The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the popular general at the Battle of San Jacinto, who was elected President of Texas in September 1836. Here's the giant statue.

My city: St. Louis was founded in 1764 by fur traders Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau, and named after Louis IX of France.

@blfenton: I've seen the statue of Vancouver in Kings Lynn, UK:

Nothing here so exciting. The town (actually township) is called Greenbush. Supposedly a gentleman was digging up a bush that was green and someone said let's call it Greenbush! Our county only has one traffic light.

Toronto Ontario was originally called 'Tkaronto' by the First Nations (Mohawk) members, who resided near the area of Matchedash Bay, Ontario.

Originally, the term "Toronto" referred to "The Narrows", a channel of water through which Lake Simcoe discharges into Lake Couchiching. This narrows was styled tkaronto by the Mohawk, meaning "where there are trees standing in the water",[1] and was recorded as early as 1615 by Samuel de Champlain.

By 1686, Passage de Taronto referred to a canoe route tracking what is now the Humber River. The river became known as Rivière Taronto as the canoe route became more popular with French explorers, and by the 1720s a fort to the east of the delta on Lake Ontario was named by the French, Fort Toronto.

Fort Toronto eventually was just became 'Toronto.'

My small town was named after the founder. His last name followed by town.

I live in Remlap, AL. It's just small, don't blink or you'll miss it, community NE of Birmingham. Remlap is Palmer spelled backwards so as not to be confused with the community next to us, Palmerdale.

Copied from the Wiki website. "The name Aptos is Ohlone, meaning "the people".[7] Aptos was traditionally inhabited by the Ohlone Awaswas people. The name is one of only three native words that have survived (in Hispanicized form) as place names in Santa Cruz County (the others are Soquel and Zayante)."

Rob333- I lived off Shutes Lane years ago. TN is a wonderful state

These are pretty interesting. Well, not green bush, that's fairly uninspired. But funny! I appreciate the answers. I too lived in a city that was named for a family+boro. Murfree[s]+boro. The Murfrees still live there.

Now there's a name I've OFTEN wondered about. Shutes. Has to be a family!

from wiki: The city of Buffalo received its name from a nearby creek called Buffalo Creek.[2] British military engineer Captain John Montresor made reference to 'Buffalo Creek' in his journal of 1764, which may be the earliest recorded appearance of the name.[3] There are several theories regarding how Buffalo Creek received its name.[4][5][6] While it is possible that Buffalo Creek's name originated from French fur traders and Native Americans calling the creek Beau Fleuve (French for "Beautiful River"),[4][5] it is also possible that Buffalo Creek was named for the American buffalo, whose historical range may have extended into Western New York.[6][7]

Fort Brisebois was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 at the suggestion of Colonel James MacLeod. A: Calgary is named after Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. It was originally thought to mean "clear running water" but has since been defined as "bay farm".

I live in a small town called Plainville. I don't even want to think about how it got its name.

Stupidly, the town where I live in Florida was named by the company that developed it less than 100 years ago. We are unincorporated, yet have thousands of residents most who live in 'planned communities'. The place was on the map many, many years ago, but it was just a spot on the map. Now it has a name and it has nothing to do with people, places or anything! D-U-M-B!

Our little town is the only town in America named Front Royal. It was founded in the 1750s, and was named LeHewtown. The origin of the name remains uncertain. One theory is that, in early decades of European settlement, the area was referred to as "le front royal", meaning the "Royal Frontier". However, the more colorful and legendary origin has it that during colonial days, a giant oak tree (the "Royal" Tree of England) stood in the public square. It was there that the local militia were drilled. To call the militia, they were commanded to "front the Royal Oak". Front Royal was the resulting derivation from that. It was incorporated as Front Royal in 1788.

Seattle is one of the only major cities in the United States to be named after a Native American chief. In his native language, Seattle was pronounced “see-ahlsh” but it was difficult for English speakers to pronounce, so they anglicized it to the version that you know today. Chief Seattle was born in the 1780s on the Kitsap Peninsula, just west of the city of Seattle today. Seattle was the son of nobly born members of both the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, and as he grew older, his leadership was recognized by both tribes. His proven abilities as a military strategist, a winner of battles, a good speaker and diplomat earned him the respect of his people, and he soon was recognized as a great leader by most Native Americans in the region.

Sussex, WI was named by one of the town's founders, Mr. Weaver. Mr. Weaver came from Sussex, England and claimed land in this virgin territory. A short time later, he sent for his wife from out east. She traveled by the Erie canal to Lake Erie and thence by lake boat to a port at Milwaukee, WI. Mr. Weaver engaged in growing wheat and acquiring more land. The landscape is underlain by deep beds of limestone; A major industry was producing slaked lime. This required large amounts of fire wood. Kiln operators wood gathering denuded tracts of land to the benefit of farmer Weaver since this cleared land for him. A brewing industry was growing in Milwaukee creating a market for the farmer's crops.

As these interlocking industries progressed, Mr. Weaver noticed that the brewers were importing hops from far away places at high cost. He saw opportunity. He brought hops to Sussex and established the crop. He had no more than gotten his hops established when a wheat blight swept through the country and bankrupted many wheat farmers. He acquired more land at fire sale prices as local wheat farmers sold out and left.

