Like ‘Philly’, what other cities or towns are frequently called some kind of nickname by locals?

37 comments

1. Pittsburgh has PITT

2. San Francisco is called “Frisco” by the locals and they love it and you should definitely call it that when you’re in Cali if you’re trying to fit in with the them and seem like you’re not just another tourist who watched Full House in the 90s.

3. I think most cities have a nickname of some kind, usually it’s just a shortening of the actual name, sometimes just a name for the area in general. Champaign-Urbana Illinois is collectively known as “Chambana” for example.

4. It’s not just locals though… Others I can think of.

   L.A, Vegas, Cinci, Indy, SF, NYC, DC

5. I’ve heard East Lansing and Grand Rapids referred to as EL or GR in passing.

   I haven’t heard of Ann Arbor verbally referred to as “A-A” or “Double-A” but I have seen AA in spelling.

   Detroit itself gets called “The D” but I’ve mostly heard that in promotions or advertisements. I’ve heard it referred to more as just “the city”. “I’m going to the city tomorrow for the baseball game.”

6. St. Petersburg (FL) is “St. Pete”

   Jacksonville is “Jax”

   Tallahassee is “those bastards”

7. Baltimore is sometimes called Bawlmer by locals. It started as how people with the Baltimorean accent said it, and has kind of caught on even though the local accent is on the decline.

8. Some people call Rochester NY “Rachacha” but it’s usually a joke and doesn’t happen that often, and in marketing stuff it gets called flower city or flour city, depending on if you’re really into lilacs or old grain mills.

9. The Gump

10. We might not have the most iconic nicknames, but we make up for it by absolutely having the most nicknames. 

    I’ve heard locals in at least some contexts use all of the following: H-Town, Space City, Bayou City, Clutch City, SLAB City, Syrup City, Screw City, Screwston, and Hustle City. 

11. Its not a nickname, but people in the Washington, DC area never call it Washington. It’s DC or the District.

12. Marshvegas=Marshfield mass
    The Woo=Woonsocket ri

13. The D

14. Valpo instead of Valparaiso. We also call Indianapolis Indy. Not calling it Indy either means you’re old or not from here.

15. Minneapolis -St. Paul is just “The Cities” to the entire state. More formally “The Twin Cities”

    It’s more rare that people will refer specifically to one or the other instead of both as one.

16. Dallas/Fort Worth area is called DFW. Or the Metroplex. More like metromess though.

17. I’m from Philly so nothing to add there but here are some we use for small towns around Philly.

    King of Prussia- KOP. Say the letters.

    Conshohocken – Some say Conshy (I do not)

    When New Hope was worse apparently it got called No Hope… It’s now one of the most expensive, nicest towns in PA lmao.

    Doylestown – Dtown

    And not a town, but Schuylkill County often just gets called “Skook”. 

18. Albuquerque -> Burque or Duke City

    Santa Fe -> Fanta Se

    And this is a deep cut, but…
    Bernalillo -> Burn-a-leño (leño is slang for a joint)

19. Manchester NH = Manchvegas

20. Kalamazoo is called K-zoo

21. People who live in Phoenix often call it “the valley”, usually when referring to the entire metro area

22. Indianapolis is Indy, Cincinnati is Cincy

23. Most towns have a nickname of some kind, but locals will use them ironically or infrequently a lot. Everywhere I’ve lived has had a nickname from locals, but mostly is used for jokes.

    Greenville, SC: G’Vegas (we use this one frequently but ironically)

    Charleston, SC: Chuck Town (just for jokes)

    Columbia, SC: Cola (people use this as a substitute a lot)

    Atlanta, GA: The ATL (people use this a lot)

    Savannah, GA: The SAV (this one is a joke, Savannah doesn’t have a local nickname but it’s like a parody of Atlanta’s)

24. Charleston WV: Chucktown or The CRW or The 304 or Charlie West.
    Cross Lanes, WV: Cross Vegas (there’s a casino). Oh the whole metro area is called Chemical Valley.

25. Madison is sometimes called Mad Town or Mad City, but I feel like I only hear that in local TV ads as names of businesses or slogans. I don’t think anyone actually says that in real life. (could be wrong, I am not a Madisonian)

26. New Orleans – Nola, the big easy, crescent city

27. RVA gang

28. The region of Delaware/Viriginia/Maryland (that should ALL be Delaware, in my opinion) is called either DelMarVa or the DMV by locals. There’s a line there on where is which name, but as a relative newcomer, I haven’t figured it out yet.

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    Delaware only has three counties and the bottom-most county is called the Slower Lower (not Lower Slower as some would have you believe).

29. I grew up in Philly, and we always referred to Chicago as “Shy-town”.

30. Seems like a lot of Kentuckians call Louisville “Loovr”

31. Most big cities have nicknames, most are not generally used however:

    Portland, OR – Rose City, PDX (after the airport)
    Indianapolis, IN – Indy
    Las Vegas – Vegas

32. We often refer to Portland, OR by its airport code “PDX” 🤪

33. Grand Rapids MI – GR
    Atlanta – ATL

34. Milwaukee is Cream City (though not in everyday conversation)

    Rochester, MN is Med City (the soccer club and various businesses use that one).

35. The AK. Akron Ohio

36. Area codes/zip codes sometimes can be used as a nickname or shorthand for a city or metro area. 90210 is an iconic nickname for Beverly Hills, California, and I’ve heard the 313 used as a nickname for Detroit and its immediate suburbs, alongside “The D”.

37. Albuquerque has a few local nicknames. Duke City and Burque are the common ones