Talk:List of place names of French origin in the United States

Grangeville, Idaho and others
I just noticed Grangeville being added; I left it but it strikes me as not really a French name, despite its component parts. "Grange" is an English word as a well as a French one, and "+ville" is a common English francoanglicism, e.g. Brownsville is just as much "French" other than that "Browns" bit. I think some entries on this page cast too wide a net, including things like Grangeville which maybe aren't of actual French origin, but transplanted via England or wherever (e.g. Beaumont, Beauchamp etc, fine Anglo-Norman names). The old name for Vancouver BC, too -- Granville -- might look French, but it's the name of a British lord. I'm a Canuck anyway, though demi-francophone, so this page isn't my bailiwick; I just think there's a lot of things on it that aren't really of "French origin", despite a French etymology.Skookum1 (talk) 16:30, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Fort DeRussy (named for General René Edward De Russy and his brother Lewis, soldiers of Huguenot ancestry)
I noted that the name of the fort DeRussy in Hawaii comes from soldiers of Huguenot ancestry… Personally, I always supposed it without having been able to prove it… Have you additional information? Best regards. rdegoube@yahoo.fr — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.195.235.42 (talk) 14:36, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Some arguable choices, and Very inconsistent
There are many names in this article whose French origin is arguable. For example, I see no obvious reason why Decatur is of French descent. Furthermore, San Francisco may be named after a priest whose name is French, but the name San Francisco is clearly Spanish. It may be worth having more accurate information regarding the sources of these names, and why they are French.

Also the translation notation is rather inconsistent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shantb (talk • contribs) 04:12, 9 February 2017 (UTC)

La Pine ("The Pine")
I'm french and this is kinda funny, but I'm very serious, and also sorry to inform you that La Pine doesn't mean the pine at all. No, that would be "Le pin".... La pine would be "the dick", pine being a word for dick. Look it up. Have a good day

-ville
-ville is a suffix that exists in English and is used to form place names.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ville#English

The article mentions places like Libertyville, which makes no sense. There is no place in France called Libertyville. Liberty itself is an English word, so why don't we consider it an English name of a city?

Should all names beginning with "new" be considered to be of English origin? I can name a few: New Berlin, New Brunswick, New Orleans, etc....

I politely request that all entries with the suffix -ville be removed unless they are truly French in origin. Lewishamsmith (talk) 02:16, 2 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes, those seem like a stretch, as do places like San Francisco. I think this list should be better referenced and probably culled of the entries that aren't directly French-derived. Presidentman talk · contribs (Talkback) 15:38, 14 May 2024 (UTC)


 * I don't know how well referenced a list like this could be, but I would agree there are a lot of specious entries (Centreville because of the -re- spelling?). "New" shouldn't automatically be considered a marker of English origin; New Orleans is clearly derived from Nouvelle Orleans and the city's origins as a French settlement is well attested. 16:44, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I've identified at least one potentially useful source at my university library. I will have to check next week when I am back in town. - Presidentman talk · contribs (Talkback) 15:17, 17 May 2024 (UTC)