Today, there yet stands in Sussex an Episcopal Chapel and Cemetery named St. Albans. The original plot of land for this church was given by Mr. Weaver. The chapel is made with local quarried stone and is patterned after one in Sussex, England, the homeplace of Mr. Weaver.

Portage, WI

Early explorers searched for waterways from the Great Lakes region to the gulf of Mexico, principally New Orleans. Before roads, the main course of travel and movement of goods was by water, game trails , and Native American trails. Fur trappers needed a route to move their goods from northern parts of the continent to port towns. There, merchants bargained for furs to ship to Europe. Explorers found the Fox river at the south end of the Green Bay lobe of Lake Michigan. (There is more than one Fox river in Wisconsin.) They traveled south on the Fox to another large but shallow lake that was later named Lake Winnebago. Encouraged by this find, they pushed on and found where the Fox entered Lake Winnebago. Happily, the upstream direction was southwesterly. Following the Fox until it was only a dribble, they found themselves near the large Wisconsin river. It was only a short portage to the large Wisconsin river which assured them of a direct route the Mississippi and New Orleans. For a brief time, a trade route was established and a town sprang up at the portage and the town became known as Portage.

DeKalb, Illinois

During the Revolutionary War, Baron Johann DeKalb came with Marquis de Lafayette and his fleet to assist Gen, Washington against the British. DeKalb was a German mercenary who had fought for France and thought that he had earned a title, but the French government had been slow to bestow favors on its mercenaries, so DeKalb named himself a Baron before coming to the New World with Lafayette.

The Continental Congress appointed him a major general and he fought under General Horatio Gates in the Carolinas. He died in the battle of Camden, SC. At least two of my ancestors have DeKalb as part of their names. The city, DeKalb, IL is named after this man.

Bark river, WI

Early explorers came upon a band of starving Natives. it was winter and game was scarce. These people were eating tree bark to survive. The explorers named the small river they were camped on, the Bark.

Clay City, IL

Clay City and Clay County are named after Mr. Clay, the first permanent settler in that region. (These are not named after the abundance of clay soil that underlies 6 to 12 inches of topsoil in that area.)

West Salem, Edwards Co, IL

The town founders wanted to name their town, Salem, but when they went to register the name, they were told the name was already taken. Not to be deterred in their pursuit of the name, they added the prefix, "West" to the name to make "West Salem".

It turns out that the town of Salem is about 50 miles west of West Salem, therefore, West Salem is about 50 miles east of Salem - Go figgure!

Davenport, Iowa

During the Black Hawk War (summer of 1832) Davenport and Brady ran a trading post across the Mississippi river from Rock Island. Davenport served as Quartermaster to the Militia. Today, at that same place, there is the city of Davenport, IA and a main thoroughfare running north up and out of the river valley is named, Brady Street. Any connection? The coincidence is high.

Fort Atkinson, WI

General Atkinson oversaw the action of the Black Hawk War (1832). There is a town in WI by the name of Fort Atkinson.

In that war, Henry and Dodge were scouts, Wisconsin has a Dodge County and town called Dodgeville.

Parkersburg, Richland Co, IL

Parkersburg, IL is named after Parker, an Indian fighter and friend of Daniel Boone. Parker and a few others founded the village.

My life home city, Winnipeg, is Cree (part of my heritage) means muddy waters, which is exactly what you get there. And, the city, I currently live in, Ottawa, is Algonquin for "to trade". Haha, I wish I could Ottawa back to Winnipeg.

Windsor was named after the town in Berkshire, England but had a few name changes before that. I grew up and still live in the area called Riverside which used to be a town east of Windsor before it was annexed in the late 1960's. Riverside ran along the shore of the Detroit River up to the mouth of Lake St. Clair

Jim if it makes you feel better, the burb next to me is called Lakewood. It used to be... drumroll.... Dupontonia. Can you guess the company town it was? heh

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette...I grew up in Lafayette, In...now I live in Fayetteville, Ga...Lafayette seems to be a very important man in my life...just caught a show on the history channel about him a month or so ago...haven't watched all of it yet but he really is an important figure in American History!

jem, you sure know a lot of history about your names! And a lot of names. Cool stuff!

My tiny hometown is Homer, NY, named (obviously) after the Greek poet by a surveying clerk with a penchant for Greek classics.

The city in which I now live, Huntsville AL, is named after founder John Hunt. It was originally named Twickenham by another early settler related to English poet Alexander Pope, but the post Revolutionary anti British sentiment of the day prevailed and Huntsville became Huntsville!

Manitou Springs. Has natural soda springs. There was once a bottling plant here and bathing spa area.

The native tribes considered the eruption of bubbles in the mineral water the breath of the Great Spirit “Manitou.”

My town is an Indian word for running brook.

"The
French name Coeur d'Alene (pronounced core Da lane) was given to the
Schee-Chu-Umsh Indians by early French Canadians or by French-speaking
Iroquois Indians, who traveled through the area in the 1790s. Its
literal translation is "heart of awl," meaning hearts like the point of
an awl (a leather-working tool). The reason it was applied to the tribe
is still a mystery. The most common explanation is that it was an
attempt to describe their shrewd, sharp, tough trading practices."

