01-05-2025
What's in a name? For these 7 Missouri towns, inclusion on 'bizarre' list
What's in a name? If you live in or around certain Missouri communities, perhaps a laugh, an eye roll or a long story.
On a recent refresh of its state-by-state features, World Atlas tallied up "7 Bizarrely Named Towns" in the Show Me State, the "quirky communities (that) also prove that Missouri's first settlers may have had a slightly mischievous sense of humor."
For the residents of these towns, and/or long-term Missourians, the article might elicit little surprise. But it's worth digging into these names a little further along with World Atlas.
County: Camden
Population: Around 120
What's behind the name: The moniker "supposedly derives from the excitement felt by its discoverers after looking so hard for the waters' source," World Atlas notes.
County: Pemiscot
Population: Around 350
What's behind the name: The "subject of much local debate," the name is sometimes assigned to a local turtle. But "the more likely explanation is that it's a misspelling of the family name" Coutre that belonged to a group of French Canadian settlers, the article explains.
World Atlas continues: "Whatever the case, the name itself certainly draws attention for a slang term that we won't get into here (you can always look it up!), with day trippers visiting to grab a selfie standing next to the town sign."
County: Polk
Population: Around 900
What's behind the name: The community was "named in honor of an early settler named James Human in the mid-19th century," World Atlas tells readers.
County: Johnson
Population: Around 2,800
What's behind a name: "Knob Noster owes its title to two local topographical features," World Atlas explains: "prominent 'knobs' (or hills) in the otherwise flat surroundings" and the "Noster" part of the name is translated from the Latin for "our," meaning "our hills."
More: 2 mid-Missouri communities make list of Missouri's 'friendliest little towns'
County: Texas
Population: Around 2,900
What's behind the name: "Despite what you might be thinking, Licking owes its unusual name to a natural salt lick in the area where wildlife once gathered," World Atlas notes.
County: Cass
Population: About 4,600
What's behind the name: According to World Atlas, in the late 1860s, a list of potential town names was rejected, one-by-one, for their use elsewhere; "in exasperation, the local postmaster reportedly said he didn't care what they called it, so long as it was something 'peculiar.' "
County: Henry
Population: Around 80
What's behind the name: The postmaster strikes again: "Legend has it that it a local postmaster, frustrated after being charged an extra 50 cents for a watermelon, called the shopkeeper a 'tightwad,' " the article notes.
Read more on these town names at
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@ He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: World Atlas chooses 7 most 'bizarrely named' Missouri towns
