BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you look at a map of New York, you will see countless towns and cities named after other countries — even other states. But how did those areas get those names?

Many of our beloved communities' names are thanks to a man named Simeon DeWitt. He was the surveyor general of New York at the time that these places were being named. He was quite a fan and a student of mythology.

What You Need To Know

  • Simeon DeWitt was the surveyor general of New York in the late 1700s and early 1800s and is to thank for many names we say today 

  • A number of names pay tribute to political happenings of other countries

  • Crop growth and soil fertility are also reasons 

There are 995 towns and cities across New York. Each one certainly has a story behind its name.

“We see many, many Greek and Roman mythological names,” said Christine Ridarsky, former president of the Association of Public Historians of New York State.

Ridarksy is also the Rochester and Monroe County historian. She says people were following events in Europe.

“So, if there was a government they were supporting and they happened to be looking for a town name, they happened to name it after that," she said. 

Examples include Poland and Russia.

“If you look at how they're geographically placed, they are sort of located in the same way that they are in Europe,” Ridarsky said.

Egypt was also used as inspiration.

“Egypt is known for its fertility,” Ridarsky said. “And at the time that Egypt in Monroe County was named, it was a very fertile area.”

Cuba, though, is not named after the country.

“Cuba is actually after the goddess of the young,” she explained, "and then in places like Hector and Ulysses who are named for heroes from mythology.”

Some locations are named after founders.

“Brockport was named after Hiel Brockway,” Ridarsky said. “There were actually three men who were responsible for founding Rochester; there's a story about Rochester deciding that if you had to name this community, he might as well make both of his partners equally upset with him and just name it for himself.”

Albany was named for the English Duke of Albany. Batavia honors the Batavian Republic in the Netherlands, from where the founders of the Holland Land Company came. Alabama, however, remains a mystery.

“Alabama was named less than 10 years after the state of Alabama was established," she said. "But it's not clear why.”

Ridarsky says the state is named after a Choctaw Indian word. She says there might have been a Seneca word with similar meanings.

That was common, too, hence Buffalo. And if you’ve ever wondered why a town is a town when there’s seemingly nothing there now, it was something in the past.

“Usually, a place with a name was prominent for some reason in the past, Ridarsky said. “Sometimes it would be because there was a railroad stop or a post office or some connection. There was that there were at a crossroads.”

A state law passed in 1919 requires every municipality in every county in New York, to have an appointed government historian. Not everyone follows this rule, but if you want to learn more, go ahead and find that person via the Association of Public Historians of New York State.