Could Pittsburgh benefit from a name change? And... what would be a better name? (Duquesne: Irish, town)

[PreservationPioneer]

"Allegheny" was a pretty enough word for Patti Page to have a major hit with it in the song title.


Patti Page - Allegheny Moon (Stereo Version) - YouTube

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

We were in upstate New York last week and noticed they spell Allegheny without an H, as in Allegeny. Isn't that weird?

Better than Maryland. Their county is Allegany, with an A, heh. Looks like NY uses that spelling too for one of their state parks.

[I_Like_Spam]

How about changing the name of Pittsburgh to "South Fox Chapel"?


Give the city a bit more of an affluent image, maybe it will attract some money.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Leningrad made a good switch when it returned to St. Petersburg.

But it was St Petersburg for about 200 years before it was Petrograd, then Leningrad. The mistake was doing the "fashionable" thing in Soviet Russia and renaming it, which I think counsels against renaming Pittsburgh.

It's hard enough for people to remember the "h", now you want to make it even more un-phonetic?

Works for Edinburgh.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

But it was St Petersburg for about 200 years before it was Petrograd, then Leningrad. The mistake was doing the "fashionable" thing in Soviet Russia and renaming it, which I think counsels against renaming Pittsburgh.

It's not how long it has had its name but how it sounds. Give it 500 years, Leningrad will still sound bad.

Works for Edinburgh.

People have to be taught (including myself) how to pronounce it. That "gh" has a unique sound. "gh" has a "g" sound as in ghost...or Pittsburgh or Allegheny. Or becomes an "f" in rough. Or disappears in through. I even learned that Thames and Leicester are not pronounced like they are spelled.

As an aside: when I was in Scotland, I asked if I should visit Glasgow or Edinburgh, Edinburgh was the unanimous pick. Cool castle on the hill. That's where I learned how to pronounce its name.

[fleetiebelle]

West Virginia has a Monongalia, which I'm assuming is a version of Monongahela (or vice versa.)

[Caladium]

How about Fruit Bowl, PA, since the surrounding area has Cranberry and Plum? (and you're near the Apple-achias )

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Don't forget we're America's 5th-gayest city! LOL!

Originally Posted by Caladium

How about Fruit Bowl, PA

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

It's not how long it has had its name but how it sounds. Give it 500 years, Leningrad will still sound bad.

I'm sure there were plenty of people at the time assuring everyone that it sounded better than Sankt-Peterburg.

I even learned that Thames and Leicester are not pronounced like they are spelled.

We've got that in the U.S. too (e.g., Worcester, MA). Heck, if you know French you will get many of the place-names in this area, or my original hometown (Detroit) wrong.

The "burgh" in Edinburgh is a cognate of "borough", hence the way it is pronounced. And in fact in General Forbes's letter to William Pitt naming the city after Pitt, Forbes spelled it "Pittsbourgh".

Incidentally, I'd suggest that pronouncing it like the Germanic "burg" is causing an ongoing confusion itself, namely all the people who want to spell it without the "h".

As an aside: when I was in Scotland, I asked if I should visit Glasgow or Edinburgh, Edinburgh was the unanimous pick. Cool castle on the hill. That's where I learned how to pronounce its name.

See? If it is good enough for Edinburgh, it should be good enough for Pittsburgh. It will make people feel all the cooler once they are in the know.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

It's not how long it has had its name but how it sounds. Give it 500 years, Leningrad will still sound bad.


People have to be taught (including myself) how to pronounce it. That "gh" has a unique sound. "gh" has a "g" sound as in ghost...or Pittsburgh or Allegheny. Or becomes an "f" in rough. Or disappears in through. I even learned that Thames and Leicester are not pronounced like they are spelled.

As an aside: when I was in Scotland, I asked if I should visit Glasgow or Edinburgh, Edinburgh was the unanimous pick. Cool castle on the hill. That's where I learned how to pronounce its name.

The issue with "gh" as in Edinburgh is that the "g" in a "gh" combination is silent in Celtic languages (as in Monaghan, O'Donoghue, McCullough, et cetera). Same for the "ch" often found in Scottish names (as in "McColloch" being the Scottish form of "McCollough"). It might have helped to Anglicize the spelling as was done, for instance, in Pittsboro NC or Owensboro KY.