CITIES THAT STRUGGLE TO FIGURE OUT THEIR OWN NAMES

BYZANTIUM TO CONSTANTINOPLE TO ISTANBUL

Referred to as Byzantium when it was founded as an

Ancient Greek colony, the name was changed to

Constantinople after Roman Emperor Constantine the

Great conquered the city and made it his capital. The

Ottomans conquered the area in 1453 and kept the name,

though Istanbul, meaning “to the city” in Greek, was its

informal name, soon became its official name after

Turkey switched to the Latin script in 1928.

LANGBAURGH ON TEES TO REDCAR AND CLEVELAND

Landbaurgh-on-Tees was the name given to this English city

in 1988. (Previously, it had multiple names related to the region.)

In 1996, upon the abolishment of Cleveland County, planners

renamed the city Redcar and Cleveland, would make a great

name for a detective show.

HERAKLION TO HANDAQ TO CHANDAX TO

CANDIA TO MEGALO KASTRO TO HERAKLION

The ancient Greek city of Heraklion was strategically located

on the island of Crete, leading to its conquest by multiple

civilizations. Andalusian Arabs took over the city in the

1820’s and renamed it Al-Handaq (“Castle of the Moat”). In 961,

the Byzantines took over, renaming it Chandax. Following

was the Venetian purchase of the city (renaming it Candia)

and Ottoman conquest (renaming it Megalo Kastro or “Big Castle”).

The brief existence of the Cretan State from 1898-1913 saw the

city return to the name Heraklion which it has since kept.

ALEKSANDROVKA TO YUZOVKA TO STALINO TO DONETSK

The city (and region) of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been the

nexus of heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and rebels

in the region since early 2014 when the Donetsk People’s

Republic took control. Going back almost 250 years, the

city was founded as Aleksandrovka before being renamed

Yuzovka thanks to Welsh businessman John Hughes who

built multiple coal mines and a steel plant in the area.

(Approximated in Russian, Hughes becomes Yuz.) The

Soviets renamed it Stalino in 1924 after their leader Nikita

Khrushchev renamed it Donetsk after the

Seversky Donets river in 1961.

LAKE STATION TO EAST GARY TO LAKE STATION

The city of Lake Station, Indiana, must have the most ironic

name change on this list. Originally known as Lake Station

when it was a stagecoach depot stop, it changed its name to

East Gary in 1908 to encourage workers at the U.S. Steel

plant in nearby Gary, Indiana, to build their residences in the

area. Once Gary became known for crime and urban decay,

East Gary changed its name back to Lake Station in 1977.

PEKING TO BEIJING

Fans of Chinese food will likely recognize Peking Duck on the

menu. The name Peking ironically came from the southern

dialects’ pronunciation of Beijing to the Europeans who

first visited China. Despite being known for many years in the

western world as Peking, Beijing has been the official name

of the city since 1403. In Mandarin, it means “Northern Capital”.

OSLO TO CHRISTIANA TO OSLO

The origin of the name Oslo is still not exactly known, but it

may have been the name of a farm at Bjørvika. While in a

personal union with Denmark, the city burned to the ground

but was rebuilt and renamed Christiania in honour of Danish

King Christian IV. In 1925, the city regained its original name, Oslo.

MARYBOROUGH TO PORT LAOISE

During the English occupation of Ireland, the town of

Maryborough was established, named after then-monarch

Queen Mary. (The surrounding county, now called County Laois,

was similarly called Queen’s County.) The foundation of the

Irish Free State in 1929 saw many names revert to their

Irish names, such as Port Laois.