Abstract

Place name is an important component to carry forward a country’s culture and history. This paper begins with a brief introduction to what place naming is and the background of American place naming. Then it makes a tentative study of the origin of American place names, which further demonstrates three aspects: The place names with geographical factors, the place names with European countries in origin and the place names with immigrant culture. It focus on manifesting the geographic scenery, traditional culture, historical background, its own characteristics and any other factors of the United States by studying American place names from a multicultural perspective.

Key words:  American place names, the origin, geographical factors, European countries, immigrant culture

摘    要

地名是传承民族文化和历史的重要成分。 本文从简要介绍地名的含义和美国地名形成的背景入手，进一步浅析美国地名的由来，分别从三个部分阐述：地名由来于地理因素，地名由来于欧洲国家以及地名由来于美国人性格从而说明美国地名深受美国印第安人，欧洲主要国家和移民文化的影响。并重点从多元化的角度研究美国地名所展示的地理风貌，传统文化，历史背景，美国特色等。

关键词： 美国地名；由来；地理因素；欧洲国家；移民文化

1. Introduction:
Place naming is a social phenomenon. Alderman pointed out in Place, Naming, and the Interpretation of Cultural Landscapes, “Naming is a noteworthy cultural practice not only because of its ability to create a sense of continuity over time but also through its capacity for changing and challenging lines of identity.”(Alderman 197) As the product of history, some place names are changing with the development of human society. Engels made a research on English place names to prove that many place names in Britain were originated from the time when the Romans conquered the Great Britain in 11th Century.
As for the United States of America, it’s a country of immigrants constituted by immigrants with different cultural backgrounds from all over the world, forming a kind of highly integrated “mixed-culture”. Before the founding of the United States of America, immigrants from Europe continuously stepped into North America, gradually settling roots there and interacting with the native Indians. In that case, the final formation of American multi-culture within internal coherence lies in interaction among different races and ethnics, the exchange, conflict and emerging of different cultures leading to gradual convergence for social culture. Robert Louis Stevenson once said according to The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of Language in the United States.,