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Cities by Former Name - Beyond Thunderdome

Is it hard? Yes. Is it fair? No. Is it even fun? You decide. Try to guess the modern-day official names of these 50 cities based on a former name.
In some cases, the native name remains the same, only the English spelling has changed
Current national capitals marked with an X
Years = years which the former name was used
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 23, 2023
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First submittedMarch 23, 2023
Times taken16,793
Average score36.0%
Rating4.53
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Old
Years
 
Current name
Nieuw Amsterdam
1624–1664
 
New York
Leningrad
1924–1991
 
St. Petersburg
Bombay
?–1995
 
Mumbai
Calcutta
?–2001
 
Kolkata
Peking
?
X
Beijing
York
1793–1834
 
Toronto
Constantinople
300s–1930
 
Istanbul
Batavia
1619–1949
X
Jakarta
Philadelphia
200s BC–600s
X
Amman
Thebes, Egypt
?
 
Luxor
Lutetia
c. 50 AD–400s
X
Paris
Nur-Sultan
2019–2022
X
Astana
Stalingrad
1925–1961
 
Volgograd
Yerba Buena
1700s–1847
 
San Francisco
Gorky
1932–1990
 
Nizhny Novgorod
Danzig
?–1945
 
Gdańsk
Königsberg
1255–1945
 
Kaliningrad
Ciudad Trujillo
1936–1961
X
Santo Domingo
Tenochtitlán
1325–1521
X
Mexico City
Ciudad de los Reyes
1500s
X
Lima
Gyeongseong
1910–1945
X
Seoul
Monkchester
400s–1080
 
Newcastle upon Tyne
Stettin
?–1945
 
Szczecin
Breslau
?–1945
 
Wrocław
Léopoldville
1881–1966
X
Kinshasa
Granville
1870–1886
 
Vancouver
Ragusa
?
 
Dubrovnik
Barrow
1825–2016
 
Utqiagvik
Port Elizabeth
1820–2021
 
Gqeberha
Hot Springs, New Mexico
1916–1950
 
Truth or Consequences
Christiania
1624–1925
X
Oslo
Edo
1457–1868
X
Tokyo
Eboracum
71 AD–600s
 
York
El-Anfa
?–1400s
 
Casablanca
Colonia Agrippina
c 1 AD–?
 
Cologne
Mediolanum
390 BC–?
 
Milan
Colonia Lucia Annia Commodiana
192
X
Rome
Karl-Marx-Stadt
1953–1990
 
Chemnitz
Aquae Sulis
60 AD–?
 
Bath
Saigon
1698–1975
 
Ho Chi Minh City
Rangoon
?
 
Yangon
Carthago Nova
?
 
Cartagena
Dùn Èideann
?
 
Edinburgh
Salisbury
1890–1982
X
Harare
Madras
?–1996
 
Chennai
Bangalore
?–2006
 
Bengaluru
Mysore
?–2014
 
Mysuru
Angora
c. 1073–1923
X
Ankara
Neápolis
500s BC–?
 
Naples
Smyrna
?
 
İzmir
+25
Level 89
Mar 24, 2023
Cities lose all identity when they insist non-native speakers use and remember names like Utqiagvik & Gqeberha. They completely disappear from the public mind.
+57
Level 74
Mar 25, 2023
Instead we should force native speakers to use and remember names, that are difficult and foreign to them. Because clearly, the view of western people is more important than local identity.
+15
Level 89
Mar 25, 2023
No one is forcing people to speak English. The average English speaker on the other hand isn't going to try to decipher alphabet soup like Utqiagvik & Gqeberha that make zero sense in English. Nobody is going to remotely pronounce it correctly in a language they have absolutely zero knowledge of. They'll simply forget those places ever existed.

The real hypocrisy is that in foreign languages they don't suddenly drop in accurately pronounced English place names that break the rhythm of their own language. If you've already gone so far as to learn an entire language of vocabulary, grammar, and context, it's not difficult to go that extra millimeter and mispronounce New York and London so it matches that entire other language you've learned.

+8
Level 69
Apr 18, 2023
why do you think they care about why you, an English speaker, remembers their cities?
+25
Level 76
Mar 26, 2023
"western people" - Do you think Chinese, Indonesians, Arabs and Russians will have an easier time pronouncing Utqiagvik and Gqeberha than Barrow or Port Elizabeth? And not all name changes to local names are bad. eSwatini is easy enough to pronounce more or less accurately for non Swazi speakers.
+28
Level 82
Mar 26, 2023
I get your point, but I think that giving the autonomy to the people of the place that live there in how they want to be known is more important than the inconvenience of someone who will likely never go there (especially when both of your examples were places with a history of colonization). In any case, there are tons of cities that have non-English names that English-speakers have nonetheless adapted (Reykjavik, Beijing, Ulaanbaatar, Guadalajara) that we have managed to (mostly correctly) learn and pronounce
+33
Level 70
Mar 27, 2023
I disagree, in my opinion cities with a name in an Inuit or Xhosa name have much more character than the same English names copy-pasted all over the world.

For example, Iqaluit is a much more interesting name than Frobisher Bay, and within a decade, a whole new generation of Canadians became familiar with the former.

+2
Level 65
Feb 8, 2024
I didn't even know Iqaluit was ever called "Frobisher Bay" lol
+5
Level 76
Apr 11, 2023
Agreed. Having an official name in the local language, as well as acceptable foreign translations, is the ideal setup. I'd be totally fine if foreigners called New York Ngojrka or whatever
+4
Level 56
Apr 17, 2023
I'm not sure that they lose their identity - "Gqeberha" to me is really memorable, but I certainly wouldn't risk trying to pronounce it. I'd still say "Port Elizabeth", for fear of mangling someone else's language, which seems to defeat the point. "Polokwane" on the other hand - easy.

