Where do cities get their names? Quite often from the past names of Presidents or other famous politicians. There are several cities named after Lincoln. The nation’s capital is named after Washinton. Others take the names of ancient cities. Utica, a city in northern New York State was named for a Roman colony. Its next-door neighbor in New York is named Rome. Another nearby city was named Syracuse, built originally by the Greeks. Other cities are named for the geography around them. Akron is from the term for “high point”.  Others are named after Native American tribes. Wahpeton, ND was named for a local tribe.

Some American cities have names not common to other cities. Some have names that are common to a large number.

To identify the most common city name in the United States, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the names of nearly 31,000 cities, towns, municipalities, boroughs, villages, and census-designated places collected by the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. Population data also came from the ACS.

For a country the size of the United States, it’s not surprising that some towns, both big and small, share the same name. About 15,000 city names appear between two and 32 times across the country.

There are no rules for naming towns. Some are christened after their founders or a defining geographical feature. Others have monikers based on other languages.

The most common city name is Franklin. Here are the details:

> No. of cities named Franklin 32
> Most populous city: Franklin, Tennessee (population: 77,939)
> Fun fact: Named after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, this Texas town was founded on October 26, 1799.

Click here to read The Most Common City Names in the US

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