While the world may be full of everyday, uninterestingly named places that won’t make you bat an eye, these curious localities are not among them. Well, except perhaps the town of Boring!

From the Indianan town that gets hundreds of letters to Santa each year to a Parisian landmark in Texas, these places have names that are causing confusion.

Click or scroll to discover some of the world’s most misleading place names and learn how they came about…

Hurricane, Utah might sound like a dangerous place to call home, but its name is quite misleading, as the city is not known for high winds or storms of any kind. Instead, the city got its name from a local legend:

Sometime in the 1860s a freak whirlwind blew the top off a buggy belonging to Mormon leader Erastus as he was driving. He reportedly said, “Well, that was a Hurricane. We'll name this the Hurricane Hill.” And so, the city of Hurricane, pronounced "Her-ah-kun" by locals, was christened.

While the name ‘Iceland’ may conjure up mental images of snow-capped peaks and frosty tundra, in reality, the majority of the country’s landscape is quite lush, with rolling green hillsides and a fairly moderate climate.

Many historians believe that the country is so named because Viking explorers would first have encountered Iceland’s glaciers, using them to navigate its coastline and as inspiration for the country's name.

And then there’s Greenland, an equally confusingly named country, which is more or less a giant sheet of ice. This name, however, was a clever marketing ploy.

When the Norwegian-born 'Erik the Red' arrived in Greenland with the intention of setting up its first European colony (having been expelled from Iceland on a murder charge), he attempted to encourage others to join him by naming the settlement ‘Greenland’, making it sound like a warm and verdant place to live.

The Turkish city of Batman is, sadly, not the home of Gotham’s favourite hero, but rather a formerly small village-turned major metropolis after the discovery of nearby oil in the 1940s.

Its name refers to an ancient Persian unit of measurement equivalent to 17 pounds (7.7kg), which definitely predated the comic book crusader!

An unincorporated community in Floyd County, Kentucky, Hippo’s name has an interesting origin story completely unrelated to any four-legged jungle beasts.

According to local lore, a post office was established in the community In 1902 and named after a resident, Bee Madison 'Hippo' Craft. 'Hippo' was not some sort of weight-based slur, but in fact short for 'hypochondriac', which apparently matched Craft’s reputation in town.

Welcome to Chicken. Another small, unincorporated village, this time in Alaska, with a population of just 12 (chickens not included) according to the 2020 census.

The township is not, as its name might suggest, a farming community, but was settled by gold miners in the late 1800s. Its name is most likely derived from the nearby Chicken Creek, which was noted for the size of its gold, supposedly about the same size as chicken feed.

With the self-appointed motto of “the most exciting place to live!”, Boring is a small community in Clackamas County, Oregon.

It wasn't named for a lack of things to do, but rather in honour of Union soldier William Harrison Boring, whose family built a farm in the area in 1856.

The town has certainly leaned in to the silliness of its name. It's a sister city to the village of Dull, Scotland and the region of Bland, Australia forming the so-called 'trinity of tedium.'

Which brings us to our next curiously named location, Scotland’s charming village of Dull. The Highland village likely derives its name from the Pictish word dol, meaning water-meadow. Pictish is an extinct Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of ancient eastern and northern Scotland.

However, given that the village itself is comprised only of a single street of houses, the more modern connotation of its name may not be so misleading after all…

While culturally it could not be more different from its namesake, the city of Paris, Texas is indeed named after that metropolitan mecca across the Atlantic. The city was first established in 1845, but further expanded after the coming of the railroads in 1876.

Today, it too is considered a seat of art, culture and cuisine and even boasts its own 65-foot-tall Eiffel Tower, this one topped with a 10-gallon red cowboy hat to add a touch of local flavour.

In a similar vein, the city of London, Ohio bears no relation to its name-sharers across the pond. London was established in 1810, and some have argued that it was named after its sister city because so many of its residents hailed from Great Britain.

However, others claim that the name derives not from the British 'Big Smoke', but from the London Company which surveyed the land. You decide.

No lizards here! Lizard Point, located at the southernmost tip of the United Kingdom, is noted for its beautiful coastline, staggering cliffs and azure waves, but not for any reptilian inhabitants.

In reality, the Lizard part of the name is most likely a corruption of the Cornish name 'Lys Ardh', meaning 'high court.'

Coincidentally, however, much of the coastline is comprised of serpentine-bearing rock and the region is famous for producing carved serpentine goods.

While in both Dutch and English translation the name of this quaint Netherlands village makes it sound like a pirate’s fantasy, in reality the provincial settlement has little to do with beer, rum or indeed anything else.

Far from ‘party central’, the little town has only approximately 600 houses and is about as peaceful and quiet a community as you can imagine…except for the occasional signpost stealing!

The deceptively named Lagonisi, Greece, which translates to 'rabbit island', is neither bursting with bunnies, nor, in fact, an island.

