Just one of those things

[Liep]

It's Viborg.

And they might not be named after each other but surely after the same thing, Выборг must've been founded by vikings at least Viborg was. Vi is probably norse for some shit and borg is fort.

[MadBurgerMaker]

All three cities named Paris that I know up have Eiffel Towers.  It's pretty hard to tell the difference:







E:  That guy who flew under there while in the process of shooting down a German (who also flew under there) who just died recently.....that's crazy shit.

[Monoriu]

When I lived in Vancouver, I was very confused when people talked about "Washington" as if it was a nearby place.  I thought they meant "Washington DC". 

[Valmy]

There's loads in the British Isles-US. See the beautiful town of Baltimore in Cork:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_County_Cork

What's weird is when I come across a British town whose name I knew because of its more famous American cousin. For example I remember meeting someone from Boston, Lincolnshire which I had no idea existed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire

Well Baltimore was named for the Baron of Baltimore so, you know, that is natural.  Boston was one of the centers of Puritanism in England, where many of the Puritans who founded the American Boston had come from.

[alfred russel]

You didn't even mention perhaps the most famous one - the state of Georgia and the nation of Georgia.

Once in France I left my Georgia driver's license as a deposit. The lady I gave it to was like "Oh wow, Georgia, how exciting!" I was completely confused why she thought being from Georgia was interesting, until I realized she probably thought I was from the country.

[The Brain]

It's Viborg.

And they might not be named after each other but surely after the same thing, Выборг must've been founded by vikings at least Viborg was. Vi is probably norse for some shit and borg is fort.

Swedish (now Russian ) Viborg was founded in 1293.

[Grinning_Colossus]

Georgia and Georgia are both named, directly and indirectly, after Saint George. Georgia in Georgian is Sakartvelo.

[garbon]

When I lived in Vancouver, I was very confused when people talked about "Washington" as if it was a nearby place.  I thought they meant "Washington DC". 

So what about Vancouver, Washington?

[Josquius]

A friend of mine was travelling in New Zealand last year. Loads of the towns she passed through had Japanese sounding names. Its just one of those things that Maori and Japanese happen to sound the same.

Zealand and Zeeland always annoy me.

There's loads in the British Isles-US. See the beautiful town of Baltimore in Cork:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_County_Cork

What's weird is when I come across a British town whose name I knew because of its more famous American cousin. For example I remember meeting someone from Boston, Lincolnshire which I had no idea existed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Lincolnshire
Similarly there's a by-election going on in Newark, which again I didn't realise was a British town:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark-on-Trent

All of these make sense and I realise I probably should expect any famous American city to have a British counterpart but they both surprised me when I heard them for the first time.

Boston seemed very strange to me too when I first discovered its existance (maybe when I was a teenager?).
I guess it is because Boston doesn't have a football team that I'd missed hearing about it before despite it being a pretty big place.

[Valmy]

I remember being amused as a kid to discover that old Jersey was a tiny island with cows.

[CountDeMoney]

If only New Jersey was just full of new cows.

[Josquius]

New York and York are no problem. People always say the full New York. New Jersey though....bah. People always knock off the New. I recall a few early internet encounters with people who claimed to be from Jersey but to have never been to Europe.

[Savonarola]

The first postmaster here was from Australia; hence Melbourne, Florida.

My brother once worked in North Carolina.  The locals referred to Washington, NC was "Little Washington" and Washington DC was "Big Washington."

[Viking]

Boston seemed very strange to me too when I first discovered its existance (maybe when I was a teenager?).
I guess it is because Boston doesn't have a football team that I'd missed hearing about it before despite it being a pretty big place.

There is a Cleveland in england as well. Not to mention a whole bunch of Springfields.

[derspiess]

My brother once worked in North Carolina.  The locals referred to Washington, NC was "Little Washington" and Washington DC was "Big Washington."

  GOD BLESS AMERICA