Saint John and St. John's... Confusing?

[lio45]

The correct one isn’t even in the list yet!

[J.OT13]

I was maybe a teenager when the distinction between St. John's NFL and Saint John NB was permanently etched in my brain, but I've always been interested in Canadian geography. I feel like most average Canadian outside Atlantic Canada wouldn't know the difference.

With Saints in general, I often don't know if it's St./St-/Saint or Sainte.

[hipster duck]

My address is York, ON, which is the former municipality of York, not to be confused with York Region, nor with the former municipalities of North York (which is south of York Region), or East York.

York, ON (where I live) was once York township, which was the southern end of York county, which no longer exists and the northern half of which forms present day York Region. Of course the former name of Toronto, proper, up until 1834 was also York.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

My address is York, ON, which is the former municipality of York, not to be confused with York Region, nor with the former municipalities of North York (which is south of York Region), or East York.

York, ON (where I live) was once York township, which was the southern end of York county, which no longer exists and the northern half of which forms present day York Region.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

My address is York, ON, which is the former municipality of York, not to be confused with York Region, nor with the former municipalities of North York (which is south of York Region), or East York.

York, ON (where I live) was once York township, which was the southern end of York county, which no longer exists and the northern half of which forms present day York Region. Of course the former name of Toronto, proper, up until 1834 was also York.

That’s actually not surprising considering the whole area used to be “York”. My hometown has similar features that occasionally puzzle newcomers, and they exist for the same reason: the original township was much bigger than the few of its remains that still bear the name, which are scattered nowadays.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Don’t forget Ontario, CA.

Vancouver, BC and Vancouver, WA is absolutely confusing, though.


As for the confusion between St. John’s and Saint John, here's a relevant google search given the very name of this forum: St. John's Skyline. I even went incognito and turned on my VPN to a US location to try and make the results less influenced by my location and search history... notice the results are mostly images of the Saint John, NB skyline?

If that's what the results are from the most sophisticated search engine in human history, a literal machine, what do you think the average person west of New Brunswick thinks when they hear Saint John and St. John's? You really don't think there’s no confusion resulting from two relatively small, Atlantic Canadian cities with nearly identical names? Come on now…

Yes, forgot about Ontario, CA. And it has an airport too; though no flights to Canada.

Don't think anyone would mistake Toronto, ON vs. Toronto, SD.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.57862...5410&entry=ttu

Downtown Toronto, SD:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.57282...5410&entry=ttu

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

We're a bunch of Canadian geography nerds, so of course we're attuned to the minor differences between the two names - as would any locals; but to everyone else they're absolutely going to cause confusion. Especially when the names are used phonetically. If I were say, cornering someone at a party and telling them all about Saint John's tallest buildings, the unfortunate listener in that conversation would have no way to tell whether I was referring to the city in New Brunswick or the one in Newfoundland.

Pretty much what I’m trying to get at with this thread. I’ve been challenged by many posters in the Atlantic Canada sub forum who try and claim there’s little to no issue or confusion arising from the names being so similar, but as soon as you start throwing the plural possessive in the mix, especially in non written communication, it can get confusing real quick.

Discussions about Saint John’s Airport was the impetus for making this thread in the first place. Some posters were trying to claim there’s no confusion, only people spelling it St. John sometimes, (which just isn’t the case), and for me to get off my soap box.

I moved to Saint John from Western Canada and can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how are things in Newfoundland? Or they know I’m in New Brunswick, but still think the city I’ve moved to is called St. John’s. My friends aren’t stupid, but they also just couldn’t care less about minute differences in the names of two cities with incredibly similar names. That, and they’re definitely trying to bug me. It’s also not uncommon for Western Canadians to label everyone east of Quebec as Newfies.

The name similarity is more of a marketing and branding challenge for Saint John, NB, than it is for St. John’s, NL, that much is clear. If Saint John should ever amalgamate with its outlying suburbs, I think the resulting regional municipality would be better served to go with a different name for the newfound entity as a whole, while the constituent communities, Saint John included, keep their original names. It would help cut down the confusion between the two SJ’s.

[WhipperSnapper]

There was always a map of Canada in the classroom and my teachers would pull it forward probably to kill time. It's confusing but, I wouldn't be confused by it.

The Toronto youth today would think it as one city. They would struggle to find Regina or Calgary ... maybe even Toronto on a map.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

I moved to Saint John from Western Canada and can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how are things in Newfoundland? Or they know I’m in New Brunswick, but still think the city I’ve moved to is called St. John’s.

From a Western point of view, St. John's and Saint-John are quite interchangeable.

Ask your current Saint-John friends, if you moved to Saskatoon or Regina, would it matter much which one exactly? It's the same to them.

For a real example, Kamloops and Kelowna are easily confused by people in Eastern Canada, I'm sure (even I did it at first!) We have a family friend who relocated to Kamloops, but he might as well be in Kelowna as far as we're concerned.

[megadude]

I would agree that most people west of there won't know the difference. A good chunk I'd say probably have heard of St. John's, in NFLD, but aren't aware there's even a St. John too.

Most people probably can't even name all the neighbouring cities and towns around them. I'm sure a lot, if not most, can't name the municipalities that comprise their region or county, even if it's only a few like Peel Region's three.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by megadude

I would agree that most people west of there won't know the difference. A good chunk I'd say probably have heard of St. John's, in NFLD, but aren't aware there's even a St. John too.

Most people probably can't even name all the neighbouring cities and towns around them. I'm sure a lot, if not most, can't name the municipalities that comprise their region or county, even if it's only a few like Peel Region's three.

How dare you?

[megadude]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

How dare you?

Lol. Case in point. Kind of.

I didn't even realize I spelled it that way in my hastily typed post.

[Ozabald]

Let's not forget Grand Falls, NB vs. Grand Falls, NL.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Let's not forget Grand Falls, NB vs. Grand Falls, NL.

I wonder what the most common town/city name in Canada is. For the US, I think Columbia beats Springfield... but there may be even better candidates.

[Ozabald]

Originally Posted by lio45

I wonder what the most common town/city name in Canada is. For the US, I think Columbia beats Springfield... but there may be even better candidates.

According to WorldAtlas.com, it's Washington.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...the-u-s-a.html

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

Let's not forget Grand Falls, NB vs. Grand Falls, NL.

Please, get off your soapbox.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Ozabald

According to WorldAtlas.com, it's Washington.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/...the-u-s-a.html

For Canada? I can’t even think of a single one…

Strange it’s Washington for the US, when other than D.C. and Washington State, can’t think of any towns or cities called Washington. More than 80 of them and only 50 states

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

I wonder what the most common town/city name in Canada is..

Victoria?

[lio45]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

For Canada? I can’t even think of a single one…

Strange it’s Washington for the US, when other than D.C. and Washington State, can’t think of any towns or cities called Washington. More than 80 of them and only 50 states

Almost every state has a Washington County. Not sure whether that's counted or not...

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Victoria?

Newfoundland has a Victoria BC, it's Behind Carbonear.