The Quirkiest Town Name In Every State Gallery

From landmarks to landowners, there are a myriad of inspirations behind a town's name. While some cities required extensive meetings and elections to choose what name their town would earn, others required only a simple suggestion and a signed document. But somehow, despite the vetting process, some towns in America are assigned names that are more than a bit quizzical.

These towns were assigned the quirkiest names we could find. They're the kind of names that you'd read on an envelope and giggle, or that former residents are always having to explain to their friends. The larger the town, the more vetted the name — which is why many of the towns on this list are miniscule. Some of them aren't technically population-determined towns, per se, but rather given other quantifying titles: "census-designated place," for instance, or "unincorporated community."

But every bizarre title on this list is home to at least a few residents, who are undoubtedly proud to sport these distinctive names as part of their address.

A few of the towns were named after food — clear favorites for us here at The Daily Meal — while others were named in memory of a story eerie enough to make your skin crawl. Others will make you choke down a giggle while you try to remain mature — though if you're moving to Buttzville, you'll have to allow at least one chuckle to bubble to the surface. From Yolo to Goobertown, these are the quirkiest town names in every state.

Unalaska is a thriving town in Alaska that doesn't sound too happy with its situation. But regardless of the additional prefix, Unalaska isn't leaving the state anytime soon — though it's on an island that's really quite distant from the mainland. Snarky as it may be, Unalaska is one of the state's most scenic towns.

Everyone from this town must be goobers! In the best way, of course. The town is so tiny that one visitor in 2007 warned, "If you blink you won't even know you were in the town." You'd have completely missed it. Now who's the goober?

This town name is far from prehistoric — the town newly adopted the name in 1966 when officials decided to try to capitalize on the tourism attracted to the Dinosaur National Monument, located just east of its border. The population is small, at around 315 according to the 2016 census. But it is an adorable town with an undeniably adorable name!

Shake off those chills. It isn't people being slaughtered on this beach — the town got its ominous name because in spring and early summer, horseshoe crabs come to shore to spawn. However, waves flip the crabs upside down, resulting in their slow death beneath the baking hot sun. The whole process is called "Slaughter of the Crabs." Even still, maybe avoid going to the beach in this town late at night...

The officials in charge of naming this census-designated place conducted a little experiment of their own. Of course, the town itself isn't gathering any data and its citizens don't live under a microscope. But the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station is located there, which is most people's explanation for the curious name.

Dickshooter, Idaho, is known for its extensive menu of available recreational activities including hiking, camping, fishing, bird-watching, mountain biking, and (of course) shooting. There are lots of guns in Dickshooter, Idaho. If your nickname is Dick, you might not want to move here.

Santa Claus, Indiana's post office is the only one in America with the name Santa Claus. For this reason, the post office receives thousands of letters every year written and addressed to Santa from all over the world. If you write to Santa, you'll actually get a reply — all thanks to a group of local volunteers who call themselves Santa's Elves. The group has been working hard to keep the magic alive ever since they started in 1914. Now that's a Christmas miracle.

The road to Good Intent is paved with good intentions. That is of, course, if a road to Good Intent exists at all. It's an unincorporated community in rural Kansas so tiny that hasn't had its own post office since 1900.

Waterproof, Louisiana, was named because of its relative safety from flooding before the levee system was added to the Mississippi River. Luckily, the town's land is not actually waterproof — its income is dependent on farming of cotton, corn, and soybeans, all of which need to be watered frequently.

Rumor has it this town was named after two men, Brooke Beall and William Deakins Jr., accidentally surveyed the same pocket of land for purchase. The awkward situation turned into a happy accident when later, they agreed to portion the land away to soldiers who fought for two years or more in the War of Independence.

This is the only town where "When Hell freezes over!" isn't much of a declaration. There are two stories behind Hell's naming. One attributes it to the area's hellish weather conditions endured by the first explorers; the other involves a German man who was simply misunderstood. Rumor has it the man stepped out of a stagecoach on a sunny afternoon and shouted "So schön hell!" — which is German for "So beautifully bright!"

Ironically, there are no actual coffee shops in Hot Coffee, Mississippi. If you're craving caffeine, you'll have to leave town to find a coffee shop to hang out in. Back in the nineteenth century, Hot Coffee was the site of a crossroads between two frequently traveled trails. In 1870, inn owner L.J. Davis built a store and hung a coffee pot over his door, along with a sign claiming he had "the best hot coffee around." It must have been some seriously good coffee, because the name stuck due to the inn's wild popularity.

Zilch. Nil. Nada. Zero is an unincorporated community with just a few more than zero residents. But apparently, the area's nonexistent population is exactly what inspired its name.

Not even luck could have saved this town — it's a ghost town now, having lost its post office status after a horrific stagecoach accident occurred within its limits. The deadly accident took place in 1909 when "six spirited horses took fright" and then "dragged the passengers down a steep grade at lightning speed."

If you can't help but giggle after reading this town name, you're not alone. This town is used to being the butt of the joke!

Strangely, you won't find much butternut squash grown in Butternuts, New York. The unusually named place was named for three butternut trees, also known as white walnut trees, that grew from a stump on the town's border. The small town might not be known for its fall produce, but it does have some beautiful fall foliage.

This zany town name was inspired either by a wealthy Minnesota banking family or a coal-mining town in Scotland — both called Zapp. The extra "p" got zapped off somewhere along the way, leaving this small, highway-hugging town with its three-letter legacy.

When a resident from this town says they're from "the middle of Nowhere," they don't mean the boonies. Nowhere is an unincorporated community in Caddo County, Oklahoma — definitely somewhere!

How puzzling! No one knows why this town got its name. Maybe someday someone will put the pieces together.

Some people love it, some people hate it. This controversial condiment sparks all kinds of arguments. Is it okay to dip your fries in mayo? Is the fatty spread actually super gross? The origin of the condiment itself remains a mystery, as does the story behind this town's name.

Yes, DISH like the satellite company Dish Network. DISH, Texas, used to be called Clark. In exchange for renaming the town DISH, its couple hundred residents received free basic television for 10 years and a free digital video recorder from Dish Network. Twelve citizens showed up at the town meeting confirming the change, and not a single attendee objected. DISH, Texas, no longer gets free television from Dish Network — but the town name is still on.

Whoever named this town was so maniacal that they omitted the apostrophe before the "s" — there are multiple Satans in this kingdom. Grammatical errors aside, the town was named after the explorer who discovered it was embittered to find rocks and dry land instead of the lush, fertile land he expected. Hellish luck, indeed.

Nope, this city is real. Not a mock city at all. There was just some guy with the last name Mock and city officials decided to throw confusion to the wayside and name this very real town after him.

Every year, Chugwater hosts its annual Chugwater Chili Cook-Off, where participants compete to make the tastiest red chili, green chili, and salsa. The chili is so spicy, it'll have you chugging water. Though, you're not actually supposed to chug water if you're eating spicy foods — you should really drink milk instead. This town isn't the only one in Wyoming that's crazy for food — some towns were even named after food!