Giving cities new names in 'new' languages is fine, but I see little sense in the assumption that we have to abandon the English (or whatever) name. As if anyone minds French people talking about Londres, or that it's somehow disrespectful to say 'Germany' instead of 'Deutschland'.

+8
Level 61
Apr 17, 2023
Not sure how you reached this conclusion. Colonial names like "Port Elizabeth" and "Barrow" have no connection to place, whereas "Gqeberha" and "Utqiagvik" carry meaning and significance. If anything, re-establishing traditional place names can be an act of *reclaiming* identity. The "public" that should be considered here is the public of the places involved, not the public of English speakers who might be scared by consonant clusters.
+4
Level 81
Apr 18, 2023
Yeah, who remembers Paris, Rome, Oslo, or Jakarta?
+1
Level 65
Feb 8, 2024
You mean they lose all identity when they go by foreign names right? You have it mixed up
+9
Level 50
Mar 24, 2023
Would have liked to see Asbestos, QC get on here
+1
Level ∞
Mar 25, 2023
That's a good one. I've never seen that before!
+3
Level 70
Mar 27, 2023
The one problem is that no one is going to remember the new name!

Not that the residents of Abest... Val-des-Sources probably mind :)

+3
Level 64
Mar 25, 2023
I'd have liked to see Thiruvananthapuram; used to be called Trivandrum.
+3
Level ∞
Mar 25, 2023
I probably should have added that one, also Varanasi (formerly Benares).

Another one I forget: Dnipro (formerly Dnipropetrovsk).

+2
Level 51
Apr 17, 2023
In India, the official names have changes but most of the locals call it by their old names, except mumbai
+2
Level 81
Sep 17, 2023
Now you can add all the other re-spelled Ukrainian cities: Kiev => Kyiv, Krivoy Rog => Kriviy Rih, Lvov => Lviv etc.
+4
Level 63
Mar 25, 2023
Philadelphia (Amman) needs some clarification. There is another ancient Philadelphia, now called Alasehir in Turkey. Great quiz!
+7
Level 76
Mar 26, 2023
It has an X next to it, which tells you it's a national capital, and also the dates
+2
Level 67
Apr 17, 2023
I'm not sure that that covers it. In any case, there would be no harm in more clarity. I would not have gotten it anyway, but count me with itudis.
+3
Level 71
Mar 26, 2023
Truth or consequences? Okay.
+2
Level 84
Mar 27, 2023
My parents tell me there was a lot of eye-rolling when the change was made, as well.
+8
Level 87
Mar 31, 2023
Such are the consequences
+1
Level 79
Mar 28, 2023
For the Indiana Jones fans, what about Alexandretta = Iskenderun?
+1
Level 59
Mar 31, 2023
Bezawada--> Vijayawada
+1
Level 66
Apr 17, 2023
Aw you missed the opportunity to include Batmania!
+10
Level 70
Apr 17, 2023
I haven't even known that Port Elizabeth changed it's name before taking this quiz.
+5
Level 56
Apr 17, 2023
Ditto me with Bangalore. Some of these names are a spelling test in themselves.
+4
Level 72
Apr 17, 2023
How about Sverdlovsk?
+1
Level 56
Dec 9, 2023
Good one!
+6
Level 74
Apr 17, 2023
Great quiz! Might recommend using the yellow box for this one - I got a few answers just by guessing other ones.
+2
Level 61
Apr 17, 2023
Second this recommendation! The bonus points were nice but it removed some of the fun challenge :)
+1
Level 60
Oct 9, 2023
Yellow box would be great.
+1
Level 50
Apr 17, 2023
Mexico City is not the same city as Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was destroyed by the Spanish and Mexico City was built on the ruins.
+6
Level 67
Apr 17, 2023
So, in the same place, no? Sounds like the same city. Structures in every city get razed and rebuilt all the time. I don't think it matters whether the buildings all come down together or one at a time.
+2
Level 62
Jul 11, 2023
Agree. It was rebuilt immediately and was even called Tenochtitlan (or Temixtitan) at first by the Spaniards.
+3
Level 84
Apr 17, 2023
My verdict: yes, it's fun. :) I know Utqiagvik partially because it's one of the cities I monitor on the weather app on my phone. High of 3°F and low of -14°F today.
+1
Level 67
Apr 18, 2023
Was actually pretty fun, got 25. Toronto was obvious for me but a lot of people seem to forget about how it was York. Didn't expect to get something for Dubrovnik, just guessed randomly
+1
Level 55
Apr 19, 2023
Astana changed to Nur Sultan. Is the other way around
+6
Level ∞
Apr 19, 2023
They are back to Astana as of 2022.
+3
Level 75
Apr 19, 2023
Im sure one day they'll go full circle and call it Akmola again.
+2
Level 62
Apr 20, 2023
Oh man, I even thought of Vancouver for Granville because of Granville Island. But I didn't put that because "there's no way they put two Canadian cities in this". Derp.
+1
Level 60
Oct 9, 2023
I got Yerba Buena through the island.
+1
Level 57
Apr 21, 2023
Sweet quiz!
+2
Level 57
Sep 16, 2023
There is no sense to consider Gdansk, Szczecin and Wrocław in it. Those are the same names just in other languages.
+1
Level 45
Jan 3, 2024
These are names when Poland was occupied by Germans
+2
Level 58
Oct 5, 2023
Maybe you could add the yellow box because I guessed York and Chennai because of its absence.
+1
Level 52
Oct 26, 2023
no
+1
Level 30
Jan 16, 2024
Ah, yes the most important city in the world, Truth or Consequences, NM!