No Joke—These 15 Weird and Scary Town Names Really Exist!

North America is full of places with strange names. We've uncovered some towns whose names are absurd, creepy or just plain depressing!

In this age of commodification, branding is everything. But North America is full of places that were named by people who seem not to have gotten the memo. Weird town names can be a lot of fun—who doesn’t get a kick out of hearing about Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, or Toad Suck, Arkansas?—but sometimes place names cross the line from absurd to creepy or just plain depressing.

The Chambers of Commerce representing the following not-so-great-sounding places are either shaking their heads in misery or laughing all the way to the bank. After all, there’s no such thing as bad publicity!

No Joke—These 15 Weird Town Names Really Exist!

  1. Some grim place names have their roots in specific historical occurrences. Dead Women Crossing, Oklahoma, was purportedly named for a grisly murder that took place there in 1905. A schoolteacher named Katie DeWitt went missing shortly after filing for divorce from her husband (unusual enough at that time). Her remains were later found at a crossing of Deer Creek. Her head had been severed from her body. Another local woman was accused of the crime but committed suicide before she could be tried. Locals say DeWitt still haunts the area.
  2. Anyone wishing to see some of the beautiful scenery at Cape Disappointment, Washington, the site of a State Park, may be disappointed. The cape is one of the foggiest places in the United States, receiving about 2,552 hours of fog a year. That would be the equivalent of 106 days if they occurred consecutively. The fog may have played a role in Cape Disappointment’s name. British fur trader John Meares is said to have come up with the name when he entered the cape in 1788 looking for a route inland. Thinking the area was only a bay, he turned his ship around and headed back out to open water, just missing the mouth of the Columbia River.
  3. Despite its disconcerting name, Accident, Maryland, was actually named for a happy accident. Original settler George Deakins had been granted 600 acres of land in Western Maryland by England’s King George II. Wanting to get the best land possible, Deakins hired not one, but two, corps of engineers to survey the land in the area. Both crews, without knowledge of the other, marked the same oak tree as their starting and returning points. Deakins chose that spot, naming it “The Accident Tract.”
  4. Other communities got their names due to residents’ sense of humor. Gripe, Arizona, was once home to an agricultural inspection checkpoint. The community allegedly took its name from the profuse complaints of motorists forced to stop there.
  5. Idiotville, Oregon, got its start as a logging camp that was so remote, workers said only an idiot would be willing to work there. The name stuck, and even the stream running through the camp came to be called Idiot Creek.
  6. There’s nothing particularly unusual about Peculiar, Missouri. The name dates back to 1868 when frustrated Postmaster E.T. Thomson was struggling to find a town name that wasn’t already in use. He realized he’d need to come up with “something peculiar” if he wanted to stop going in circles, and finally just settled on that.
  7. Similarly, residents of Oddville, Kentucky, chose their town’s name in 1851, when they got their first post office, just to be different. Presumably, the founders of Ordinary, Kentucky, population 50, had the opposite impulse.
  8. Hell, Michigan got its name from founder George Reeves, who settled there in 1841. Much of the land in the area was swampy and useless for farming or anything else. When someone asked Reeves what to name the town, legend has it he replied, “I don’t care. You can name it ‘Hell’ if you want to.”
  9. Satan’s Kingdom, Massachusetts, is an unincorporated area that allegedly took its name from a misunderstanding. A man who lived up a mountain in the area visited a Puritan preacher who prayed for the destruction of Satan’s Kingdom. For unknown reasons, the man took offense, assuming the preacher meant his home. Others say the name started as a nickname for the area in the 18th Century, because of the unsavory people who lived there. There is also a Satan’s Kingdom in Vermont and a State Recreation Area in Connecticut, complete with river tubing.
  10. Other places were named after people. Hazard, Kentucky, for instance, didn’t get that name because it’s a dangerous place to live. It was named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. The popular The 80s TV show The Dukes of Hazzard was actually inspired in part by the name of this town, though the show spelled it with two zs and set the action in Georgia.
  11. Was your hometown was boring? Maybe you grew up in one of at least three towns in the United States named Boring (they’re in Maryland, Oregon, and Tennessee). All three took their names from prominent residents whose last names were, you guessed it, Boring.
  12. In some cases, no one is quite sure of how a place got its name. Dinkytown, Minnesota, is a neighborhood in Minneapolis that has the feel of a standalone small town. No one knows for sure how the area got its name, which was in use by the mid 1940s, but some theories posit that it came from the streetcars that once served as public transportation there, called “dinkys,” or from a popular snack of chicken tenders enjoyed in the area, also known as “dinkys.“
  13. The origins of how two islands, one in Maine and one in British Columbia, came to be known as Mistake Island seem to be lost to history. One could easily guess some hapless sailors were trying to get somewhere else when they stumbled upon these land masses, but if so, they were too embarrassed to say so.
  14. There’s nothing in the story of Embarrass, Wisconsin, to make its founders blush, though, except maybe the frigid air there. The town was named by French settlers who, after spending a very long, cold winter in a town that routinely see temperatures dip below -60° F, perhaps wanted to warn others away. In French, “embarrass” means “hardship.”
  15. At least one other hair-raising place name comes from a linguistic oddity. You won’t find a yeti or a Sasquatch or any other scary monsters in Eek, Alaska. The town’s name comes from an Inuit word for “two eyes.” No sources reveal why the town was named “Two Eyes,” but it’s just possible that the answer to that question might make you let out a panicked “Eek!”

