking Well", respectively) can also be considered offensive by residents.

In Sweden, there are the villages of {{ill|Porrarp|sv}} (in which "porr" translates to "porn"), {{ill|Mensträsk|sv}} ("Menstruation swamp"), Fittja ("Fitta" translates to "cunt"), and {{ill|Rövhålet|sv}} ("Asshole").

In the Czech Republic, there are villages called Šukačka ("Fucking") and Onen Svět ("The Other World"), which are located 2 kilometres (1¼ miles) from each other.{{Cite web|url=https://mapy.cz/zakladni?x=13.2684957&y=49.2273396&z=15&l=0|title=Mapy.cz}}

In Hong Kong, place names containing the words "si2" (屎 – shit) and "niu6" (尿 – piss) are common{{Verification needed|date=March 2025}}, and there are a number of place names actually containing profanities, like Gau Tau ({{lit|penis head}}), Ham Lun Kok (含倫角 – lit. "blowjob corner" which the character '倫' have the similar pronunciation as '撚' which means dick, and '含' means hold or cover with mouth) of which the common names have since been changed to Shek Ngau Chau (石牛洲) and Yau Lung Kok (游龍角) respectively.{{Cite web|url=http://hongwrong.com/hong-kong-offensive-names/|title=Hong Kong's Most Offensive Place Names|date=16 October 2013}} The name Kau Shi Wai (狗屎圍 in Cantonese – in which 狗屎 means "dog shit") was changed as it was indecent and could cause embarrassment.{{cite web |url=https://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/tp/doc/2012_2015/sc/dc_meetings_doc/1671/TP_2013_066_TC.pdf |website=District Council website |publisher=Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |date=20 November 2013 |access-date=12 February 2019 |language=Chinese |title=大埔區地名修訂 |trans-title=Tai Po District Name Revision Consultation document}}

In the United States, there are at least three towns named Cumming, a slang term for ejaculation (Cummington, Massachusetts, Cumming, Iowa, and Cumming, Georgia), and the name of the town of Effingham, Illinois,And the village of Effingham, Surrey, England, which shares its name with a railway junction, a hundred (ancient administrative district), and the famous admiral Lord Howard of Effingham contains a minced oath for "fuck".{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/eff |title=Eff |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |access-date=April 15, 2015}}{{Citation|title=The Effing House Family Restaurant|url=https://soundcloud.com/bobandtom/the-effing-house-family|language=en|access-date=2017-09-19}}{{cite news |author=Charlie Amter |title=Small town Mayor to Ben Folds: We will bury you |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/10/small-town-ma-1.html |access-date=September 15, 2009 |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=October 21, 2008}} Long Dick Creek in Iowa is named after a settler, not male genitalia. There is also Two Egg, Florida{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4dBWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RkINAAAAIBAJ&pg=2267%2C2879765 | title=Some towns sure have funny names | work=The Miami News | accessdate=19 May 2015 | date=June 9, 1971 | pages=4A}} and Athol, Massachusetts whose pronunciation evokes asshole.{{Cite web |date=2008-03-10 |title=Town gets anal over ad mocking its name |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23554687 |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=NBC News |language=en}}

In the United Kingdom, there are a number of places with names that would be considered derogatory in other settings, such as the Northamptonshire community Titty Ho and the Shetland community Twatt.{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=Rob |title=Rude Britain: 100 rudest place names in Britain |last2=Hurst |first2=Ed |date=2005 |publisher=Boxtree |isbn=0-7522-2581-2 |pages=88,131}}

Some place names are deemed to be offensive or unacceptable, often through historic semantic changes in what is tolerated.{{cite news|last=Kenney |first=Michael |url=https://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2006/05/30/geographer_explores_place_names_that_offend/ |title=Geographer explores place names that offend |publisher=Boston.com – The Boston Globe|date=30 May 2006 |access-date=17 August 2010}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americans-redraw-the-map-to-erase-offensive-names-1913020.html |title=Americans redraw the map to erase 'offensive' names – Americas, World |work=The Independent |date=28 February 2010 |access-date=17 August 2010 |location=London |first=Guy |last=Adams}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7810512.stm |title=Council lists banned road names |agency=BBC News |date=4 January 2009 |access-date=17 August 2010}}

