… So, what’s in a name?
In the US at least, the toponym “Oakland” is extremely common. Wikipedia calls it the 30th most-common US place name; but get this – by my count (using their own, admittedly “highly incomplete” data), it’s more like … 2nd (tied with “Washington” and “Franklin”, and trailing only “Greenville”). Pending a more exact reckoning (by others even more obsessive than yours truly), at least 32 other US jurisdictions are so named, including
- a village in RI;
- boroughs/townships in MN, NJ and PA;
- Census Designated Places (CDPs) in PA and SC;
- towns in ME, MD, MS, OK, PA, TN, TX and WI, and
- cities in FL, IL, IA, KY, MO, NE and OR.
- note that there are also known or suspected “Oaklands” in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario (but – for simplicity’s sake – let’s keep things domestic for now …)
Note that this list is not exhaustive. (I needn’t outrun the bear chasing us both; I need only outrun you … “you” in this case meaning “wikipedia”.) However, please don’t panic and risk losing continence before you consider how this site puts it:
“There’s really only one city named Oakland, and it’s in California.”
(Hmm … has a nice ring to it. Could be a nice tagline/motto for Oaklandwiki …!)
Places that aren't "Oakland"'s but are suspiciously close:
- Oaklandon, Indiana