What are your favorite strange place names? Share them below!

Farmers' Almanac - Itch
Jaime McLeod

Jaime McLeod is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, growing and eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.

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Mwizard

Funkley, MN

Mwizard

Also towns like Finley and Nimrod in Minnesota

Susan W

Blue ball, Intercourse, and Paradise in Pennsylvania….Buttzville in NJ, Ho Ho Kus, Mahwah, Lackawanna.

Dan

Just to set the record straight, there’s also a village named Embarrass in Minnesota. In winter, Embarrass frequently captures the dubious distinction of being the coldest place in Minnesota.

Deborah Bowline

Do you know why all the Indians left Oklahoma? Broken Bow,. Broken Arrow and Nowata.?

Tim

Dildo Newfoundland
Climax Saskatchewan
Moose Factory Ontario
Vulcan Alberta
Snafu Yukon
Salmon Arm BC
Punkydoodles Ontario
Goobies Newfoundand
That’s just a few of Canada’s towns with somewhat unusual names.

Mary Midkiff

Eerie, Indiana that’s a good one

Nancy Robbins

Hornbeak, Tennessee

Nancy Robbins

Hornbeak,Tenn

Addison

Hell, Michigan? cool, creepy, ill use it for my haunted house story

Dana

Chunky, MS
Fayette, AL used to be called Frog Level
Slap Out, AL (a community near Wetumka, AL)
Warrior, AL

Alice

Lizard Lick, NC

Addison

really

Addison

wow

Teresa Music

There are 2 in Georgia I’ve been through, the neat one is Santa Claus, the weird one is Orgasm. Small but strange minds come up with some of these I’m sure !!

Addison

cool

Tim

Orgasm Georgia and Climax Saskatchewan should get together and invite Dildo Newfoundland.

Emma

Dry Tavern, PA …….I don’t know if it’s a fact, but was told it was named when the tavern in the center of town had no booze to serve.

Sue

Beaverkill, NY

marylynn jones

how about Sugar tit South Carolina

Addison

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Addison

sugar TIT

Addison

ha crapstone

Patricia

I live in Gun Barrel City, TX. Our motto is We shoot straight with you.

Deanna Stinnett

Uncertain, Texas

joe mcmunn

Apollo,Pa….Mars.Pa…..:)

SortingHat

Try Crapstone England!

SortingHat

Sir where did you say you live again? Nowhere!!

Tinsa

Well PA has to be the dirtiest state.

Skip Blue Balls, PA
Go straight to Intercourse, PA
And you’ll end up in Paradise, PA!!

Jerry Brown

Lick Skillet, Alabama Bucks Pocket, Alabama a. Also a State Park

Sandy Powell

Venus, PA
Panic, PA
Mars, PA
Turnip Hole, PA
Huey, PA
Seminole, PA
Putneyville, PA
Chickasaw, PA

Az Native

Nowhere, AZ
Tortilla Flats, AZ

Az Native

Nowhere, Arizona
Tortilla Flats, Arizona

sue

Monkey Run, Missouri

RafterR Ranch

Intercourse, PA and Blue Balls, PA

debra ray

SLAUGHTERVILLE OK

djbeer

Hell Michigan

Marla Kelly

Fairchance, PA

lil texas

Need to be cheered up?