An example of this would be the once common English street name Gropecunt Lane, whose etymology is a historical use of the street by prostitutes to ply their trade. During the Middle Ages the word cunt may often have been considered merely vulgar, having been in common use in its anatomical sense since at least the 13th century. Its steady disappearance from the English vernacular may have been the result of a gradual cleaning-up of the name; Gropecunt Lane in 13th-century Wells became Grope Lane, and then in the 19th century, Grove Lane.{{Citation |last=Briggs |first=Keith |title=OE and ME cunte in place-names |work=Journal of the English Place-name Society, 41, 26–39 |url=http://keithbriggs.info/documents/cunte_04.pdf |publisher=keithbriggs.info |date=1 April 2010 |access-date=7 July 2010}} In the city of York, Grapcunt Lane (grāp being the Old English word for "grope"{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/grope|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804100655/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/grope|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2012|title=grope – Definition of grope in English by Oxford Dictionaries|website=Oxford Dictionaries – English}}) was renamed Grope Lane and is now called Grape Lane.{{cite web |title=Snickelways-YorkWalk |url=http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/YK/cms/pdf/12-media-culture-Snickleways%202013.pdf |work=VisitYork.org |via=thedms.co.uk |access-date=2020-06-01}}

The Swedish village of Kräkånger, whose name could be interpreted as "vomit regret", changed its name to Lövsele in 1951.{{Citation |title=Kräkånger|url=https://www.hembygd.se/skelleftea/ortnamnforskning/krakanger|publisher=Skellefteå hembygdsförening |access-date=11 November 2024}}

A similar case was in the town of Sasmuan, Pampanga, in the Philippines, formerly known as "Sexmoan" based on attempts by Spanish friars to transcribe Sasmuan; it was unanimously changed into Sasmuan in 1991 because of negative sexual connotations associated with the place name.{{cite web|url=http://www.libotero.com/santa-lucia-church-sasmuan-pampanga/|title=Santa Lucia Church, Sasmuan, Pampanga|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117063139/http://www.libotero.com/santa-lucia-church-sasmuan-pampanga/|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Jennings|first=Ken|title=Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks|date=2012|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-1-4391-6718-2|url=https://archive.org/details/mapheadchartingw0000jenn}}

File:Swastika ON.JPG]]

In Canada, the town of Swastika, Ontario, founded in 1908, adopted its name years before the Nazi Party adopted the swastika as a symbol, and in fact over a decade before the Nazi Party was formed in early 1920.{{cite web |title=Swastika |url=https://www.ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Timiskaming06.html |publisher=Ontario's Historical Plaques |access-date=26 January 2022}} During World War II, the provincial government removed the Swastika sign and replaced it with a sign renaming the town "Winston". The residents removed the Winston sign and replaced it with a Swastika sign with the message, "To hell with Hitler, we came up with our name first."{{cite news |title=Why the swastika can't be rehabilitated |first1=Catherine |last1=McIntyre |date=September 15, 2017 |publisher=Maclean's |url=https://www.macleans.ca/news/why-the-swastika-cant-be-rehabilitated/ |access-date=June 28, 2021}}

In Spain, a municipality was named Castrillo Matajudíos ("Jew-killer Camp") from 1627 to 2015.{{cite news |title=Spanish village drops 'kill Jews' name |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/22/spanish-village-drops-kill-jews-name |access-date=26 January 2022 |agency=Associated Press |work=The Guardian |date=22 June 2015}} Matamoros (Moor killer), however, remains a common place name, surname, and even the name of several businesses in Spanish-speaking countries.

A few place names in the United States and Canada historically used the word "nigger", a derogatory term for black people. Over the course of the 20th century, many of these place names were changed because of the racist connotations of the word. One example is Dead Nigger Draw in Texas (named to commemorate the Buffalo Soldier tragedy of 1877), which was changed to Dead Negro Draw in 1963,{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rbd17 |title=Dead Negro Draw |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |work=The Handbook of Texas |access-date=5 October 2014}} then to Buffalo Soldier Draw in 2020.{{cite news|title=Why Do So Many Places In Texas Have 'Negro' In Their Name, Despite A Law Against It?|first=Reese|last=Oxner|publisher=NPR|date=December 11, 2020|accessdate=June 14, 2021|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/12/11/945040041/why-do-so-many-places-in-texas-have-negro-in-their-name-despite-a-law-against-it}} Another is Niggerhead Mountain near Malibu, California, which was changed to Negrohead Mountain in the 1960s and finally to Ballard Mountain in 2010 for an early African American settler.{{cite web |author=Cholly |url=http://www.africanamerica.org/topic/from-niggerhead-to-negrohead-to-ballard-a-mountain-finally-gets-a-decent-name |title=From Niggerhead to Negrohead to Ballard, a Mountain Finally Gets A Decent Name |work=AfricanAmerica.org |access-date=2020-06-01}} Niggertown Marsh and Niggertown Knoll in Highlands County, Florida, named for a short-lived freedmen's settlement from the 1870s, were removed from public maps following a complaint in 1992.

