Spend enough time on the roads around the country, and you’ll start to notice that you’re seemingly passing through the same handful of towns over and over.
Springfield. Franklin. Clinton. These are just some examples of common town names that pop up repeatedly across dozens of states. This phenomenon traces back to shared settlement patterns, universally admired individuals, settlers who simply liked reusing an old favorite, and more surprising trends.
PeopleWin has pulled together this list of common town names using place-name tallies from WorldAtlas and the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System, the federal database of records for populated places, paired with local and historical sources for the origin story behind the names.
1. Washington - 88 Locations
No name repeats itself more than Washington. In the U.S., there are 88 cities and towns that have Washington in their names, not to mention the state of Washington itself.
Of course, this is a direct homage to George Washington. Naming a new settlement after the first president served as both a patriotic gesture and a way for frontier towns to signal their legitimacy to the country as everything expanded westward.
2. Springfield - 41 Locations
Springfield, Massachusetts, founded in 1636 by William Pynchon, is the original, named after Pynchon’s hometown in England. As settlers moved westward, they reused the name due to its familiar and pleasant sound, seemingly evoking thoughts of fertile lands near a spring. In fact, the name is so associated now with the idea of an average town that “The Simpsons" deliberately never revealed which Springfield is the setting of the show.
3. Franklin - 35 Locations
Franklin, Massachusetts, was the first town named for the famed Benjamin Franklin. Dozens more communities have followed suit since. Unlike Washington or Madison, Franklin was never president, but his prominent role in drafting the Declaration of Independence earned him accolades that have resonated into modernity.
4. Clinton - 29 Locations
Clinton owes its popularity to DeWitt Clinton. He was a New York senator, as well as governor, best known for his role in championing the Erie Canal. The project transformed American trade and allowed for quicker westward expansion. However, not every Clinton traces back to him directly. The one in Massachusetts, for instance, was named after a New York hotel that a local founder was particularly fond of.
5. Fairview - 27 Locations
Unlike names that are meant to honor historic figures, Fairview is simple and descriptive. Settlers used it to flag a town that just generally looked appealing, whether that be over farmland, hills, or by water. Fairview, Utah, as an example, was named in 1872 due to its view of the valley’s great granary.
6. Madison - 24 Locations
It’s not difficult to guess why Madison is a popular place name. James Madison, the fourth president of the U.S. and the father of the Constitution, was the namesake for locations across the country, and the name spread quickest in the 19th century as new settlements were forming.
7. Arlington - Roughly 20 Locations
The name Arlington has a fascinating backstory. The name traces back to Arlington House, the Custis-Lee mansion overlooking the Potomac. That location was named for an ancestral Custis family estate. When Arlington National Cemetery was built on its grounds after the Civil War, the name gained enough traction that other towns later renamed themselves in honor of it.
The trends that define city names
Early American communities often leaned on a small and shared pool of respected names when thinking of what to choose to call their settlements. While there were many presidents, statesmen, and just pleasant descriptions of the land around, the founders opted for the same established choice out of respect to those people, places, or events. The funny result, however, is a country map where knowing a town’s name tells you surprisingly little about where it actually is.
This story was produced by PeopleWin and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
