Naming on the Bright Side of Life

Abstract

I examine the prevalence of positive and negative words like “happy” and “sad” in American place names. Four principal findings emerge. First, positive words appear in place names much more often than negative words. This emphasis on the positive is similar to that found in written English prose, but significantly greater in magnitude. Second, rates of positive naming are higher in artificial geographic sites such as towns, schools, and bridges than in natural sites such as lakes and mountains. Third, individual features vary systematically in their tendency to receive commendatory names; negative words are virtually absent in names for churches, cemeteries, hospitals, and schools. Finally, place names in western states are more likely to contain negative words than those in northern and southern states. These results are discussed in terms of the anthropological concepts of contagion and nominal realism as well as historical and cultural patterns within the United States.