67 Small Towns That Make You Wonder Where They Got Their Names

Drive through any corner of the South, and you’ll be surprised by what you see on our signs. Drive through Virginia, and you may pass through Dragonville. Take a trip to Texas, and you may find yourself in Oatmeal. There are countless small towns here that will make you scratch your head and wonder where their unexpected names came from. From Possum Grape, Arkansas (a possum grape is a fruit vine native to North America), to Frankenstein, Missouri (named for the Franken family, allegedly, not the Mary Shelley book), there are plenty of towns south of the Mason-Dixon that will spark your curiosity in an instant. We know some of the origin stories of our place names, and some speak for themselves—Corn, Oklahoma, for example. Lots of place names come from agriculture, the landscape, historical markers, and natural features like springs, waterfalls, and rivers. Still more are named for families in the community or values the community shares. A few still leave visitors scratching their heads, and those are the ones with origin stories that even locals can’t agree on. We’ve collected some of our favorite surprising Southern small town names here, but we certainly haven’t included them all. It’s a big region, and there are countless small town place names that you’ll only find down here. So tell us your favorites, and celebrate the uniqueness of Southern nomenclature with us.

Start Slideshow

1 of 69

From towns named after local myths to pop-culture icons, the South has it all.

2 of 69

Accident, Maryland

Southern Living

We’ve heard that residents of Accident are called “Accidentals.”

3 of 69

Bell Buckle, Tennessee

Southern Living

This small town is named after Bell Buckle Creek, near which the town was founded.

4 of 69

Burnt Corn, Alabama

Southern Living

Few agree on the origin of this name, but some think that it involved a campfire made of corn.

5 of 69

Corn, Oklahoma

Southern Living

This town was settled near a cornfield, hence the name.

6 of 69

Cricket, North Carolina

Southern Living

Your guess is as good as ours, but we bet it has to do with crickets.

7 of 69

Coffee Springs, Alabama

Southern Living

Coffee Springs is one of many Alabama towns with unusual names. It was named for the nearby springs and for General John Coffee who once camped at the springs.

8 of 69

Coward, South Carolina

Southern Living

Perhaps named for the Coward family, this small town is located in Florence County.

9 of 69

Cucumber, West Virginia

Southern Living

Named for the area’s cucumber trees or the nearby Cucumber Creek, this place name is truly unique. It’s the only spot in the U.S. with the name of Cucumber.

10 of 69

Dice, Kentucky

Southern Living

Any ideas? We’re thinking this is of game-piece origin.

11 of 69

Ding Dong, Texas

Southern Living

A mural painted in the 1930s bearing the phrase “Ding Dong” supposedly gave this town its onomatopoetic name.

12 of 69

Eggville, Mississippi

Southern Living

We’d expect this town to have one killer deviled egg recipe.

13 of 69

Doorway, Kentucky

Southern Living

While obscure, we sure do like this one.

14 of 69

Dragonville, Virginia

Southern Living

This spot was named after a town across the Atlantic—an English hamlet called Dragonville in County Durham.

15 of 69

Empress, Georgia

Southern Living

While Georgia itself was named for England’s King George II, this little town was not to be outdone.

16 of 69

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Southern Living

This town got its name after a eureka! moment of discovering the town’s local springs.

17 of 69

Experiment, Georgia

Southern Living

This small town was named after the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station that’s located there.

18 of 69

Fame, Mississippi

Southern Living

Fame is in good company. Other creative Mississippi place names include Panther Burn, Gin, Christmas, and Whynot.

19 of 69

Fame, West Virginia

Southern Living

This particular Fame is a small town in Pendleton County, West Virginia.

20 of 69

Flippen, Georgia

Southern Living

This fun-to-say town name is probably related to a variant of the name Philip.

21 of 69

Frankenstein, Missouri

Southern Living

While first glance would tell you this spot was named for the doctor in Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein, it was actually named for the area’s Franken family.

22 of 69

Friendsville, Maryland

Southern Living

Everything’s friendlier in Friendsville.

23 of 69

Fries, Virginia

Southern Living

With a population of only 484, this little spot started out as a mill town in the mountains.

24 of 69

Ginger Blue, Missouri

Southern Living

This town name is so catchy, a musical group better adopt it ASAP.

25 of 69

Goat City, Tennessee

Southern Living

Tennessee town names range from the understandable, like Goat City, to the personal, like Edith, and also from the descriptive, like Difficult, to the downright festive, like Disco.

26 of 69

Goodnight, Texas

Southern Living

This town name was adopted by a band. Goodnight, Texas, is a place you can visit and a band with music you can enjoy.

