From Philly? How your neighborhood (or one nearby) got its name

Philadelphia may be one of the biggest cities in the country and arguably the most historic, considering it is the birthplace of our country. However, it’s a whole lot more than Old City and historic places like the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall that attract tourists from all over the world.

Philadelphia is also known as a city of neighborhoods, and the website BillyPenn.com recently listed the origins of 43 of the city’s neighborhoods’ names.

It came from research by Albany, NY, high school kid Adam Aleksic, who has actually never visited. Billy Penn says Philly is the sixth city he has probed. Most of the names are British, Italian, Native American, and from immigrants.

Take that, Trump!

Philadelphia is obviously Greek for “brotherly love.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdlJxLyAmyi/?utm_source=ig_embed

Some of the most notable are

Wynnefield: Named for Thomas Wynne, William Penn’s physician,

Moyamensing: Native American origins; possibly meaning “place of pigeon droppings”

and Manayunk: Lenape for “place where we go to drink.”

Despite the years, apparently some things don’t change – but the reason is different than what we first thought.

This is where those three are.

Click here for Adam Aleksic’s entire list.

Click here for his website, “The Etymology Nerd.”

Click here to enter an address and find out which Philadelphia neighborhood it’s in, or just see for yourself how 43 neighborhoods is just the tip of the iceberg.

So we like our video horizontal but it has to be shot vertically for Facebook Live? Been almost a year. I’ll remember that. 🙂

Philadelphia Museum of Art and Rocky Steps in the background. My building circled in red. Unfortunately, living on the other side of the building meant I had to go outside to see!

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