Instead, the region is a small residential peninsula jutting out into the Saronic Gulf, approximately 19 miles (30km) southeast of Athens.

It is known for its luxury homes, sandy beaches and five-star hotels. We’re not quite sure where the name comes from.

Situated at an ironically low 13 feet (4m) above sea level, Highpoint Florida is, in fact, not the highest point in Florida. Like much of Florida, the unincorporated community is flat, swampy and waterlogged, with neighbourhoods built along canals.

We're not quite sure what they were thinking when they named the place. Perhaps someone just had a good sense of humour.

Buffalo, New York is not, as its name might suggest, overrun with those large, fluffy quadrupeds more commonly associated with the Western United States.

As the region had previously been settled by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur (lord) de La Salle, the name may originate from a mispronunciation of the French beau fleuve. That means ‘beautiful river,’ a reference to the nearby Buffalo Creek, which makes much more sense.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the city of Obama, Japan has no association with the former American president of the same name.

Instead, the city’s name translates to 'small beach' in Japanese, as it is bordered to the north by the heavily indented ria coast of Obama Bay on the Sea of Japan.

The confusingly named ‘Zurich’ in the Netherlands is in no way related to the largest city in Switzerland which shares its name. However, the tiny village attracts plenty of amused tourists every year, including many from Switzerland itself.

A new name was proposed in 2000 to prevent confusion. The Frisian name of 'Surch' was a suggestion (Frisians are indigenous to the coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark), but the locals turned it down in favour of its more misleading name.

Arabianranta, or ‘Arabia’ in Helsinki, Finland, could not be more different from any part of the Arabian Peninsula, as this autumnal, deciduous landscape illustrates.

In Swedish, the name translates to 'shore of Arabia' and many people attribute it to the nearby ceramics company and factory, Arabia Ceramics, which is the dominant industry in the region.

The company wasn’t founded until the 1870s, but documentation dating back to the 18th century has been found, referring to the region as 'Arabian ja Kaanaan maa' (the land of Arabia and Canaan).

Pekin, Illinois seems the farthest thing imaginable from its namesake, which was actually the idea. In the 19th century, China and the United States were thought to be antipodes, or geographical opposites, and it was common practice for towns in the US to be named after what were thought to be their antipodal locations in China.

Pekin was so dubbed in 1829 by Mrs. Ann Eliza Cromwell, who believed that her town was on the exact opposite side of the world to Peking, China. Though it has to be said, she was a little off the mark…

A quiet town on a beautiful island in Chesapeake Bay, Tangier shares its name with the homeland of many of its first settlers, the city of Tangier in Morocco.

Settlers arrived on the island (also named Tangier) the 1770s and were farmers, before turning to the waters for dredging oysters. However, these days the island has little connection to its namesake city and could even be abandoned in the next 50 years thanks to rising sea levels.

It's also worth noting that the people of Tangier speak with a unique accent thanks to their rich history, as reported by the BBC.

Beliefs differ on how the Arizona copper-mining community of Bagdad got its name. Local stories say the name originated from a father-son mining operation in the area in the 1800s.

The father would mine the ore while his son loaded it into bags and when one was full would call out: “Bag, Dad!".

However, others have deemed this story doubtful, claiming instead the name is a misspelling of Baghdad, inspired by an idealised image of that city’s wealth and splendour.

Welcome to Hell...No, really. Of course, the name of this Norwegian outpost actually stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means 'overhang' or 'cliff cave' and not the fiery pits.

Still, the town has understandably become a minor tourist destination. People clamour for photos of themselves beside the station sign, seen here.

With a frosty climate typical for its location, the landmark brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “when Hell freezes over”!

Perhaps the saddest misleading location name on our list, No Name, Colorado was just never lucky enough to get a more specific moniker. According to local historian Carolyn Cipperly, records and maps show that the town has been called No Name for generations, perhaps due to a mistake on a census.

While many theories exist as to how the town came by such a non-specific title, no definitive theories have emerged. It sure makes for a funny interstate sign though…

The town of Santa Calus, Indiana tried to be called Santa Fe back when it was established in 1854, but was unable to set up a post office under the name given the proximity of another Santa Fe in Indiana.

Santa Claus was chosen as the replacement, resulting in that same post office receiving thousands of letters directed to jolly old Saint Nicholas every year from children all over the world.

However, the township has really leaned in to the festive spirit and boasts plenty of Christmas-themed tourist attractions.

A somewhat on the nose, though still confusing, name, Nowhere Else, Tasmania lets you know exactly where you are. Or at least where you are not.

While the origin of the strange name is unclear, one local theory suggests that the road from nearby Barrington ended at a farmer’s property within the area, so you literally had nowhere else to go.

A Latvian state city, Ogre sadly is not home to any mythical creatures or beloved Pixar characters.

The name of the city is derived from the nearby Ogre River, whose name in turn comes from the Russian ugri, meaning eels, of which there are supposedly many in the river. It's hard to say whether eels or ogres would be preferable…

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