In Canada, Quebec decided in 2015 to rename 11 places within the province that contained the word "nigger" or the French equivalent, nègre.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/11-quebec-sites-that-contain-the-n-word-to-be-renamed-1.3245106|title=No more place names that contain the N-word allowed, Quebec commission rules|work=CBC News|access-date=2018-02-13|language=en}} An Australian island about 30 km (20 miles) north of Cape Grenville was formerly known as Nigger Head; in September 2017, the Queensland government stated that a new name would be chosen for the island, although a new name was never selected and the island remains officially unnamed.{{cite web|url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/racist-place-names-to-be-struck-from-the-record-in-queensland-20170828-p4yvlm.html|title=Racist place names to be struck from the record in Queensland|work=Brisbane Times|date=28 August 2017|access-date=20 September 2017}} In 2016, New Zealand renamed three locations which were found to be offensive: Niggerhead, Nigger Hill, and Nigger Stream became Tawhai Hill, Kanuka Hills, and Pukio Stream respectively.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/08/new-zealand-drops-racially-offensive-place-names/|title=New Zealand drops racially offensive place names|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2017-06-07|language=en-GB}}

Numerous place names in the United States and Canada have historically included the term "squaw" a word considered racist and sexist toward Indigenous women.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-08 |title=Interior Department Completes Removal of “Sq___” from Federal Use {{!}} U.S. Department of the Interior |url=https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-completes-removal-sq-federal-use |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.doi.gov |language=en}} While originating from Algonquian languages- (like the Cree word iskwēw meaning "woman") Indigenous peoples in America and Canada consider the term offensive due to its centuries-long use in a derogatory context. Notable name changes include those of the 2003 of Squaw Peak in Phoenix, Arizona, renamed to Piestewa Peak, after Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, a Hopi soldier killed in action during the United States invasion of Iraq.{{cite news|last1=Fischer|first1=Howard |title=Board renames Squaw Peak after Piestewa|url=http://azdailysun.com/board-renames-squaw-peak-after-piestewa/article_8776b769-caeb-5f6d-a1a8-0f7722eaba38.html |access-date=July 12, 2016|agency=Arizona Daily Sun|date=April 17, 2003}} In 2020, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe was renamed Palisades Tahoe.{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Gregory |date=15 September 2021 |title=Squaw Valley's new name is Palisades Tahoe. What does it mean for the region? |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Squaw-Valley-s-new-name-is-Palisades-Tahoe-16449982.php |access-date=27 February 2024 |work=San Francisco Chronicle}} Squaw Island, a small Island at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, was renamed in 2021 to Skenoh Island. The most comprehensive change came in 2021, when Secretary's Order 3404 directed the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to replace all place names containing the word "squaw''. The renaming process invited public suggestions before finalizing over 650 changes, all documented in an official government database.{{Cite web |title=Geographic Names Information System |url=https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/all-official-sq-names |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=edits.nationalmap.gov |language=en}}

Kindai University in Osaka, Japan, changed its English-language name in 2014 from Kinki University (pronounced kinky which in English has a provocative meaning). The Japanese-language name of the university, {{nihongo||近畿大学|Kinki daigaku}}, was left unchanged. The change was globally reported, though since its founding in 1949, the original name was not a problem within Japan. However, with the dramatic globalization of Japanese universities in recent decades, including the presence of hundreds of foreign students, staff, faculty, and visiting scholars on campus, the leadership of the university made the change in 2016, after deciding to do so in 2014.{{cite news |first=Justin |last=McCurry |title=Japan's Kinki University changes its name due to awkward English meaning |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/21/kinki-university-changes-name-kindai |work=The Guardian |date=2014-05-21 |access-date=2020-06-01}}

Beijing's {{Ill|Zhushikou|zh|珠市口}} (珠市口) was originally known as "Zhushikou" (猪市口) during the Ming Dynasty, In which 猪 meant "pig", and 市 meant "market", because it was a famous market for selling live pigs. By the Qing Dynasty, the pig market had faded away. The place was renamed to "Zhushikou" (珠市口), where 珠 means "pearl".{{Cite book |title=北京地名典 |editor1=王彬 |editor2=徐秀珊 |publisher=中国文联出版社 |year=2008 |isbn=9787505959989 |pages=386}}

In 1997, the town of Gay Head in Massachusetts changed its name to Aquinnah.{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

Sometimes, place names are changed as a publicity stunt or to promote tourism.

