Origins and meanings of Canadian place names

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Thank you for that explanation... I didn't realize that St. Vital spanned both banks of the Red at one point. I clearly have much to learn about St. Vital.

Old postcards of the U of M before WW 1 usually identify it as ‘Agricultural College, St. Vital’.

[vid]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

In the list posted on the wiki page for the Kitchener name change, I personally would have liked Uranus. People would have a lot of fun with that one, especially on this forum.

One of the suggested names is Corona.

It the city were created in 2015 I'm sure it would be named Aidan.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by vid

One of the suggested names is Corona.

It the city were created in 2015 I'm sure it would be named Aidan.

I kinda thought you would be more interested (or offended) by the potential name Colonia............

Or is this simply a case of calling a spade a spade.

[Andy6]

The thing is that if any of those names had been chosen it would seem like a totally normal city name by now, to us.

[davee930]

EDMONTON is actually an acronym for "every day my own nut tingles over Calgary"

Can anyone tell me why they switched the N for a C?

[Dengler Avenue]

Speaking of Edmonton, it makes me think of Edmundston, N.B. I just find the 2 names borderline illegally similar.
Here’s its history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmundston.
What I didn’t know was the existence of a Republic of Madawaska. No wonder there was a garden called The Garden of the Republic (Le Jardin de la République) in that area.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Apparently one of the rivers in Deux-Rivère, ON is actually on the Québec side.

There was no provincial border when it was named, I suppose.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The city of Asbestos in Quebec's Eastern Townships will be holding a public consultation on a new name in mid-October.

The four proposed names are:

Apalone - the name of an endangered turtle that is native to the area
Phénix
Trois-Lacs
Jeffrey - the surname of the dude who opened the first absestos mines there

All city residents aged 14 and older are eligible to vote.

The consultation is suspended. No one liked any of the names!

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The consultation is suspended. No one liked any of the names!

Haha, not that surprising, I also disliked them all (3-Lacs being the most palatable).

Jeffreyville would be acceptable, better IMO than just a family name.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by lio45

Haha, not that surprising, I also disliked them all (3-Lacs being the most palatable).

Jeffreyville would be acceptable, better IMO than just a family name.

Makes me think of Three Pines, which wouldn't be far away ....

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The consultation is suspended. No one liked any of the names!

Sotsebsa would be good.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Speaking of Edmonton, it makes me think of Edmundston, N.B. I just find the 2 names borderline illegally similar.
Here’s its history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmundston.
What I didn’t know was the existence of a Republic of Madawaska. No wonder there was a garden called The Garden of the Republic (Le Jardin de la République) in that area.

That's not too bad. There were at least three Caesaria's in the Roman Empire and they were all capitals in their respective provinces to the best of my knowledge.

[Acajack]

Asbestos take two!

There are now six choices:

L'Azur-des-Cantons
Larochelle
Phénix
Trois-Lacs
Val-des-Sources
Jeffrey-sur-le-Lac

[le calmar]

Asbestos is landlocked and the handful of small lakes in proximity are not representative of the city in my opinion. So not a fan of Jeffrey-sur-le-Lac which suggests a city located on a large body of water.

Trois-Lacs sounds very generic and as I said, nobody associates the city with those little lakes located within the limits of a former municipality pre-amalgamation. The rest is a mix of names that are either pretentious (Azur-des-Cantons for a city that is locally known to be ugly?), generic or not fitting for a municipality (Phénix sounds cool, but to name it that?).

I am not sure what is the story for Larochelle, but even though I am not fan of naming a city with a last name, at least this one sounds good.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

Asbestos is landlocked and the handful of small lakes in proximity are not representative of the city in my opinion. So not a fan of Jeffrey-sur-le-Lac which suggests a city located on a large body of water.

Trois-Lacs sounds very generic and as I said, nobody associates the city with those little lakes located within the limits of a former municipality pre-amalgamation. The rest is a mix of names that are either pretentious (Azur-des-Cantons for a city that is locally known to be ugly?), generic or not fitting for a municipality (Phénix sounds cool, but to name it that?).

I am not sure what is the background story for Larochelle, but even though I am not fan of naming a city with a last name, at least this one sounds good.

Six choices and none of them really good.

There is already a more established La Rochelle out there in the world.

Looking at a map the city has a district called Cap-de-Roche. I wonder why that is not on the list. Sounds reasonably nice and original.

[hollywoodcory]

Calgary got its name from a place on the Isle of Mull in Scotland also called Calgary. I think I also remember something about it translating to "Cold & garden" in an older language?

Cold garden certainly does describe Calgary a vast majority of the year.

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Six choices and none of them really good.

There is already a more established La Rochelle out there in the world.

Looking at a map the city has a district called Cap-de-Roche. I wonder why that is not on the list. Sounds reasonably nice and original.

I made a lot of research and really tried to come up with interesting names during the call for propositions (none of them were chosen). I have to admit that it was really hard to come up with something ; the town's history is totally linked to the mines. It also covers a really small geographic area without any distinctive feature (except for the Trois-Lacs, which is also the name of the former neighbouring village that was amalgamated 20 yrs ago).

The only relevant name somewhat grounded in history that I could think of was Shipton (the name of the township). But the town administration wants something French. After that, we all can do some "toponymic" composition, but it can get cheesy :
Minestrie (mines + Estrie, after all, the mines still represent 50% of municipal land)
Estriemonts (generic)
Val-d'Estrie / Valestrie (generic)
Appalachie (ça chie ) / Appalande
Pithiganitek or Pithigan (the Abénakis name of Nicolet river - Asbestos is located at one of its source - would it be cultural appropriation?)
Mont-Dion (Dion is the name of a butte within the city limits - we can benefit from Céline's fame a bit though totally not related to the place)
Quatre-Monts (there are four hills within city limits; generic; after 2-Montagnes and 3-Rivières, here's 4-Monts, yay!)
On the more facetious side : Ville-Terrill or Terrillville, Plaisance-les-Haldes, Trouville (of course to commemorate this famous french locality), Gros-Pit...
And so on...

As long as L'Azur-des-Cantons / Phénix are not chosen...

[someone123]

Worst-case sequence of Kitchener names:

Berlin, ON
Eugenics, ON
Hindenburg, ON
Sputnick, ON
Aids, ON
Alkyda, ON
Ebola, ON
Covid, ON

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Laceoflight

I made a lot of research and really tried to come up with interesting names during the call for propositions (none of them were chosen). I have to admit that it was really hard to come up with something ; the town's history is totally linked to the mines. It also covers a really small geographic area without any distinctive feature (except for the Trois-Lacs, which is also the name of the former neighbouring village that was amalgamated 20 yrs ago).
...

I did a similar search for fun. The rivers in the area are Nicolet and Yamaska, which both have towns named for them already.

The MRC (regional county municipality) of which it is the seat is called Les Sources. Hence Val-des-Sources as one of the proposed names.

Other than that it is pretty limited in terms of natural features that would have an inspiring name.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Laceoflight

As long as L'Azur-des-Cantons / Phénix are not chosen...

L'Azur-des-Cantons I actually like the sound of, but it sounds more like a local brand of curaçao or maybe the name of a nordic spa.