Renamed: American Places That Changed Their Names

From New Amsterdam to Mount McKinley and back again.

American place names are rarely permanent. Colonial powers swapped them, frontier towns outgrew their rough first names, honorees fell in and out of favor, and a few names have flipped more than once. Here are the most notable renamings, with the years each name was in use.

#	Place	Why it's here
1	New York City New York City, New York	New Amsterdam until 1664 (and briefly New Orange, 1673–1674)
2	San Francisco San Francisco, California	Yerba Buena until 1847
3	Saint Paul Saint Paul, Minnesota	Pig's Eye until 1841
4	Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia	Terminus, then Marthasville, before Atlanta in 1845
5	Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio	Losantiville until 1790
6	Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, Utah	Great Salt Lake City until 1868
7	Juneau Juneau, Alaska	Harrisburg, then Rockwell, before Juneau in 1881
8	Denali (Mount McKinley) Alaska Range, Alaska	Mount McKinley 1917–2015, Denali 2015–2025, Mount McKinley again in federal use since 2025
9	Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) Gulf of Mexico	Gulf of America in U.S. federal use since 2025
10	Cape Canaveral Brevard County, Florida	Cape Kennedy 1963–1973
11	Denali National Park Alaska	Mount McKinley National Park until 1980
12	Hoover Dam Black Canyon, Arizona–Nevada border	Boulder Dam 1933–1947
13	Lake Tahoe California–Nevada border, Sierra Nevada	Officially Lake Bigler in California until 1945
14	Willis Tower Chicago, Illinois	Sears Tower until 2009
15	John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York	Idlewild until 1963
16	O'Hare International Airport O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois	Orchard Field until 1949 — hence the code ORD
17	Harry Reid International Airport Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada	McCarran International until 2021

Place

Why it's here