Waters, Arkansas, changed its name to Pine Ridge, Arkansas, after it became known that the fictional town Pine Ridge in the radio sitcom Lum and Abner was based on Waters. Now a sparsely populated and no longer incorporated community, Pine Ridge is home to a Lum and Abner museum.{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/National-Register-Listings/PDF/MN0037.nr.pdf|title=NRHP nomination for Huddleston Store and McKinzie Store|publisher=Arkansas Preservation|access-date=2015-10-12}}

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, changed its name from Hot Springs in 1950, after the host of the radio program Truth or Consequences promised free publicity to any town willing to change its name to that of the show.{{cite book|title=Truth Or Consequences|page=7|last1=Carpenter|last2=Fletcher|first1=Cindy|first2=Sherry|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=South Carolina|isbn=978-0738579177|year=2010}} Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, changed its name from Mauch Chunk in honor of the famous athlete when his widow agreed to allow his remains to be buried there.

The former community of Clark, Denton County, Texas, changed its name to DISH as part of a marketing agreement with Dish Network whereby the town's residents (roughly 200) would get free satellite TV service from the company.{{Cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Manny |date=2013-03-22 |title=Marketing Deal Gives a Small Town an Identity Crisis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/us/texas-town-called-dish-has-an-identity-problem.html |access-date=2025-02-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In 1999, the town of Halfway, Oregon, changed its name to Half.com for one year after the e-commerce start-up of the same name offered 20 computers, as well as $110,000 for the school, and other financial subsidies.{{Citation| url = http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=4707| title = What Ever Happened to Half.com, Oregon?| work = Design Observer Observery| publisher = The Design Observer Group| access-date = 30 December 2011| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130121102350/http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=4707| archive-date = 21 January 2013| df = dmy-all}}

Saint Augusta, Minnesota, was for a short time named Ventura after the then-governor Jesse Ventura (whose ring name was in turn named after the city of Ventura, California) to draw attention in avoiding annexation by the nearby city of Saint Cloud.{{cite web |first=Marisa |last=Helms |title=The City of Ventura |work=Minnesota Public Radio |date=24 January 2000 |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200001/24_helmsm_ventura-m/ |access-date=2020-06-01}} The name was reverted to the original name after the crisis passed.

In the late 1990s, the town of Granville, North Dakota, agreed to change its name temporarily to McGillicuddy City as part of a promotion for Dr. McGillicuddy's schnapps.{{cite news |title=N.D. town changing its name for shot at Schnapps money |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E7UyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3364%2C1263332 |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |date=1998-02-13 |via=Google News Archive |access-date=2020-06-01}}

In March 2010, Topeka, Kansas, temporarily changed its name to Google, after the technology company, to secure the installation of Google Fiber in the city.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/02/google.kansas.topeka/index.html|title=Topeka 'renames' itself 'Google, Kansas'|website=CNN}}

In August 1998, Topeka was renamed ToPikachu for the North American launch of Nintendo's wildly successful Pokémon franchise. The city was once again renamed ToPikachu for one day, October 27, 2018, for the launch of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!{{Cite web|url=https://www.wibw.com/content/news/Topeka-will-change-to-ToPikachu-for-second-time-in-20-years-498381801.html|title=Topeka renamed "ToPikachu" for second time in 20 years|website=WIBW}}

File:Westward Ho!.jpg, Devon, England, is the only place name in the British Isles with an exclamation mark.{{cite news |last1=Owen-Jones |first1=Peter |title=A wild West country walk |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/a-wild-west-country-walk-ns898jzscr8 |access-date=12 October 2022 |work=The Sunday Times |language=en}}]]

File:Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch-railway-station-sign-2011-09-21-GR2 1837a.JPG, Wales, gives an approximation of the correct pronunciation for English speakers.]]

