Weird Wisconsin town names: 110+ real places, explained
118 names · Updated · By The Nomezo Editors · Save to Pinterest
The weirdest real Wisconsin town names include Imalone in Rusk County, Embarrass in Waupaca County and Footville in Rock County, and the state has plenty more where those came from.
Every place on this page is a real Wisconsin city, village, town or unincorporated community. Each note gives the county and, where the record is clear, how the name came about. When nobody knows, we say so. The list runs from odd one-word names and food names to animal names, borrowed names, French names left by fur traders and Native American names that test your tongue.
Can't decide? Shuffle 6 random picks
Pewaukee
Waukesha County; the ending means land in Algonquian languages
Sturgeon Bay
Door County seat named after the adjacent bay
Stockholm
Pepin County village founded by Swedish immigrants in 1854
Cuba City
Grant and Lafayette counties; picked when Yuba City was already taken
Poy Sippi
Waushara County; from the Potawatomi name for the Pine River
Footville
Rock County village named for townsite owner Ezra Foot
Weird Wisconsin town names
Short, strange and real. Some of these are just a sign and a handful of houses.
- Imalone: Rusk County; origin uncertain, one story involves a clerk saying I'm alone
- Ono: Pierce County community also known as Grange Hall
- Footville: Rock County village named for townsite owner Ezra Foot
- Fence: Florence County town of 183; the origin of the name is obscure
- Tony: Rusk County village of 105, first called Deer Tail
- Plain: Sauk County village; origin debated, possibly honoring a shrine near Salzburg, Austria
- Random Lake: Sheboygan County; likely named for surveyors running a random line
- Pound: Marinette County; named for a state politician whose grandson became a famous poet
- Phlox: Langlade County community southeast of Antigo
- Institute: Door County; named for a Catholic boarding school that once stood there
- Disco: Jackson County community west-southwest of Black River Falls
- Combined Locks: Outagamie County village named for canal locks near the site
- Maiden Rock: Pierce County village named for a bluff in a Dakota legend
- Arkansaw: Pepin County community about three miles west of Durand
- Popple River: Forest County town with 43 residents in 2020
- Kickapoo Center: Vernon County community named for the Kickapoo people
- New Diggings: Lafayette County town of about 490 people
- Bloomer: Chippewa County city called the rope jump capital of the world
- Boulder Junction: Vilas County town trademarked as the Musky Capital of the World
Wisconsin towns named like food
This is the Dairy State, so of course a few towns sound like a menu.
- Egg Harbor: Door County village; legend credits an 1825 egg fight between boat crews
- Colby: Clark and Marathon counties; birthplace of a famous mild cheese in 1874
- Seymour: Outagamie County; claims the first hamburger, served at the 1885 fair
- Cornucopia: Bayfield County; named by land speculators for its abundant resources
- Plum City: Pierce County village of about 600 people
- Almond: Portage County village of about 420 people
- Butternut: Ashland County village in northern Wisconsin
- Sugar Camp: Oneida County town known as Robbins until the 1940s
- Rice Lake: Barron County city named after the lake on its shore
- Cranmoor: Wood County town of 181 in cranberry marsh country
- Lemonweir: Juneau County town of about 1,650 people
- Honey Creek: Sauk County town named after a nearby stream
- Rib Lake: Taylor County village, originally called Kennedy Mills
- Rib Mountain: Marathon County village named after a large nearby hill
- Apple River: Polk County town of about 1,170 people
- Maple Bluff: Dane County village of about 1,370 people
- Hazel Green: Grant and Lafayette counties; named for dense hazelnut thickets
Lucky, friendly and chilly Wisconsin town names
Good vibes and cold weather, both very Wisconsin.
- Luck: Polk County; founder Daniel Smith picked it to stay fortunate for life
- Friendship: Adams County village in central Wisconsin
- Unity: Village straddling Clark and Marathon counties
- Freedom: Outagamie County town, the largest of several sharing the name
- Endeavor: Marquette County village of about 430 people
- Liberty Grove: Door County town formed from Gibraltar Township in 1859
- Pleasant Prairie: Kenosha County village between Kenosha and the Illinois line
- Fairwater: Fond du Lac County village founded on Grand River water power
- Sun Prairie: Dane County; 1837 travelers saw sunshine after days of rain
- Star Prairie: St. Croix County village on the Apple River
- Blue Mounds: Dane County; named for the bluish hue of three nearby mounds
- Polar: Langlade County town of about 1,000 people
- Winter: Sawyer County village named for a railroad official
- Chili: Clark County; legend says railroad men named it on a freezing day
Wisconsin towns named after animals
Elk, beavers, eagles, sturgeon and one African antelope.
