List of geographic anagrams and ananyms
These are geographic anagrams and ananyms. Anagrams are rearrangements of the letters of another name or word. Ananyms (also called reversals) are other names or words spelled backwards. Technically, a reversal is also an anagram, but the two are derived by different methods, so they are listed separately.
An animation illustrating the anagrammatical origin of the name of the Florida town El Jobean
Anagrams
Place names created by anagramming fall into three distinct groups:
- Single letters swapped Sometimes this is due to a typo that did not get fixed. Others are just to make a different name, but not too different, from the original.
- Syllables swapped Usually based on someone's surname.
- Well mixed combinations When a completely different name was desired.
| Name | Anagram of | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birson, Saskatchewan[1] | Robins | George Cornelius Robins, early settler; now known as Fir Ridge | [2] |
| Boncar, West Virginia | carbon | Now known as Alloy, West Virginia | [3] |
| Carol City, Florida | Coral | name changed after Coral Gables threatened to sue | [4] |
| Dongola, Wisconsin | Gondola | name misspelled (during post office approval?) and never corrected | [5] |
| El Jobean, Florida | Joel Bean | developer anagrammed his own name | [4] |
| Elroy, Wisconsin | Leroy | chosen to avoid post office name duplication | [5] |
| Garus, California | sugar | [6] | |
| Goliad, Texas | Hidalgo (except silent H) | indirect naming for Miguel Hidalgo, Mexican national hero | [7] |
| Kinhop, Saskatchewan[8] | Hopkins (minus the S) | William Hopkins | [2] |
| Landrose, Saskatchewan | Roseland | William Roseland | [2] |
| Lerado, Kansas | Laredo, Texas | post office clerical error resulted in a swap of the E and A | [9] |
| Linbro Park, Sandton, South Africa | Brolin | local family name | [10] |
| Lipona Plantation, Florida | Napoli | owned by Prince Achille Murat, former prince of Naples | [4] |
| Malesus, Tennessee[11] | Samuels | Samuels was a prominent local who did not want the town named for him. Malesus was a compromise | [12] |
| Medina, North Dakota | median | name changed from Midway, so named because it's about halfway between the extreme east and west of the continent | [13] |
| Nada, Kentucky | Dana | Dana Lumber Company, which owned the sawmill | [14] |
| Neola, West Virginia | Olean, New York | [3] | |
| Romley, Colorado[15] | Morely | Colonel B. F. Morely, mine owner; now a ghost town | [16]:323 |
| Salitpa, Alabama | Satilpa Creek | error when someone apparently crossed the wrong letter (thus switching the L and T) when applying for a post office | [17] |
| Shallmar, Maryland | Marshall | "a New Yorker who founded the community" | |
| Sury Basin, London, England | Sainsbury | street in Kingston upon Thames and location of the town's Sainsbury's supermarket | [19] |
| Ticona, Illinois[20] | Tonica, Illinois | a nearby town | [21] |
| Vadis, West Virginia | Davis | [3] | |
| Vinsulla, British Columbia[22] | Sullivan | Michael Sullivan, early pioneer | [23] |
| Windber, Pennsylvania | Berwind | Charles and Edward Berwind, mine owners | [24] |
Anagram-like constructions of place names
A few places names were constructed by arranging a preselected set of letters in an order that made a pronounceable name.
| Name | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Agloe, New York | the initials of Otto G. Lindberg, director of the General Drafting Co., and his assistant, Ernest Alpers. Initially a copyright trap, but then made real by a store taking the name from an Esso road map. | [25] |
| Delmita, Texas | seven sons of founder Nicéforo G. Peña, Sr. each drew a letter | [26] |
| Solina, Ontario | School teacher John Hughes suggested a name be coined from the letters A I L N O and S. Solina was chosen over several other choices such as Linosa and Sinola | [27] |
Ananyms
| Name | Reversal of | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adanac, Nipissing District, Ontario | Canada | ||
| Adanac, Parry Sound District, Ontario | Canada | community within Carling, Ontario. | |
| Adanac, Saskatchewan | Canada | [2] | |
| Adaven, Nevada | Nevada | ghost town | [28] |
| Aksarben Village, Omaha, Nebraska | Nebraska | mixed-use development. Formerly, the Ak-Sar-Ben (arena), a horse race track and indoor arena | [29] |
| Amabala, Oklahoma[30] | Alabama | [31] | |
| Atokad Park | Dakota | location of Atokad Downs horse racing track in South Sioux City, Nebraska | [32] |
| Cleo, Oregon[33] | O(regon) E(xport) L(umber) C(ompany) | reversed acronym; railroad stop | [34] |
| Egnar, Colorado | range | [35] | |
| Ekal, Florida | lake | [36] | |
| Ekoms, Oregon | smoke | post office approved but never established; up river from Ragic (q.v.) | [34] |
| Enola, South Carolina[37] | alone | [36] | |
| Enola Hill[38] | alone | hill in Oregon, applied by a homesteader whose house was isolated | [34] |
| Etlah, Missouri | halte | German for "stop" | [39] |
| Lebam, Washington | Mabel Goodell | daughter of early settler | [40] |
| Lennut, Kentucky[41] | tunnel | now known as Combs, Kentucky | [14] |
| Maharg, Oklahoma | Graham | reversed due to postal name conflict; now named Foss, Oklahoma | [42] |
