As I create the world for my new audio drama, The Decadence of Borrowed Silk, I have been pondering location names and how they come to be. Rather than just assign random collections of letters or generic “Water Town” names, I have been trying to ground them deeper in my fictional world by looking at how names come about in our own world and history, and how they change through time.
Countries, towns, geographical features – naming follows certain patterns, but many factors can become involved in what and who things get named for, and consistency, even within a small geographical area, is not necessarily the norm.
Resemblence or Description
Geographical features are often simply named for things that they resemble – Goat Mountain, Tower Rock, and the Grand Tetons (yes, they were named for boobies). Towns are then often named for the locale, or some outstanding place close by. Twin Peaks, Riverside, Great Plains. Directions also can play a part, particularly when similarly named places end up confused one for the other – then West Mount or North Fork come about.
Local Language
Many locations are named in some local language or dialect that may or may not still be in use. In the Pacific Northwest, as an example, many place names are derived from the languages and names of the indigenous tribes, such as Seattle (named after Chief Sealth), Tacoma, Mukilteo, Puyallup, etc. Many town names in England and New England – Ipswich, Midwich, Dunwich, etc. – incorporate the suffix “‑wich” from old Anglo-Saxon which probably meant town or market.
Invading Language
The history of a location may also be reflected by who invaded (or sometimes nominally purchased) it, since conquerors often renamed things to establish or bolster their rights. Constantinople became Istanbul, countless cities were renamed after emperors when Rome expanded, and the new world is rife with old world transplants, among them notably the “new” cities named after old ones back home, like New York, New England, and New Orleans.
Religion / Invading Religion
Places are as often names for gods and saints as they are for queens and emperors, and invading churches are always quick to eradicate any trace of the old gods when they get a chance. Rome was supposedly named for Romulus, one of the demigod brothers who founded the city, while San Jose, San Bernardino and all the other Sans and Santas throughout Spanish-occupied areas were named for Catholic saints.
Mine, all Mine
And of course, places were always being named after people. The ones who founded the town, discovered the mountain, or funded the expedition. Towns also got renamed when rich families came into prominence, heroes or leaders came from their ranks, or special events or inventions arose from that locale.
The Weathering of Time
And, as with everything, time chips away at words the same way it changes terrain. Names get shortened, bastardized, run together, and the meanings forgotten. A place once named King Mark’s Head could (centuries later) be known as Kemar Point, or the St. Mary of Bethlehem Royal Asylum for the Insane could end up just plain “Bedlam”.
19 Nocturne Boulevard 
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