Happy, Texas 79042
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987
Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?

Sun City, Texas 78628
Sunrise, Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270
Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray, Texas 79086
Sunny Side, Texas 77423

Want something to eat?

Bacon, Texas 76301
Noodle, Texas 79536
Oatmeal, Texas 78605
Turkey, Texas 79261
Trout, Texas 75789
Sugar Land, Texas 77479
Salty, Texas 76567
Rice, Texas 75155
And top it off with:
Sweetwater, Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!
Atlanta, Texas 75551
Buffalo, Texas 75831
Detroit, Texas 75436
Colorado City, Texas 79512
Denver City, Texas 79323
Klondike, Texas 75448
Nevada, Texas 75173
Memphis, Texas 79245
Miami, Texas 79059
Boston, Texas 75570
Santa Fe, Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony, Texas 75861
Reno, Texas 75462

Feel like traveling outside the country? Don’t bother buying a plane
ticket!

Athens, Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China, Texas 77613
Dublin, Texas 76446
Egypt, Texas 77436
Ireland, Texas 76538
Turkey, Texas 79261
London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460

No need to travel to Washington D.C.
Whitehouse, Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!
Earth, Texas 79031

And even another planet:
Venus, Texas 76084

And a city named after our State!
Texas City, Texas 77590

Exhausted?
Energy, Texas 76452

Cold?
Blanket, Texas 76432
Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?
Santa Ana, Texas
Goliad, Texas
Alamo, Texas
Gun Barrel City, Texas
Robert Lee, Texas

Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670

You guessed it… it’s on the state line:
Texline, Texas 79087

For the kids…

Kermit, Texas 79745
Elmo, Texas 75118
Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783
Winnie, Texas 77665
Sylvester, Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas to make you smile…

Frognot, Texas 75424
Bigfoot, Texas 78005
Hogeye, Texas 75423
Cactus, Te xas 79013
Notrees, Texas 79759
Best, Texas 76932
Veribest, Texas 76886
Kickapoo, Texas 75763
Dime Box, Texas 77853
Old Dime Box, Texas 77853
Telephone, Texas 75488
Telegraph, Texas 76883
Whiteface, Texas 79379
Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City
Kilgore, Texas 75662

And our favorites…

Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gun Barrell City, Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas
Ding Dong, Texas
Muleshoe, Texas

Gina

Iowa Colony is near to me, for places. You could add Shiner to the sunny places list. Pearland for a snack.

Regina Porter

FRENCH LICK,IN.

Regina Porter

Climax GA and Pistol Whip MS.

DM

Don’t forget Humptulips WA

Julie

Bad Axe, MI

Rosa Capulina

Horseheads, NY and Surprise, AZ

Mario Garza

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

jane boots

Embarrass is located in the Iron Range of Northern Minnesota.

Marnita C.

Climax Springs, MO

Alison Meyer

There’s Bean Blossom, Loogootee, and Gnaw Bone in Indiana.

Bob Cleveland

Then there’s Hot Coffee, Mississippi. Not to mention Gas City, Indiana. Which isn’t what you might fear.

Neither is French Lick, Indiana.

Donna L.

Intercourse & Paradise, PA

PJ White

It’s not incorporated, but there is a location (recognized on Facebook) known as Bloody Corners, Ohio (near Edinburg) which has a connection to my wife’s family. Seems a second cousin was killed there when the load of steel he was hauling decapitated him in a traffic accident at a bad intersection . . . .

Christina Waterhouse

And then there’s Katie’s Crotch, Maine – and the story that goes with it will have you laughing!

KR Goldstein

Tight Squeeze, VA

Alice Veltman

Carrying Place, Ontario, Canada

Randy Cotton

Divorce Flat, Humbolt Co. California.

Linda Chandler

I live in Mattoon Ky. That’s not too odd, but Monkey’s Eyebrow is close to us as is Possum Trot.

Maggie Allen

cherry box mo

Kim Carrigan

I don’t know how it got it’s named but there is a place call blue ball Pa

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