CITIES THAT CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT THEIR OWN NAMES

NOUVELLE-ANGOULEME TO

NEW AMSTERDAM TO NEW YORK CITY

Giovanni da Verrazzano, captaining a French ship, is the first

European known to visit the area of present day New York City

in 1524. He named it Nouvelle-Angouleme after the Royal House

of Valois-Angouleme, the house of French King Francis I,

but did not stay to establish a colony. The Dutch established

the trading colony of New Amsterdam in 1626 and held it until

the British conquered the area in 1664. The renamed

New York was recaptured by the Dutch in 1673 (where it was

called New Orange, after the Dutch royal house) but finally

traded to the English for Suriname in the following year.

BOMBAY TO MUMBAI

When the Portuguese landed in southwestern India, they named the

area Bom Baim (“good little bay”). This name was anglicized to

Bombay when the British took over the city and was changed to

Mumbai (after the patron goddess Mumbadevi) in 1995 after the

Marathi nationalist Shiv Sena party swept into power.

ST. PETERSBURG TO PETROGRAD TO LENINGRAD

TO ST. PETERSBURG

First taking on the name of St. Petersburg in 1703, the city

Changed to Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924, and back to

St. Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Sometimes called “Peter” by locals, the city was founded by

Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It was renamed Petrograd (“Peter’s

City”, after the Tsar) in 1914 to remove German words from the

old name. Five days after Lenin’s death, the city was renamed

Leningrad in his honour as the leader of the October

Revolution which started in the city. It was renamed

St. Petersburg after the fall of the Soviet Union.

PORCALHOTA TO AMADORA

Portugal takes two spots on this list of cities which have changed

their names due to its old dirty former names of cities. Located

near Lisbon, the original city of Porcalhota was named after

Vasco Porcalho, but colloquially meant “small dirty one”.

Locals successfully asked the king to change the name in 1907.

CANTON TO GUANGZHOU

Now the third largest Chinese city with over 13 million residents,

Guangzhou didn’t have an official name when European traders

arrived. Only called “the provincial capital”, the city was named

after the surrounding province of Guangdong and derived its

Romanised name, Canton, from the Portuguese “Cantão”, a

transcription of Guangdong. The name was changed to

Guangzhou after the establishment of the People’s

Republic of China in 1949.

LONDONDERRY TO DERRY

A highly contentious place name, especially among the Irish

Republican Army (IRA), Derry is the anglicized version of the

Irish name Doire (“oak grove”). The prefix “London” was added

to the name to recognize the London guilds’ funding of the

city’s construction around 1613. July 2015 saw the Derry City

Council vote in favour of changing the official name from

Londonderry to Derry, as it is colloquially known, but the

matter is still awaiting a response from Northern Ireland’s

government.

YERUSHALEM TO JEBUS TO CITY OF DAVID TO

AELIA CAPITOLINA TO ILIYA TO JERUSALEM

Known as Yerushalem in the Book of Joshua, this Middle Eastern

city was called Jebus while ruled by the Jebusites until being

renamed the City of David by King David. It was later (70 A.D.)

changed to Aelia Capitolina by the occupying Romans then

Iliya (after the first part of the Roman name) by the Arab

armies who conquered the city in 638 A.D. before being

changed back to Jerusalem.

HOT SPRINGS TO TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

In a comical way a city changed its name, a small town in

New Mexico changed its name from Hot Springs to

Truth or Consequences (colloquially T or C), all due to a

popular quiz show in the 1950’s. “Truth or Consequences?”

presenter Ralph Edwards announced on-air he would have

a broadcast from the first town to name itself after the show.

For the next 50 years, Edwards visited the town annually

even after no longer presenting the show.

MAS A TIERRA TO ROBINSON CRUSOE ISLAND

Located in the Pacific Ocean to the west of Chile, the former

Mas a Tierra island was the home of Alexander Silkirk, a

marooned sailor, from 1704 to 1709. Selkirk’s story likely

inspired Daniel Defoe to write the book “Robinson Crusoe”.

The Chilean government changed the name in 1966 to

Robinson Crusoe Island to boost tourism and recognize

its literary history.