Pennsylvania towns have some funny names. The towns were named long ago when the influences were a mix of English and Indian. As a result, we have an odd and eclectic collection of city and town names.

Most of us know the origin of the name “Pennsylvania”. The land was granted to William Penn by Charles II in 1681 to repay a debt owed to William’s father, Admiral Penn. The word “sylvania” is of Latin origin meaning “woodlands”. Pennsylvania roughly translates to “Penn’s woods”.

The Indian influence in many names is prevalent. In America, 27 state names are derivatives of Indian names. Those of us living here don’t think twice about “Susquehanna” (long crooked river) or “Nay Aug” (loud waters). The names Lycoming, Shenandoah, and Lackawanna (sandy stream, hillside stream and streams that fork) are all common and familiar to us.

The settlers kept many of the Indian names, but began to develop some pretty funky names of their own. We have Gum Run, Elk Lick, King of Prussia, and Jim Thorpe. We have out-of-state names: California, Indiana, Mainesburg, Ohioville, Washington(ville), and Wyoming. The state, by the way, is named after our Wyoming (or “great plane”). We go farther away with names like Moscow and Warsaw and farther yet to Moon or way, way out there to Mars. I hate to say this, but you can go from Blue Balls to Intercourse to Climax to Paradise (oh, brotherrr). We are colorful: Red Hill, Red Oak, Red Rock, Green Ridge, Green Grove, White Haven and, well, just Orange. There’s a town in Susquehanna County called Smiley. Pardon the pun, but it’d be funny if Smiley was next to Limerick (but that’s in Montgomery County).

We have some pronunciation oddities: Throop: skip the “h” when you speak it. Nanticoke: enunciate the “t” (no matter how awkward you feel- it’s not nanny-cook). Wilkes-Barre: The first part of the name (named after John Wilkes) is easy. After the hyphen there is some disagreement on Issac Barre’s name. Some say “bear-uh”. Issac Barre was a member of British parliament, but he was born of a Frenchman, so technically it’s the French pronouncement Ba-`ray (like the hat). But, most people agree on “berry”. I asked Jesse Teitelbaum, Luzerne County Historical Society’s Executive Director, and he says “berry”. So, I do, too. Roaring Creek, Bear Creek, Black Creek Hunlock Creek: say creeek. “Crick” is a secondary pronounciation according to Merriam Webster.

While we’re on Hunlock, there is no “s” at the end, no matter how many people say Hunlocks Creek. And Harveys Lake has no apostrophe. Well, the Pennsylvania state site doesn’t have one (www.dcnr.state.pa.us) but the Harvey’s Lake History Site does (www.harveyslake.org). Dare I even get into Mountain Top (two words) as opposed to Mountaintop (one word)? A girl I work with says she uses two words and most people she knows do the same. Each group agrees to disagree and they all live peacefully (in seven different townships!)

Oh, I could go on and on. There is even a website devoted to other names not mentioned here. The site name is Weird and Unusual Names of Real Towns in Pennsylvania (http://www.scribd.com/doc/192541/Weird-and-Unusual-Names-of-Real-Towns-in-Pennsylvania).

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

–From Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2) William Shakespeare