File:Patch of a lake with a really long name.jpg

Unorthodox spelling or pronunciation, particularly short or long names, and names derived from unusual sources, are often seen as unusual, especially by people outside the culture which named them. The Welsh village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll changed its name to the longer Llanfairpwllgwyngyll­gogerychwyrndrobwllllanty­siliogogogoch ("The church of [St.] Mary (Llanfair) [of the] pool (pwll) of the white hazels (gwyn gyll) near [lit. "over against"] (go ger) the fierce whirlpool (y chwyrn drobwll) [and] the church of [St.] Tysilio (Llantysilio) of the red cave") in the 1860s for publicity reasons. At 58 letters, it has the longest place name in the UK.{{cite book | title=Tourism Marketing| last=Devashish| first=Dasgupta| pages=246| publisher=Dorling Kindersley | year=2010| isbn=978-8131731826| location=New Delhi, India}}

The body of fresh water in Webster, Massachusetts, that has historically (since at least 1921) borne the apparently Native American 45-letter/fourteen-syllable name Lake Chargoggagoggmanch­auggagoggchaubunagungamaugg is usually shortened, for instance on road maps, to using only the final six syllables from its "long form"; as Lake Chaubunagungamaug, or even more simply to "Webster Lake". The longest single-word place name in the world is Taumatawhakatangihanga­koauauotamateaturipuka­kapikimaungahoronukupokai­whenuakitanatahu, a hill in New Zealand.

Conversely, several place names consists of only one letter. Multiple Norwegian towns are named Å. The name often comes from the Old Norse word Ár, meaning small river. Examples include: Å, Åfjord; Å, Meldal; Å, Lavangen; and Å, Tranøy{{cite book | title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt| edition=14| author-link=Oluf Rygh| last=Rygh| first=Oluf| publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri| date=1901| location=Kristiania, Norge| pages=23| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGxBAAAAIAAJ| language=no}} (also compare rivers named Aa). A village in northern France has been called Y since the 13th century. The Netherlands has IJ (Amsterdam), formerly spelled Y. The Dutch digraph IJ, although typed using two characters, is sometimes considered a ligature, or even a single letter in itself.

There are a number of place names that seem unusual to English speakers because they do not conform to standard English orthography rules. Examples are the Welsh villages of Ysbyty Ystwyth and Bwlchgwyn, which appear to English speakers to contain no vowel characters, although y and w represent vowel sounds in Welsh;{{cite web | url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/fun-stuff/14-welsh-place-names-no-6263550| title=14 Welsh Place Names With No (English) Vowels| publisher=Wales Online| date=1 November 2013| last=Rowland| first=Paul}} Pychgynmygytgyn, a lake in Russia, which also has no English vowels on its name; Aioi, Japan; Eiao, Marquesas Islands; Aiea, Hawaii;Aiea has an initial glottal stop in Hawaiian, which was dropped in English orthography. Oia, Greece; Oia, Spain; Aia and Ea, Spanish Basque Country; Ae, Scotland; Aa and Ao in Estonia; Eu, France and Ii, Finland, on the other hand, contain only vowels and no consonants.{{cite journal | journal=The Journal of Recreational Linguistics| volume=7-8| title=Word Ways| last=Eckler| first=Albert Ross| year=1969| pages=146| publisher=Word Ways}} Triples of any letter in English are considered rare; although the French Polynesian commune Faʻaʻā and its airport Faa'a International Airport both appear to contain a triple a, the apostrophe-like ʻetas represent glottal stops in Tahitian.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Patrick |title=Ask the pilot |url=https://www.salon.com/2005/01/21/askthepilot120/ |website=Salon |language=en |date=22 January 2005}}{{cite web |title=Language in French Polynesia {{!}} Frommer's |url=https://www.frommers.com/destinations/french-polynesia/in-depth/language |website=www.frommers.com}}

Unusual names may also be created as a result of error by the naming authority. An example is Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong, which is believed to be the name Alexander but erroneously written right-to-left (the normal practice for writing Chinese in the past); the name has stayed and even been transcribed back to Chinese phonetically.{{cite news |last1=Cheung |first1=Rachel |title=Stories behind Hong Kong street names: Rednaxela Terrace and its famous resident |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1987092/stories-behind-hong-kong-street-names-rednaxela-terrace-and |access-date=12 August 2022 |work=South China Morning Post |date=8 July 2016 |language=en}}

{{main|Street sign theft}}

File:The Shitterton Sign.jpg, Dorset, England.]]

