New York State's history goes back so far that we are left, today, dealing with the tongue-twisting town names that were created by the early Native American and Dutch settlers in our region. And boy they can be doozies!

This is a list of 21 of the most commonly mangled town names in our area. As you will see, some of them can be pronounced easily if you slow down and take the name syllable by syllable. Others are more difficult and make no sense to the person passing through town.

This was a fun list to put together, but it is far from complete. We hope our readers will jump in and let us know a town name that is commonly mispronounced in Upstate New York. Maybe it is even your home town!  For example, I have lived in two of the places mentioned on this list for more than 35 years. Both pronunciations are problematic. I was a morning radio host in the city of Oneonta for more than 30 years and have heard countless people struggle with that name. In fact some of those who live in the city have a hard time including that pesky "T" in the city's name. I have lived for several years in the village of Unadilla, N.Y., too. That has its own problems, for sure. Both were named by early Native America settlers and both are in Otsego County. Check the gallery to see the correct pronunciation of both of them.

I'd be curious to know which of these names are the most difficult for our readers to say. As for me, I have two candidates for the "most mangled town names in Upstate New York." Try out the towns of Schroeppel or Valatie for size (both on this list). Wow!

This is all in fun, but also lends a bit of history to so many of the beautiful little map dots that make Upstate New York so interesting!

21 Of the Most Mangled Town and Village Names in Upstate New York

There are a lot of town names in Upstate New York with a whole lot of unnecessary letters in them. Because the towns and villages were named (for the most part) 200 plus years ago by the Native American tribes who settled here, this leads to many mispronounced (yes, mangled) pronunciations for us all these years later.

This is a list of 21 of the most commonly mangled pronunciations of Upstate town names. Of course, there are many more so we look forward to our readers sharing their own suggestions for "most mangled, mispronounced town names in Upstate New York."

"Mangia!" 12 of Upstate New York's Great Italian Restaurants

 

More From Mix 103.9