Places in South West England with same names as US cities
South West England is home to several towns and villages that share names with well-known and little-known United States destinations.
Some have direct historical ties – others are pure coincidence.
Here’s a (non-conclusive) list of them all!
Plymouth (Devon)
The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, Devon in 1620, carrying the English Separatists who later became known as the Pilgrims.
They ended up in Plymouth – but they didn’t name it.
The American settlement they founded was already labelled “Plimouth” on earlier maps – so it’s coincidental more than anything!
The shared name highlights a transatlantic connection, even if not deliberate!
The Massachusets town has a population of just over 60,000.
Exeter (Devon)
Exeter, New Hampshire was founded in the 1600s by colonists with ties to Devon – they named the settlement after the cathedral city they left behind.
Of course, our Exeter sits on the River Exe and is one of Devon’s two cities!
Gloucester (Gloucestershire)
Gloucester, Massachusetts, is one of America’s oldest fishing ports – it was founded by settlers from the West Country.
Its West Country namesake is the cathedral city on the edge of the Cotswolds.
Bath (Somerset)
Bath, Maine was incorporated in the 18th century and became known for shipbuilding.
It was incorporated as a town in 1781 and was named after Bath in Somerset. Dummer Sewall, the first postmaster of the city, decided to call it after the famous UK spa town.
Its namesake in Somerset has an entirely different claim to fame: natural hot springs, which drew the Romans here nearly two millennia ago.
Bristol
Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia are twin cities straddling a state border.
They were both named after Bristol in the West Country. Joseph R. Anderson was the original town planner in 1852, and he decided to call it Bristol (rejecting the name “Paradise”) which implies how important Bristol was as a port city at the time.
Truro (Cornwall)
Truro in Massachusetts sits on the scenic Cape Cod.
Its namesake is Truro in Cornwall – which was named after its location at the meeting point of three cities.
Falmouth (Cornwall)
Falmouth, Massachusetts, is another Cape Cod destination. Incorporated in 1686, it was also named after its Cornish counterpart.
Portland (Dorset)
Portland, Oregon, is a large city in Oregon known for its alternative culture and tech industry.
There’s also a Portland in Maine – so the naming history gets a bit confusing!
Maine’s Portland was named after the Isle of Portland in Dorset.
However, Oregon’s Portland’s name was the result of a coin toss! The then-town was founded by Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove – and both wanted it to be named after their hometown (Lovejoy was from Boston and Pettygrove was from Maine’s Portland).
You can guess what happened – Pettygrove won and thus, it’s now called Portland!
Newport (Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire)
There are several small Newports scattered around the South West – in Cornwall, near Launceston; in Devon, near Barnstaple; and in Gloucestershire, outside Berkeley.
None are large settlements, and most are absorbed into neighbouring towns or rural parishes.
The famous US Newport is on Rhode Island (originally named Aquidneck Island by indigenous communities).
Founded in 1639, it’s likely that it was named due to its strategic location rather than being named after a UK Newport.
Wellington (Somerset)
Wellington, Florida,has the same name as a town in Somerset.
But Florida’s Wellington wasn’t named after the West Country town; instead, its namesake was Charles Oliver Wellington, who bought a lot of land in the area in the 1950s.
Charlestown (Cornwall)
Charlestown is a neighbourhood in Boston – and Charleston is the largest city in South Carolina.
Neither are named after Cornwall’s Charlestown, but they’re all named after Charles’s – the American counterparts after Charles II and Cornwall’s after Charles Rashleigh.
Clifton (Bristol)
Clifton in New Jersey is a commuter suburb of New York – and its name shares the same origins as Clifton in Bristol.
Both come from the traditional place name “settlement by a cliff”.
The New Jersey town’s name comes from its proximity to the Garret Mountains, whereas the Bristol counterpart is thanks to the nearby Avon Gorge.
