North Texas Town History Question

[WOS87]

I've always wondered if there was a historical reason why there are so many towns with female names in a very small area concentrated up in North Texas? I've never been able to find any explanation. Surely it isn't just coincidence. In a 50 square mile area you will find the following towns:

Anna
Melissa
Josephine
Ida
Louella
Celeste
Kelly
Ethel
2 different Allisons (1 in Texas, 1 in OK)
Roberta, OK
Lindsay
Lois
Myra
Marilee
Aubrey

...and I'm probably missing even more

Does anyone from up there know?

[NateDawg39]

Well my ultimate opinion is because of all the railroads that originally went through North Texas. So many men traveled the rows moving all the time and more than likely named settlements after women they once loved.


Again thats just an opinion

[NateDawg39]

http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Texas_towns_A_to_Z.htm

This is just a fun website I found once that has information on a lot of Texas towns and some history to go with it

[WOS87]

Looks like several were named after wives or daughters of railroad tycoons or other prominent men. Must have been a trend that caught on. I can't think of a single town anywhere in SE Texas with a name like that.

[Pendragon13]

Aubrey is a male name..just fyi.;)

[WOS87]

Originally posted by Pendragon13
Aubrey is a male name..just fyi.;)

Not always! ;-)

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Aubrey

In fact it's currently one of the 100 most common names for girls in the US, although prior to 1970 you are correct that it was by far mostly used as a male name

If you go a little further west you will also find:

Henrietta
Agnes
Bessie
Blair

[STANG RED]

Originally posted by Pendragon13
Aubrey is a male name..just fyi.;)

Its one of those that is both..just fyi.
I know two females named Aubrey myself. Both are smoking hot also.;)

[3afan]

gotta be coincidence, IMO

[LE Dad]

Looks alot like Tiger Woods cell phone addresses.:evillol: :evillol:

I agree with Nate most of these towns were named by RR people. :D

[Twirling Time]

Celina is a girl's name too.

Haven't met a girl named Gunter yet. Unless she's an East German pole vaulter.

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by Twirling Time
Celina is a girl's name too.

Haven't met a girl named Gunter yet. Unless she's an East German pole vaulter. I wonder if East German women still have arm pits that look like they have Bigfoot in a headlock or if they have managed to learn how to operate a razor since the toppling of the Berlin Wall?

[WOS87]

Originally posted by 3afan
gotta be coincidence, IMO

Still rather a strange coincidence. The ONLY names of towns within 100 miles of Houston that come to mind are Katy which was named after the Kansas and Texas Railroad (K&T) and Louise.

[GreenMonster]

Originally posted by WOS87
Still rather a strange coincidence. The ONLY names of towns within 100 miles of Houston that come to mind are Katy which was named after the Kansas and Texas Railroad (K&T) and Louise.

There's a small town outside of Iowa Park called Kamay. It was named for the KMA oil company. It was originally a company town (you know where the company built the town owned the store etc) and they actually tried to incorporate it with the state as being named KMA but the state said no. So they changed the spelling to Kamay and it is actually pronounced K-M-A. I always found that interesting once I was told that story and your story about Katy brought it back to my attention. Interesting fun facts.

[bobcat4life]

Originally posted by Twirling Time
Celina is a girl's name too.

Haven't met a girl named Gunter yet. Unless she's an East German pole vaulter. Celina was named after Celina, Tennessee. A guy (cant remember the name) moved to Texas from Celina, Tennessee and named the setlement he founded after the place he grew up and lived in for many years before heading west.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by bobcat4life
Celina was named after Celina, Tennessee. A guy (cant remember the name) moved to Texas from Celina, Tennessee and named the setlement he founded after the place he grew up and lived in for many years before heading west.

I thought it was named after that mexican singer that was killed in the '90s

[NateDawg39]

Here is a little Decatur history:


Wise County was established in 1856 and named after Virginian Henry A. Wise who supported Texas annexation.

The town was originally called Taylorsville after The Mexican War Hero Gen. Zachary Taylor, but was changed in 1858 to honor Stephen Decatur, Revolutionary War naval hero. The town was platted by early settler Absalom Bishop who became a member of the Texas Legislature.

A post office was opened in 1857 and the first school was opened that same year. Decatur was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail.

During the Civil War, 5 members of the Unionist Peace party were tried and executed in Decatur in 1862.

The last Indian raids occurred around 1874 and by 1882 the Fort Worth and Denver Railway laid tracks to town. The population tripled from 579 in 1880 to 1,746 in 1890.

Decatur's population high-water mark was in 1928 when 3,200 lived there, but commuters from Fort Worth have recently boosted the growth to where it now stands at over 5,000.

[bobcat4life]

Originally posted by Keith7
I thought it was named after that mexican singer that was killed in the '90s Pancho Villa? Soccer?

[WOS87]

Originally posted by bobcat4life
Pancho Villa? Soccer?

There was a mexican singer named Soccer?

:thinking:

[bobcat4life]

Originally posted by WOS87
There was a mexican singer named Soccer?

:thinking: yes there was. Did a great cover of La Bamba

[MUSTANG69]

Originally posted by WOS87
Still rather a strange coincidence. The ONLY names of towns within 100 miles of Houston that come to mind are Katy which was named after the Kansas and Texas Railroad (K&T) and Louise.

All within 100 miles of Houston

Inez
Louise
Edna

These towns were supposedly names of one man's daughters.

[Keith7]

North Texas town history lesson:

Gainesville was named after Garth Brook's alter ego Chris Gaines

[turbostud]

Does Gainesville still have a Zoo?

[Pick6]

Originally posted by turbostud
Does Gainesville still have a Zoo?

They do, but the jack&% moved to Conroe :D

[Keith7]

Originally posted by turbostud
Does Gainesville still have a Zoo?

yea, it got renovated a couple of years ago and it's a lot nicer now

[Matthew328]

Originally posted by Pick6
They do, but the jack&% moved to Conroe :D

LOL