I have lived in Liverpool, UK, all my life, and until yesterday didn’t know that many other cities in the world share the same name. I was amazed to discover just how many places, from Australia to Antarctica, have the ‘Liverpool’ name.
Of course, Liverpool, UK is famous for its maritime history and as the birthplace of The Beatles. But beyond there, the name has travelled far and wide. There is a Liverpool in New South Wales, Australia, founded in the early 19th century and named after the Earl of Liverpool. Then there is a Liverpool in Nova Scotia, Canada, founded in 1759 and even sitting on its own River Mersey!
And in the USA alone, there are several Liverpools scattered across the country: from a village on Onondaga Lake in New York to small towns in Pennsylvania, Texas and Indiana. Many of these places were settled by people with ties to the original Liverpool.
Even more unexpected are Liverpool Land in Greenland and Liverpool Beach in Antarctica: places so remote I would have never thought of their connection to my home city. Yet explorers and settlers took the name with them to these destinations.
It is a reminder of how place names can travel and take root in new lands. And how history and culture spreads outwards in unexpected ways.
