Place names considered unusual
The following international geographical names are either interesting or unusual (place names are often either meaningless or innocuous in the source language). This list is provided chiefly for its entertainment value. See the notes for inclusion criteria.
See also: list of unusual English words, toponymy and for a list of names derived from place names: list of toponyms.
- Å, Norway²
- Amerika, Germany
- Anting, China 7
- Arsoli, Lazio, Italy
- Bad Kissingen, Germany
- Banana, Australia 7
- Bang Bang Jump Up, a rock formation in Australia
- Big Bone Lick, Kentucky
- Blubberhouses, Yorkshire, England
- Blue Ball, Pennsylvania
- Bob 9
- Boom, Belgium
- Boring, Oregon, USA
- Bottom, North Carolina
- Bra, Italy
- Brown Willy, a tor in Cornwall, UK
- Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg², Massachusetts
- Chinaman's Knob, Australia
- Christmas Island, Australia 4
- Climax, Colorado
- Condom, France
- Cunter, Switzerland
- Die, France
- Dikshit, India
- Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Easter Island 4
- Ed, Sweden
- Elephant Butte, New Mexico 7
- Eighty-Eight, Kentucky
- Foul Mile, England
- French Lick, Indiana
- Fresh Kills, Staten Island, New York, New York, USA
- Frisby on the Wreake, Leicestershire, England
- Fucking, Austria¹
- Fuku, China
- Goodyear, Arizona 4
- Gorsafawddacha'idraigodanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion², a train station in Gwynedd, Wales
- Grand Tetons, Wyoming, USA (meaning: "big tits" in French)
- Gunbarrel, Colorado
- Gunbarrel Highway, Australia
- Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Alberta, Canada
- Hell, Michigan
- Hell, Norway
- Hell Gate, New York, New York, USA (a portion of the East River, from the Dutch words for "bright passage")
- Hell Hole Gorge National Park, Australia
- Hells Gate Roadhouse, Australia
- Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA
- Hérrison, France (meaning: "hedgehog")
- Himmelspforte, Germany (meaning: "heaven's gate")
- Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, USA
- How, Wisconsin
- Humpty Doo, Australia
- Intercourse, Pennsylvania
- Isles of Scilly (pronounced "silly"), England
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Kokomo, Indiana
- "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit" ², the poetic name of Bangkok
- Lake Cadibarrawirracanna, Australia
- Lake Titicaca
- Lickey End, Worcestershire, England
- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch², Wales
- Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England
- Lord Hereford's Knob, hill on the Welsh border
- Lough Neagh (pronounced 'Lock Nay!'), Northern Ireland
- Macgillicuddy's Reeks, mountains in Ireland
- Mianus, Connecticut
- Mockbeggar, England
- Moose Factory, Canada
- Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky
- Mount Jerome, Ireland
- Muck, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
- Muff, Northern Ireland
- Mumbles, Wales
- Mutters, Austria
- Natters, Austria
- Ninety Six, South Carolina
- No Name, Colorado
- Normal, Illinois
- Old Harry, Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada
- Petting, Germany
- Piddle, river in Dorset, England
- Pis Pis River Nicaragua
- Pity Me, England
- Pratt's Bottom, England
- Prickwillow, England
- Rancho Cucamonga, California³
- Rann of Kachchh, India
- Rum, island in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
- Rum Jungle, Australia
- Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, Canada
- Saint-Tite (pronounced St. Tit), Quebec, Canada
- Salsipuedes, California (meaning: "leave if you can")
- Seldom Seen Roadhouse, Australia
- Semen, Indonesia
- Sexmoan¹, Pampanga, Philippines (now renamed to Sasmuan)
- Sexsmith, Alberta
- Shafter, California
- Shag Island
- Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Shittlehope, Durham, England
- Shitlington Crags, Northumberland, England
- Silly, Belgium
- Simmering, Vienna, Austria
- Snodland, England
- Sommerloch, Germany 4 (meaning: "summer slump")
- Spuzzum, British Columbia, Canada
- Swords, outside Dublin in Ireland
- Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Hill², New Zealand
- Thiruvananthapuram, India
- Tiruchchirappalli, India
- Titz, Germany
- Town of Seventeen Seventy, Australia
- Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
- Twatt, Orkney Islands, Scotland
- Twenty, Lincolnshire, England
- Ugley, Essex, England
- Void, France (Now merged with neighbouring place to form Void-Vacon)
- Wagga Wagga, Australia
- Waikikamukau, New Zealand
- Walla Walla, Washington³, USA
- Wank, mountain in Bavaria, Germany
- Wankers Corner, Oregon, USA
- Weed, California, USA
- Westward Ho!, England (The exclamation mark is part of the name. The town takes its name from the title of a book by Charles Kingsley)
- Why, Arizona 6
- Woolloomooloo, Sydney, Australia
- Worms, Germany (home of the Diet of Worms) 7
- Y, Alaska²
Notes on visual resemblance (intentional or not):
- ¹ sex related topic
- ² listed in/or candidate for shortest or longest word in English or other languages
- ³ listed on inherently funny word
- 4 calendar-related name
- 5 number
- 6 interrogative pronoun
- 7 a living organism's names
- 9 After Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories, a poll was conducted as to what the remainder of the territory should be named. Retaining the name Northwest Territories won by a substantial margin, but a distant runner-up choice was Bob. [1]