Why there are 26 cities in the US called Moscow?

More than 20 US cities are named after Moscow

United States and Russia (and before it, the former Soviet Union) are "rivals" historical and collect disagreements over the years, but they also have something in common. The Russian capital is named 26 US cities - something that can be considered at least curious.

Who discovered this number was the geography teacher Ren Vasilyev, the State University of New York at Geneseo (northwestern United States), that when a student decided to do a survey to find out how many "Moscous" (in English, Moscow) existed within the U.S.

It was 1986, a period of tension because of the Cold War between Washington and Moscow and in times when there was no internet - so a task that required further fieldwork.

With a lot of patience, she sought in the books of history of the counties where were the cities and found that, in fact, these "Moscous" had nothing to do with the famous Russian capital.

Many even have the same pronunciation. In fact, with the accent of the south or the more open pronunciation of the end of the word, it is very difficult to identify the resemblance to the Russian city.

children's curiosity
The inhabitants of the US Moscow are not indifferent to the name of the places where they live. This is the case of Jack Spaulding, the Indiana State Moscow, since little was curious as to the origin of the place name where he was born.

"She asked for all adults and no one knew where that name had come," said Spaulding.

However, he never exact answers - said the boy, for example, that Moscow was where cows (cow in English) would eat mosses (moss in English) and then became a game of words that ended in "Moscow ".

"No one had any idea where it came from the name," said Spaulding.

native Americans
There is also a Moscow in Tennessee - that has a more plausible explanation. It is believed to be the English version for a word of Native Americans means "between two rivers".

There is another in Kansas, which comes from a misspelling.

The city authorities wanted to name it in honor of the Spanish conquistador Luis de Moscoso, but decided to simplify the name and chose "Mosco".

However, when requested authorization to have a post office, officials added the letter "w" at the end.

"Someone in Washington thought 'these foolish people of Kansas did not know what they were doing and wrote the wrong name' and added the 'w'," said Ren Vasilyev told the BBC.

At the end of the research, Vasilyev noticed that the most common reason for all these cities carry the name of Moscow in the US is the fact that other more common place names had been used.

"Most of the most popular names like Spring Valey, Springfield or Blossom Hill had already been taken, so people began to look for other exotic names, hoping that no one had used them," he said.



"Versions" American in Moscow do not have the typical constructions of the Russian capital, as the Kremlin

Communism and Olympics

Before all the tensions between Russia and the United States during the Cold War, only one of these cities called Moscow decided to change the name. This is the Moscow of the State of New York, which was renamed Leicester.

The rest kept the identity - and the residents of American Moscous say they feel proud.

In 1980, Moscow Kansas, with a population of 228 inhabitants, tried to host the Olympic Games would be in Russia that year, boycotted by the United States.

The Moscow Kansas was to call Mosco, but there was a confusion with the name and a 'w' was added

Throughout history, it may even be that American politicians have bothered if meaning to hear about "Moscow", but for many of the "Muscovites" US it is simply your home.