Motivation of American informal place names

Abstract

Nicknames or informal names for geographical objects belong to particularly interesting phenomena in the sphere of proper names. The article deals with the motivation of the informal place names in the USA that often indicate a special feature of the architecture, cultural, educational and sports activities characteristic of a particular city or state. Also, the nicknames based on the names of the notable city inhabitants make up quite a numerous group of the onyms in question. A special type of informal place names is represented by the nicknames derived from official city, town or state names.