why are so many places in america named ofter places in england?

Question

for example Manchester, New youk, New hampshire
i know i have heard of more i just cant think of them

Answer 1

Because the Pilgrim Fathers set sail from England and when they settled, gave the places names from back home.

Answer 2

Because the first settlers of the United States, were mostly English, (quackers, and puritans, plain protestants, etc) and as it happens, brought with them, the original names of the towns they were originals from.....Just take a look to the map of England--
Curiously enough, Sandwich, which is a surname,(and came to be the synonymus of two pieces of bread with meals in between them by the creator, the duke of sandwich)..Does not have an equivalent in the United States, even when you can see the city 34 miles south east of London...just take a look to the map.....

By the way, anecdotically, New Yoork which is named after York, the main city of Yorkshire, Midlands, was bought to the Dutch by the English, (undisclosed amount) when the name then was NEW AMSTERDAM...you see???It belonged to Holland for 6 years...

Answer 3

They are named after English names because all those place were named either before the revolutionary war by British loyalists, or when America was first born we were not creative enough to come up with our own names. It could also be that people in America missed England so in order to feel at home they gave places British names.

Answer 4

Nostalgia. it is likewise why some places are named after places in Germany, France, Spain, Russia or different international places. Cambridge, England; Cambridge MA York, England, long island, long island Amsterdam, Holland; New Amsterdam Orleans, France; New Orleans, l. a. Holland; Holland, Michigan Schaumberg, Germany; Schuamberg, IL Monterrey, Mexico; Monterey, CA St. Michael's, Russia; St. Michael's Alaska

Answer 5

About the same as why you can find so many Dutch names in and around New York, which used to be New Amsterdam first.
Harlem comes from Haarlem, Netherlands
Brooklyn comes from Breukelen, Netherlands
-> The Dutch were here first and had little fantasy.

Then came the British, all over the USA, and also they had little fantasy, which answers your question.

German people also named many places "Berlin", all over the USA. There are more "Berlin"s in the USA than in Germany, where you can find exactly 2 of those (of which one is only a small village).

Answer 6

America until 1776 was a British Colony, hence the English names, and the English language. Look to Australia too for many British place names.

Answer 7

do they not teach people history anymore?

Because America was once part of the British Empire, and so naturally we named places after places here (i guess to make people feel more at home).

Like there are places in India, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Africa that are named after places in England, because they were also once part of the British Empire (and many are now still a part of the British Commonwealth).

Answer 8

be cause the people form England came to North America first and named them the town back home for example London Ontario Canada London England

Answer 9

Because most early settlers in the territories were from parts of th United Kingdom,they took the names of their old home towns with them(comfort blanket?Times were tough). In areas near the Spanish occupied Mexican terirtories such as Texas ,Nevada and California There are many towns and cities with Spanish names;in Louisiana many french names.

Answer 10

The British colonised America, hence the names.