London is unique — but its name certainly isn't.
There are dozens of places called London around the world, some large, some so small they barely register on the map, some named after our own fair city, and others which came by the moniker via alternative etymology. Here, we've picked out a few, and shared some trivia about them — store it away in your brain and whip it out next time you've got an awkward silence that needs filling.
London, Ontario, Canada
Probably the closest in size, stature and general city-ness to our own London is London in Ontario, Canada — though with a population of around 420,00, it's got a long, long way to go before we can officially call it a rival.
With a city that size, there's a flood of facts and trivia we could share with you. But we'll go with this one: the main waterway through the city is the Thames River. The city and the river were named after the original London, by British Army general John Graves Simcoe. To the east of the city centre is London International Airport... wonder how many tourists have stepped off the plane there expecting to see Big Ben?
Other similarly-named entities in Canada's London: Victoria Park, Oxford Street, Covent Garden Market, Vauxhall Park, and districts called Hyde Park, Lambeth and Westminster. Oh, and London sits geographically within Middlesex County, although it's politically separate. Meanwhile, back here in the UK, Middlesex County has been swallowed up by London. Come on Canada, there's 'taking inspiration', and then there's plain old copy-and-paste.
More trivia? Oh go on then. Between 2014 and 2018, a man called Matt Brown was Mayor of London, Ontario. At the same time, a different Matt Brown was heading up the press team at TfL over here in our London (he now holds the role of Director of Communications & Corporate Affairs, having previously worked in the Mayor's office). All the while, Londonist's very own Matt Brown was doing his thing for Londonist, going on rooftops, down sewers and to various other locations, all in the name of London journalism. Make of that what you will.
London, Eday Island, Orkney
The island of Eday is part of Orkney in Scotland, and halfway down its east coast is the Bay of London. It's a small, sheltered cove looking out towards Loth on the neighbouring isle of Sanday. Just behind the bay is the main (read: only) road running north-south on Eday, and beyond that is Eday London Airport — known locally as 'London Airport', which puts the other airports claiming to be in London into perspective.
Don't be expecting any roaring jumbo jets flying overhead spoiling the Orkney peace. Eday London Airport only offers internal flights to other places in the islands of Orkney (Kirkwall, North Ronaldsey, Papa Westray, Sanday, Stronsay and Westray airports).
In Orkney, the etymology tends to be a blend of Old Norse, Norse, Scots and English, so the London place name is thought to have evolved completely separately from that of the English capital more than 700 miles away. In Norse, 'lund-inn' means 'woodland', though these days the island is bereft of trees. 'Lundi' in Old Norse means 'puffin', so the bay and airport could be named after the birds which once called the island home.
London, Savigny-sur-Seille, France
'Official sponsor of the largest athletics event in London this year' read posters which went up at various prominent London (UK) locations on 1 August 2012 — the summer that London hosted a little event called 'the Olympics'.
The ads were by betting company Paddy Power, who organised and sponsored an egg-and-spoon race in the small village of London, in Savigny-sur-Seille, France that month. Locog, the organising committee of London 2012, launched legal action in a bid to get the ads taken down claiming it was a form of 'ambush marketing', which resulted in Paddy Power attempting to take out a court order against Locog, saying "It’s a pity they [Locog] didn’t put the same energy in to the ticketing and security arrangements for the Games that they put into protecting their sponsorship revenue streams". Ouch.
Anyway, Paddy Power won the legal wrangling, which earned the company much more attention and coverage than the posters themselves did — possibly the marketing team's ploy all along. Surprisingly, there's no oeuf-icial info available on who claimed gold at that egg-and-spoon race.
London, Madison County, Ohio
Hopping across the pond briefly, another London which got a look in at the London 2012 Olympics was a city called London in Madison County, Ohio. Sports brand Nike — who'd lost out on sponsoring the London 2012 Olympics to rival company Adidas — released a minute-long commercial shining the spotlight on various other places around the world called London.
The advert opens with a shot of a white water tower with signage reading 'London, Ohio', before moving on to a neon sign of the London Plaza in Bangkok, a fishing boat in Little London, Jamaica, children playing football in London, Nigeria, and landmarks including a London Hotel, London Gym and London Field all over the world.
The high school and fire department of the Ohio town can be seen later in the ad. There must be something sporty in the water around there: Ohio State football player and 1945 Heisman Trophy finalist Warren Amling; professional baseball player Bob Bescher; major league baseball umpire Satch Davidson; Football Hall of Fame cornerback, NFL assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau; and professional baseball player and coach Rick Renick all come from the town.
The official Nike YouTube channel doesn't date back that far, but we have managed to track down this copy of the ad, which aired in 25 countries around the world during the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, under the tagline 'Find your greatness':
London, Arkansas
It's a London to Paris rally, but not as you know it. London, Arkansas, used to be the starting point for the London to Paris TSD (Time Speed Distance) Rally, which saw drivers going head-to-head in a route from London to Arkansas's own Paris — a distance of around 40 miles, including crossing the Arkansas River. It used to take place on the last Saturday in October, but hasn't done for a few years now, with no plans to bring it back. Still, nothing to stop you setting out on your own London-Paris drive if you ever find yourself in that part of the world.
London, Kentucky
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Home to the annual World Chicken Festival with the world's largest skillet, celebrating Colonel Sanders of KFC fame. 10/10, no notes for improvement. Next.
London, Minnesota
Tiny, but a satisfying grid layout to the surrounding roads when viewed on Google Maps. Like we said, not a lot happening there, really.
London, West Virginia
Well, dam. Literally. The London Locks and Dam span the Kanawha River at London in West Virginia, conveying recreational and cargo vessels. It opened in 1933, and could be called a blight on the otherwise-picturesque local landscape of hills and trees — it sure isn't as pretty as Hanwell's Flight of Locks. There's something thrilling about seeing 'London' written in huge white letters on the concrete wall, though.
London, Belgrade, Serbia
The Serbian capital of Belgrade has a district called London, named after the London Hotel built there in the 1870s. The first electric light in Belgrade was lit in the area in 1882, on a spot which now houses the headquarters of Belgrade's electric company.
The city's first traffic light was installed a few blocks away at Takovska in 1935, but the plan to roll them out further was stopped by the second world war, meaning that it wasn't until 18 years later, in 1953, when the city's second traffic light was installed in London.
London, Kiritimati, Kiribati
The small — and, quite frankly, idyllic-looking — atoll of Kiritimati in Kiribati has a mini settlement called London. No idea how it got that name, and very little other information about it is available without actually travelling there, but it happens to be just across the (dazzling blue) water from somewhere called Paris, which is not too different from our own London.
London Island/Isla London, Chile
'What's the closest volcano to London?' we once asked a volcanologist, who came up with the answer of either Vesuvius in Italy or Öræfajökull in Iceland, both being about 1,000 miles from London. Not so for Chile's remote and deserted London Island, also known as Cook Island, which has the Fueguino volcanic field located right at its eastern edge. The last volcanic activity was reported in 1926.
We know we haven't included every place called London or Little London in the above — there are dozens of them all over the world, many of which are tiny settlements with very little information available online (and apparently the Londonist budget doesn't stretch to a round the world trip). See our guide to places named London that aren't actually London for further imitations.
Do you live in or know of a place called London somewhere else in the world that we've not mentioned above? Perhaps London in Michigan or Winsconsin, or in Mpumalanga in South Africa, Little London in Jamaica, or even England's own Little Londons in Hampshire and Sussex? Drop a fact or piece of trivia about it in the comments.