As a result of increased notoriety, road signs were commonly stolen in Fucking, Austria, as souvenirs{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/photos/signs/austria.asp |title=Urban Legends Reference Pages: Welcome to Austria |date=31 May 2000 |publisher=Snopes.com |access-date=26 March 2013}} – the only crime which had been reported in the village.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/1497132/No-there-are-no-Fing-postcards.html|title=No, there are no F***ing postcards|last=Harnden|first=Toby|date=28 August 2005|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | location = London |access-date=7 November 2009}} It cost some 300 euros to replace each stolen sign, and the costs were reflected in the taxes that local residents paid.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/09/02/1125302734420.html|title=What's the F---ing joke?|date=3 September 2005|publisher=The Age|access-date=25 October 2009}} In 2004, owing mainly to the stolen signs, a vote was held on changing the village's name, but the residents voted against doing so. Tarsdorf municipality's mayor Siegfried Höppl stated that it was decided to keep the name as it had existed for 800 years,[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/austrian_signs/ "Brits steal carloads of F**king Austrian roadsigns"], The Register, 15 August 2005. and further stated that "everyone here knows what it means in English, but for us Fucking is Fucking – and it's going to stay Fucking."{{cite book |last1=Haywood |first1=Anthony |last2=Walker | first2 =Kerry |title=Austria |publisher=Lonely Planet |year=2008 |edition=5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanetaust00anth/page/217 217] |isbn=978-1-74104-670-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/lonelyplanetaust00anth|url-access=registration |access-date=7 November 2009}}

In November 2020, the council of Tarsdorf voted to have the village's name officially changed to Fugging (pronounced the same as Fucking in the dialect spoken in the region), effective 1 January 2021.{{cite news|last=Dallison|first=Paul|date=26 November 2020|title=Austrian village of Fucking to be renamed Fugging|work=Politico Europe|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/austrian-village-of-f-king-to-be-renamed-fugging/|access-date=27 November 2020}}{{cite news|date=26 November 2020|title=Fugging Hell: Tired Of Mockery, Austrian Village Changes Name|work=Barron's|agency=Agence France-Presse|url=https://www.barrons.com/news/fugging-hell-tired-of-mockery-austrian-village-changes-name-01606414506|access-date=29 November 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.tarsdorf.at/system/web/GetDocument.ashx?fileid=2606351&cts=1606119162|title=Kundmachung Gemeinderatssitzung|language=de|url-status=dead|access-date=23 December 2020|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126143437/https://www.tarsdorf.at/system/web/GetDocument.ashx?fileid=2606351&cts=1606119162}}

In 2010, the inhabitants of Shitterton, Dorset, purchased a 1.5-ton block of Purbeck stone to place at the entrance to Shitterton, carved with the hamlet's name, to prevent theft. A truck and crane were hired by volunteers to put the stone in place at a total cost of £680.{{cite news|url=https://news.sky.com/story/sign-of-the-times-shitterton-hits-back-10493058|title=Sign Of The Times: Shitterton Hits Back|publisher=Sky News|date=23 July 2010|access-date=24 April 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/village-amusing-name-set-in-stone/28548550.html|title=Village 'amusing' name set in stone|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=23 July 2010|access-date=24 April 2023}}

• Gag name
• List of chemical compounds with unusual names
• List of long place names
• List of short place names
• Toponymy, the study of place names

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{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wikivoyage|Places with unusual names}}

• [https://www.strangeplacenames.com/ Strangeplacenames UK & Ireland (2024)]

• [https://www.ucalgary.ca/ucpress/0-919813/0-919813-73-9.html University of Calgary press]
• [http://www.cnn.com/books/news/9803/02/town.names/index.html CNN news, Odd town names strike author's fancy (1998)]
• [http://www.ashton-under-lyne.com/placenames.htm Odd and Unusual Place Names]
• [http://news.softpedia.com/news/Google-Gets-City-Named-After-It-136352.shtml Topeka, Kansas, named Google, Kansas for one month]
• [http://crazyfacts.com/unusual-place-names/ List of Weird Place Names]
• [https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=znCLeiCoEY7I.kx6ZtJWj5Gf4 Rude Hong Kong]
• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/galleries/Britains-silliest-place-names/ Britain's silliest place names (The Telegraph)]

Category:Toponymy

Category:Lists of things considered unusual