27 of 69

Greasy Corner, Arkansas

Southern Living

This locale was originally named Mack’s Corner, but, supposedly, a spot of grease changed the name, and it stuck.

28 of 69

Happyland, Oklahoma

Southern Living

Who wouldn’t want to live in Happyland?

29 of 69

Hazard, Kentucky

Southern Living

Hazard was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a commodore in the U.S. Navy who fought in the War of 1812.

30 of 69

Hopeulikit, Georgia

Southern Living

This name apparently originated from a beloved 1920s dance hall once located in the area.

31 of 69

Ketchuptown, South Carolina

Southern Living

This spot got its name from an area store where locals would meet to chat and “catch up.” The store came to be called Ketchup Town, and the town name followed.

32 of 69

Lick Skillet, Tennessee

Southern Living

Legend has it that this town got its name from—what else?—licking skillets. The last person to arrive to dinner or to a campground is left licking the skillet to satisfy their hunger, or so the saying goes.

33 of 69

Lizard Lick, North Carolina

Southern Living

Apparently local lizards were brought in to put a dent in the area’s insect problems. Or perhaps a passerby saw a group of lizards sunning themselves. Either way, lizards gave this North Carolina town its unusual name.

34 of 69

Locust, North Carolina

Southern Living

This North Carolina town takes its inspiration from the locust tree. To name the town, a resident suggested “Locust Level.” So it was called until the word “level” was dropped years later.

35 of 69

Loving, Oklahoma

Southern Living

This spot was named after the surname Loving; this one in particular belonged to locals John and Amanda Loving.

36 of 69

Lulu, Florida

Southern Living

Legend has it that the namesake for this town was the love interest of the town’s first postmaster.

37 of 69

Lucky, Louisiana

Southern Living

Residents here must be a little more fortunate than the rest.

38 of 69

Marmaduke, Arkansas

Southern Living

Sorry to disappoint, but this town isn’t named for the comic strip character. It’s named after John Sappington Marmaduke, a former governor of Missouri.

39 of 69

Money, Mississippi

Southern Living

This one was also named after a person. Hernando Money, a U.S. Senator from Mississippi, to be precise.

40 of 69

Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky

Southern Living

Perhaps the most memorable of all, this town name still leaves us scratching our heads. Locals say it was named Monkey’s Eyebrow because A. the county resembles a monkey’s head and the town is located where the eyebrow would be, or B. from an aerial view, the town resembles the aforementioned monkey’s eyebrow.

41 of 69

Okay, Arkansas

Southern Living

This town name came from a local business—an area cement plant that produced “OK” brand cement.

42 of 69

Oatmeal, Texas

Southern Living

Most think that this town name was derived from a resident’s name—a Mr. Othneil—not, surprisingly, the breakfast food made of oats.

43 of 69

Niceville, Florida

Southern Living

Sugar and spice and everything nice, this town name was chosen by the daughter of the local postman.

44 of 69

Okay, Oklahoma

Southern Living

This small-town name also originated from a small-town business—the OK Truck Manufacturing Company (which is, incidentally, the abbreviation for Oklahoma).

45 of 69

Oronogo, Missouri

Southern Living

This town was first named Minersville, and when the time came to change it, one resident said, “It’s 'Ore' or no go.” Running with the idea, the town landed on Oronogo, a decidedly memorable moniker.

46 of 69

Paw Paw, West Virginia

Southern Living

This town shares its name with the nearby Paw Paw Tunnel, also the native, Southern-favorite paw-paw tree.

47 of 69

Possum Grape, Arkansas

Southern Living

The name Possum Grape was supposedly the result of a compromise between residents who wanted the name to be “Possum” and “Grape.” Also, possum grape is the name of a vine indigenous to North America.

48 of 69

Pumpkin Center, North Carolina

Southern Living

There are plenty of towns in the U.S. named Pumpkin Center, including in Oklahoma, California, and Indiana.

49 of 69

Sallisaw, Oklahoma

Southern Living

French traders gave this place its name. "Sallisaw" is from the French salaison, which roughly translates to "salt meat.”

50 of 69

Scratch Ankle, Alabama

Southern Living

We’ve heard that this name came from locals scratching the mosquito bites on their ankles. We believe it. Those summertime mosquito bites are no joke.

51 of 69

Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee

Southern Living

There are countless origin stories for this name. Some think that “Soddy” came from William Sodder, the owner of a local trading post. Others believe the name came from nearby Soddy Creek.

52 of 69

Spiderweb, South Carolina

Southern Living

Another place name pulled from the natural world. This one might make you shiver, though.

