How come Loads of American towns are named after British towns?

Question

Is it because as usual Americans have no Imagination and copy everything from everyone else and claim it as there own? Take the Statue of Liberty for an example!

Answer 1

It wasnt a lack of imagination. In a lot of cases it was homesickness, and also, a desire to suck up to rich Brits who might send them some money.... so there are towns like Warwick, Richmond, Baltimore and (New) York that were named for various nobles. Within 100 miles of me are Billerica, Chelmsford, Dorchester, Cambridge, Plymouth, Boston, Uxbridge, Dartmouth, Gloucester, Falmouth, (New) London, Stonington, Bedford, (New)Bedford, Attleborough, Kingston, Dedham, etc etc nearly all founded by people who came from those towns in England. What is interesting is that when people went from (New) England west to Ohio and then to Oregon, they very often named their new towns there after their hometowns in New England! e.g. Concord, Portland, Lexington, (New) Boston, Salem, etc

Answer 2

The current incarnation of government and civilization in the United States began life as a British Colony. The British were by no means the first settlers here though. Naming conventions tend to represent the cultural history of the area. If you visit the American Southwest you will find many cities named with Spanish and Mexican influences. In the southeast a French influence. I do not know what your contention regarding the Statue of Liberty is, but it has nothing to do with British influence. The Statue Of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France.
Further, that lack of imagination you mention has served us well. In case you haven't noticed the United States is the lone Superpower in the world.


fuztownsend01: What an incedibly offensive statement. I guess not everyone in the UK is enlightened towards the rest of the world. And people are shocked that most Americans don't care what the rest of the world thinks.

Answer 3

It is because many of the towns were founded by the settlers and named after the places that they came from.

As many of the early settlers were colonists from England, it is not surprising that there are many places with English place names, but not all the settlers were English, and that may help to identify the early settlers origins.

I am sure that Americans do have imagination, but surely the Statue of Liberty was a present from France?

Answer 4

because the British towns were named first so the Americans were named "after".
And the Statue of Liberty isn't a good example - it was built by the French for the Americans as a token of respect, friendship, and goodwill. It was named by the French.

Answer 5

Maybe because some of the first settlers were British(beside the Native American Indians) and the names came from them !! the statue of liberty was a gift from France in recognition of friendship during the American revolution !! read up on the USA you need an education on our founders Hun

Answer 6

Because most of the towns and cities in America were named either for the places the original settlers came from in Britain or some member of their family or the British royal family.

Answer 7

They were probably named by the original Americans (not the natives) mostly Brits who were homesick. But the Americans do have a huge envy of English history. I so laughed when I went on a tour of Havard (or it could have been the other one) apparently they tipped acid down the stone to age-blacken it like Oxford and built plinths with no statues to emulate where Oxford has had statues stolen int he past!!

Answer 8

The English named these towns..

Answer 9

Ever heard of the British Empire? There are towns all over the world with the same names. With the clever use of flags the British manged to rule most of the world :)

Answer 10

Where do you think the Pilgrim fathers came from?

And the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France after the war of independence.