What’s in a Name?

One of the many pleasures of travelling is discovering interesting towns and cities that are hardly mentioned in travel guides. Some of these places’ names are themselves interesting. Take for instance these places in Scotland that are off the beaten track: Twatt, Peiness and Butts Wynd. But these would not hold a candle to Hell, Norway (a very cold place most months of the year); Bumpass, Virginia; Titty Hill, England; or Anus, France. In Pennsylvania, there is a village named Intercourse; if you miss it, you’ll end up at Blue Ball, which is a mere 7 miles away.

Travelling back from Locarno to Bern on the A2, my eye was caught by an exit sign for the municipality of Niederbipp. As the purpose of my trip to Locarno was to meet Film Development Council of the Philippines Chair Tirso Cruz III, popularly known in his matinee idol days as Pip, finding a town named “Lower Pip” made me smile. It also made me wonder if there is an “Upper Pip” somewhere, and true enough, a few kilometers later there was an exit sign for the municipality of Oberbipp. Apparently the two places were first referred to as Pippa in 968 AD.

In Austria, a village just 33 km north of Salzburg decided to change its name to Fugging because English-speaking tourists, finding the old name too funny, frequently stole the street signs which cost €300 each to replace. Local authorities decided to weld the street signs to the steel posts to prevent theft, but some visitors who found that they were unable to take the signs home then decided to get photographed doing the act in front of the signs. The village’s small population, fed up with these antics, decided that from January 1, 2021, their village will henceforth be known as Fugging, notwithstanding the fact that it has been named Fucking for over 1,000 years. Meanwhile, there is no word yet of a possible name change to the neighbouring villages of Oberfucking and Unterfucking.

Tourists taking the London Underground would have noticed an East London station named Barking. If they head towards North London, the Piccadilly Line takes them to a place called Cockfosters. And if they are to venture all the way out to North Wales by rail, they can stop at the Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Station, the longest station name in Britain, located in the Welsh village with the longest name. Of course, claims that there are more letters in its name than residents are wildly exaggerated. In fact, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is big enough to be politically divided into two districts: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf for its upper and older district, and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochisaf for its lower district. One can only wonder how residents could cram all these letters when filling out forms.

One does not have to venture too far to find interesting names. In Pampanga, the smallest municipality had been called Sexmoan for centuries, a name which meant nothing at all during Spanish times but became laden with innuendo after the Americanization of the islands. The townsfolk were so fed up with being the butt of jokes that they lobbied for the passage of Republic Act. No. 6976, which officially changed their town’s name from Sexmoan to Sasmuan. By the way, a nearby town is called Macabebe, which Americans and wanna-be-Americans tended to pronounce as “make a baby.”

Sta. Maria, Bulacan is a rich town that produced poets like Jose Corazon de Jesus and lyricists like Francisco Santiago who composed Nasaan Ka Irog. No wonder some of their barangays have idyllic names like Mag-asawang Sapa, Mahabang Parang and Pulong Buhangin. But more proletariat barangay names can be found there too, such as Tabing Bakod. In Baliwag, Bulacan, one barangay is named Pinagbarilan. It is unclear who was actually shot there, but he (or she) must be controversial enough for the place to be forever associated with the shooting. Meanwhile, should you find yourself in Pandi, Bulacan, kindly check if the residents of Barangay Masuso are eponymous to their village.

In Lemery, Batangas there is a barangay named Walang Balahibo Ibaba. Another barangay there is named Tubuan. Driving through Los Baños, Laguna, locals will helpfully tell you “Paglagpas mo ng Bayog makikita mo na ang Anos” (if you go past Bayog you will find Anos).

As for me, I count myself lucky not to be a resident of Malasin, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. Or of Barangay Cantutang, Padre Burgos, Leyte. My personal favourite, for obvious reasons, is that part of Cornwall where Land’s End is located, the Parish of St. Sennen. It has Sennen’s Cove, home to one of the loveliest beaches in the UK and a popular surfing destination.

In Edmond Malone’s edition of Shakespeare’s work, Juliet tells her beau Romeo that only his name prevents their pursuit of happiness. She sighs: “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Tell that to the residents of Bad Egg, Zurich and Middelfart, Denmark.