In 1722, my town was named in honor of the governor. The county got it's name in 1668 and was named after an Indian tribe.

My town was named after General Winfield Scott -- now you have to guess whether I live in Arizona or Kansas!

My little town was named after the Native American word for blueberries, grown in abundance then.

1869

The town of Quincy now numbered about 300 people. Francis M. Hunter,
who owned a store, also was postmaster. He was notified by the
post-office department that Indiana already had a town in Owens County
named Quincy, and the department suggested the name here be changed. As a
group of men were discussing the matter, they noticed the small son of
Jesse B. Fraiser playing about. His name was Elwood. It was suggested
they give the town his name, so, officially on June 15, 1869, Quincy
became Elwood.

Sue

Although I only lived within Chicago for one winter, I've lived in various north and northwest suburbs all my life. We rented briefly in a building near what is now Water Tower Place. I played in a playground behind two giant billboards that faced Michigan Boulevard near the First Presbyterian Church.

Chicagou is a Miami Indian name meaning place of wild garlic. (Later tribes claimed it meant wild onion.)

The French were early explorers of this area. One married the daughter of a local chief, and was granted land along the lake. That is now a suburb called Wilmette, a corruption of his name, Ouilmette.

(I once puzzled fine citizens of Kentucky by asking directions to Versailles, using the French pronunciation (vehr-sahy).

San Francisco, the short version: San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego, all started as Spanish missions
in the 1700's. The padres named the missions after Catholic saints. SF
was named after St. Francis of Assissi.

San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara too. Yay for Padre Junipero Serra!

There are ten or so missions, all were given saintly names in Spanish. There are dozens/hundreds more place names of Spanish origin in California.

As for cheering for Father Serra, rob, neither the indigenous people who were here at the time nor their descendants will be joining you. They were treated cruelly by the Spanish clergy and lay-persons alike.

Another interesting bit of local history - the Spanish government sent ordinary citizens to establish local settlements where the padres were. These civilians typically set up their own facilities at some distance from the missions, as they wanted to be in the vicinity but not too close.

the town I live in now was named after a county official. There is only about 50 people living here now so I don't want to say the name. I came from Bismarck ND and that is named after Otto von Bismarck the German Chancellor.

This is pretty sad But I can't find anything on the name of my one blinker little town! I did find other towns such as Christmas. Michigan that was named by a guy that opened a gift shop in that area selling a lot of holiday items.

elmer, I grew up in Monterey. I know all about California's history. Not all of that time period was great. Some stuff is. I didn't need to be set straight. Regardless of all that happened, he's still the reason California got founded and people came west. It's great place despite the beginnings. The same could be said for almost all the US. It was a rough time and all of the indigenous people have much to be dissatisfied about. Some, still have reasons to be dissatisfied.

As you all know, a lot of the upper midwest is f-l-a-t. (My DM, a native of Rhode Island, claimed that she used to drive up and over RR crossings, just for the variety.)

I grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. The "Park" part is common in many place names. The "Ridge" celebrates the infinitesimal bit of altitude above sea level that exists in the center of town. This name replaced the much less 'cultured' name of Bricktown. (An abundance of clay soil led to the founding of brick works.)

Our little town and the one next to it had its own telephone company for ages. I remember an early phone directory that extolled the virtues of Park Ridge, inviting Chicagoalns to move there, "Out of the Smoke Zone -- Into the Ozone". (Well, what did they know?)

I grew up in a small town of Baden Pennsylvania. Baden was founded in 1838, and was made up of Depreciated Lands given by the Federal Government in exchange for Revolutionary War currency. Christian Burkhardt, proprietor of the land known as Baden today, recorded the land in 1839 and named it the village of Baden. Baden was named after a fashionable resort town where visitors bathed in hot springs surrounded by West Germany’s Black Forest. The mineral waters of Baden-Baden, (pronounced BAH-dun Bad-dun) West Germany, attracted thousands of visitors seeking health benefits from the hot springs or just play in the area’s parks.

I mentioned what I did because there were many protests and demonstrations statewide, and over an rather long period of time, following when the Pope announced that Serra would be canonized. He's buried at the Carmel Mission and there was a severe vandalism incident there a few days after the ceremony. Paint was smeared around, his and other gravestones were painted and defaced and a statue of him was knocked over. So, no "Yay Serra's" have been heard lately.

Philadelphia was named by its founder, William Penn. The name is Greek for brotherly love, hence the City of Brotherly Love. Penn wanted a name that reflected religious freedom.

I grew up in the town of McLean, named after a Scotsman of that clan. I recently met the current patriarch of the McLeans (there are several spellings, but all related) and, though he knew of the town, he could not shed any light on how it came to be.

Liverpool, TX was named by an early settler originally from Liverpool, England. There is another little town down the road named Amsterdam. These towns are so small that even people who have lived here many years have never heard of them. They are off the beaten path. I grew up in Friendswood, TX. It was a Quaker settlement and a wooded area and Quakers were also known as Friends.