| Mahned, Mississippi | Denham | community founder name | [43] |
| Muroc, California | Ralph and Clifford Corum | now the location of Edwards Air Force Base, formerly Muroc Field | [36] |
| Nagrom, Washington | Elmer G. Morgan | owner of Morgan Lumber Company | [40] |
| Namorf, Oregon[44] | George Froman | local resident | [34] |
| Narod, California[45] | Daron | railroad section foreman's name; RR stop south of Montclair, California | [6] |
| Nedra, Florida | Arden, Pennsylvania | home town of developers | [46] |
| Nikep, Maryland | Pekin | former name arbitrarily reversed to avoid postal confusion | [47] |
| Nillup, Western Australia | Harold Maughan Pullin | popular local who did not want the place named after him | [48] |
| Nilrem, Alberta | Merlin | [49] | |
| Nivloc, Nevada[50] | Colvin | mine owner | [28] |
| Nolem, Florida | melon | [36] | |
| Niton, Alberta | not in | [49] | |
| Notla, Texas | Alton Grocery Company | landowner also owned Alton grocery store in Enid, Oklahoma | [36] |
| Ocapos, Arizona | SO(uthern) PA(acific) CO(mpany) | reversed acronym; also known as Southern Pacific Railroad | [51] |
| Orestod, Colorado | Dotsero, Colorado | opposite ends of a short railroad line; Dotsero is derived from dot-zero, origin point of rail line | [35] |
| Radec, California | cedar | [6] | |
| Ragic, Oregon | cigar | post office on the Rogue River(1898–1900); see also Ekoms | [34] |
| Redart, Virginia | Trader | early settler's name | [52] |
| Reklaw, Texas | Margaret Walker | land donor; reversed due to post office name conflict | [36] |
| Remlap, Alabama | James W. Palmer | first postmaster | [53] |
| Remlap, Florida[54] | Palmer | Town developers from Chicago | [46] |
| Remlig, Texas | Alexander Gilmer | owner of the Gilmer Lumber Company | [55] |
| Remlik, Virginia[56] | Willis Sharpe Kilmer | estate owned by Kilmer, a patent medicine entrepreneur | [57] |
| Retlaw, Alberta | Walter R. Baker | Canadian Pacific Railway official | [58] |
| Retlaw, Oregon | H. L. Walter | Southern Pacific Railroad employee | [34] |
| Retrop, Oklahoma | Ira J. Porter | first postmaster | [31] |
| Retsil, Washington | Ernest Lister | Washington Governor (1913–1919) | [40] |
| Retsof, New York | Foster | town founder | |
| Revilo, Tennessee[59] | Oliver | brand name of a plow | [12] |
| Revloc, Pennsylvania | Colver, Pennsylvania | two company towns, owned by Monroe Coal Company | |
| Robat, South Carolina[60] | Mount Tabor | locality in Union County | |
| Rolyat, Oregon | Taylor | probably the name of a Post Office official in Washington | [34] |
| Rotavele, California | elevator | ||
| Sacul, Texas | Lucas | land owner's name; reversed due to post office name conflict | [61] |
| Saxet, Texas[62] | Texas | locality in Shelby County | [63] |
| Saxet Lake Park | Texas | park in Victoria County, Texas | [64] |
| Seloc, South Carolina | Coles | [42] | |
| Senoj Lake (Oregon) | Jones | person unknown | [34] |
| Senyah, Florida | Haynes | developer's last name | [46] |
| Setag, Texas | James T. Gates | company owner | [65] |
| Silaxo, California | Oxalis, California | Silaxo is a few miles south of Oxalis | [6] |
| Sniktaw, California | W. F. Watkins | journalist who used Sniktaw as an pseudonym | [36] |
| Tesnus, Texas | sunset | sunset appearing on a logo of Southern Pacific Railroad | [66] |
| Ti, Oklahoma | I(ndian) T(erritory) | reversed abbreviation; named before territory was renamed to Oklahoma | [31] |
| Tinrag, Texas | Garnit | local family name | [67] |
| Trebloc, Mississippi | Colbert | local family name | |
| Trevlac, Indiana | Colonel Calvert | resort developer; reversed to avoid duplication | [36] |
| Wabasso, Florida | Ossabaw Island in Georgia | [36] | |
| Yellek, Ontario | R J. Kelley | trainmaster for Canadian Pacific Railway | [68] |
| Yewed, Oklahoma | Admiral George Dewey | reversed due to post office name conflict | [31] |
Imperfect ananyms
| Name | Reversal of | Notes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enola, Nebraska | T. J. Malone | founder; omitted the M when reversed. | [36] |
| Lionilli, Kentucky[69] | Illinois | intended to be Sionilli, but name misrecorded by post office clerk | [14] |
| Nonnell, Kentucky | John Lennon | L&N RR maintenance supervisor; extra L | [14] |
| Revelo, Kentucky | Oliver | railroad construction engineer; formerly spelled Revilo; name changed for unknown reasons | [14] |
| Revillo, South Dakota | J. S. Oliver | railroad man; extra L added. | [36] |
| Samoth, Illinois | John R. Thomas | Congressman from Illinois; TH kept intact for pronunciation | [21] |
| Sarben, Nebraska | Nebraska | omitting the KA | [70]:85 |
| Mount Sniktau, Colorado | Watkins | "Sniktau" was a pen name of journalist E. H. N. Patterson, who borrowed and modified W. F. Watkins's nom de plume; see Sniktaw above | [35] |
| Tensed, Idaho | Pierre-Jean De Smet | Belgian missionary; reversed due to post office name conflict, and then misspelled during name approval process | [36] |
| Yelrome, Illinois | Isaac Morley | Mormon elder; E added for pronunciation; town burned down by anti-Mormon mob in 1845 | [21] |
| Yesmar, Alabama | Ramsay | local family name, but with an E replacing an A. | [36] |
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