Here are 11 New Jersey town names that could make any GPS question reality, thanks to odd spellings, tongue-twisting origins, or just a quirky sense of local humor:
Unusual and Challenging Town Names
Ho-Ho-Kus: This Bergen County borough is famous for its strange rhythm and mysterious etymology.
Loveladies: Located on Long Beach Island, its name comes from a railway sign mix-up involving a Thomas Lovelady.
Buttzville: A Warren County hamlet founded by Michael Robert Buttz, the pronunciation never fails to amuse.
Cheesequake: South of Newark, this Middlesex County locale has a food-like name but indigenous origins.
Egg Harbor: Though named for local waterfowl eggs, modern folks just find it funny.
Double Trouble: Once a cranberry-farming village, its name came from a mill dam that broke… twice.
New Egypt: There’s no pharaoh here, just a rural crossroads with a biblical and Revolutionary origin story.
Quibbletown: Tucked in Piscataway, its quirky name memorializes a 1660s church dispute.
Hi-Nella: Despite the cheerful-sounding moniker, the pronunciation (like “high-NELL-uh”) leaves some baffled.
Hopatcong: Derived from a Lenape word, this lake town’s spelling and pronunciation stump outsiders.
Greenwich: Pronounced “GREEN-which,” this one often trips up even locals and was dubbed NJ’s hardest to pronounce.
These names reflect New Jersey’s long history of indigenous roots, immigrant adaptations, and a dash of local eccentricity, often leading to confused deliveries, lost GPS signals, and endless jokes.
SOURCES
(https://wheninyourstate.com/connecticut/11-connecticut-town-names-thatll-make-your-gps-have-an-existential-crisis/)(https://www.reddit.com/r/newjersey/comments/17wxirw/what_are_the_jerseyest_town_names_in_this_state/)(https://www.njpo.org/local-town-names)
(https://www.wsj.com/us-news/central-new-jersey-map-tourism-zone-jersey-shore-f9e34f49)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIp3AYb0ulw)