53 of 69

Spuds, Florida

Southern Living

This area has historically been a big producer of potatoes. Is there any surprise that it’s called Spuds?

54 of 69

Static, Kentucky and Tennessee

Southern Living

This small town lives on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, hence the dual addresses.

55 of 69

Sweet Lips, Tennessee

Southern Living

While the name is obscure (and pretty catchy), locals claim this town name comes from the idea that sips from the area’s waterways are sweet.

56 of 69

Tarzan, Texas

Southern Living

We bet you can guess this one. This small town was named after the fictional, jungle-going Tarzan character. It was named during the height of Tarzan’s novel and comic strip popularity.

57 of 69

The Bottle, Alabama

Southern Living

No surprises here. The Bottle was inspired by an actual bottle building. John Williams, the owner of Nehi Bottling Co., built a 64-foot-tall structure that resembled a Nehi bottle. While the building burned, the name lives on.

58 of 69

Thunderbolt, Georgia

Southern Living

This small town received its name when a lightning strike formed the local freshwater spring—allegedly.

59 of 69

Toast, North Carolina

Southern Living

The origins of this place name are a mystery. It was supposedly suggested by the employees of the local post office, and we’d like to think it’s an homage to a crisp slice of toasted bread.

60 of 69

Two Egg, Florida

Southern Living

This spot also has conflicting accounts of its origins. Our favorite: Someone dropped two eggs, inspiring the moniker. However, some say that during the Great Depression, eggs were often traded for other wares at the area country store, inspiring the name.

61 of 69

Uncertain, Texas

Southern Living

The story of Uncertain is not so uncertain. When applying for township, this community’s residents wrote “Uncertain” in the field asking for the name of the town. Once the wheels of bureaucracy turned, the town was officially designated Uncertain.

62 of 69

Waldo, Florida

Southern Living

Where’s Waldo? Florida, that’s where.

63 of 69

War, West Virginia

Southern Living

This West Virginia town is named for nearby War Creek.

64 of 69

Waterproof, Louisiana

Southern Living

The location of this town changed three times, moving miles to avoid the rising Mississippi floodwaters. The issue of flooding also led to the construction of a levee around the town. After some work, it’s truly become waterproof.

65 of 69

Wealthy, Texas

Southern Living

True story: This town was originally named Poor until popular opinion demanded a name change.

66 of 69

Whynot, North Carolina

Southern Living

Picture it: Residents couldn’t decide on a name, so someone suggested, “Why not name it 'Why Not'?” It stuck, becoming Whynot forevermore.

67 of 69

Wise, Virginia

Southern Living

This spot is named for Henry A. Wise, a former Virginia governor.

68 of 69

Yeehaw Junction, Florida

Southern Living

On the spectrum of Southernness, this place name is supremely Southern. It was named either for the classic shout “Yeehaw!” or the nearby Yeehaw Station of the Florida East Coast Railway.

Replay gallery

Account

More

67 Small Towns That Make You Wonder Where They Got Their Names

1 of 69

From towns named after local myths to pop-culture icons, the South has it all.

2 of 69

Accident, Maryland

3 of 69

Bell Buckle, Tennessee

4 of 69

Burnt Corn, Alabama

5 of 69

Corn, Oklahoma

6 of 69

Cricket, North Carolina

7 of 69

Coffee Springs, Alabama

8 of 69

Coward, South Carolina

9 of 69

Cucumber, West Virginia

10 of 69

Dice, Kentucky

11 of 69

Ding Dong, Texas

12 of 69

Eggville, Mississippi

13 of 69

Doorway, Kentucky

14 of 69

Dragonville, Virginia

15 of 69

Empress, Georgia

16 of 69

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

17 of 69

Experiment, Georgia

18 of 69

Fame, Mississippi

19 of 69

Fame, West Virginia

20 of 69

Flippen, Georgia

21 of 69

Frankenstein, Missouri

22 of 69

Friendsville, Maryland

23 of 69

Fries, Virginia

24 of 69

Ginger Blue, Missouri

25 of 69

Goat City, Tennessee

26 of 69

Goodnight, Texas

27 of 69

Greasy Corner, Arkansas

28 of 69

Happyland, Oklahoma

29 of 69

Hazard, Kentucky

30 of 69

Hopeulikit, Georgia

31 of 69

Ketchuptown, South Carolina

32 of 69

Lick Skillet, Tennessee

33 of 69

Lizard Lick, North Carolina

34 of 69

Locust, North Carolina

35 of 69

Loving, Oklahoma

36 of 69

Lulu, Florida

37 of 69

Lucky, Louisiana

38 of 69

Marmaduke, Arkansas

39 of 69