- Elk Mound: Dunn County village named after a nearby hill
- Turtle Lake: Village in Barron and Polk counties
- Beaver Dam: Dodge County city named for an old dam in a local stream
- Fox Lake: Dodge County; possibly honoring a Ho-Chunk man called Big Fox
- Pigeon Falls: Trempealeau County village of about 380 people
- Pelican Lake: Oneida County community on the lake's eastern shore
- Eagle River: Vilas County seat; settlers saw many bald eagles nesting nearby
- Eagle: Waukesha County village; named after a huge bird pioneers spotted in 1836
- Buffalo City: Buffalo County; possibly named for a herd raised on a bluff
- Deer Park: St. Croix County; named for an early deer preserve nearby
- Sturgeon Bay: Door County seat named after the adjacent bay
- Eland: Shawano County village named after an African antelope
- Pickerel: Langlade County community on Highway 55
- Lynxville: Crawford County; named for the ship that brought the first surveyors
- Muskego: Waukesha County; from a Potawatomi name meaning sunfish
- Fish Creek: Door County community on the site of a village meaning trout fishing
- Clam Lake: Ashland County community where elk were reintroduced in 1995
- Shell Lake: Washburn County; named for freshwater mussel shells on the lakeshore
Wisconsin towns borrowed from around the world
Immigrants named towns after home, so Wisconsin has its own Berlin, Stockholm and Wales.
- Berlin: Green Lake and Waushara counties; named for the Prussian capital
- Athens: Marathon County village almost halfway between the equator and North Pole
- Denmark: Brown County village; its first Danish settler arrived in 1848
- Belgium: Ozaukee County; a clerical mix-up swapped its name with Luxemburg's
- Brussels: Door County town at the heart of Belgian-American settlement
- Wales: Waukesha County village first settled by Welsh immigrants in 1840
- Stockholm: Pepin County village founded by Swedish immigrants in 1854
- Montreal: Iron County city named for a mining company and river
- Cuba City: Grant and Lafayette counties; picked when Yuba City was already taken
- Lodi: Columbia County city named after a town in Italy
- Lake Geneva: Walworth County resort city nicknamed the Newport of the West
- New Glarus: Green County village founded in 1845 by Swiss immigrants
- Mount Horeb: Dane County; named after a biblical mountain, now the Troll Capital
- Birnamwood: Named for the Scottish wood in Shakespeare's Macbeth
- Ephraim: Door County village founded in 1853 as a Moravian community
- Crivitz: Marinette County; named after its founder's hometown in Germany
- Sparta: Monroe County seat named after the ancient Greek city-state
French town names in Wisconsin
French explorers and fur traders mapped Wisconsin early, and their words stuck.
- Embarrass: Waupaca County; from a French word for obstruction, after a log-snagged river
- Butte des Morts: Winnebago County community; French for hill of the dead
- Lac du Flambeau: Vilas County town; the French name means lake of the torch
- Fond du Lac: City at the south end of Lake Winnebago; French for bottom of the lake
- Prairie du Chien: Crawford County seat; French for dog's meadow, after a Meskwaki chief
- Eau Claire: Western Wisconsin city; French for clear water, after its river
- La Crosse: Mississippi River city named for a stick game Native Americans played there
- Racine: County seat on Lake Michigan; French for root, after the Root River
- Trempealeau: Village named for a distinctive conical island in the Mississippi
- Prairie du Sac: Sauk County; named for a large Sauk settlement in the valley
- Little Chute: Outagamie County; from La Petite Chute, a Fox River rapid
- Couderay: Sawyer County village of 81; from French for short ears
- Wisconsin Dells: Resort city; from dalles, voyageur French for river narrows
Wisconsin tongue twisters from Native American words
Menominee, Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk words gave Wisconsin some of America's most fun names to say.
- Oconomowoc: Waukesha County city; say uh-KON-uh-muh-wok
- Kaukauna: Fox River city; the name may mean portage or place of pike
- Weyauwega: Waupaca County city, possibly meaning here we rest
- Mukwonago: Waukesha and Walworth counties; from a word meaning bear's den
- Wauwatosa: Milwaukee County; named for a Potawatomi chief and word for firefly
- Sheboygan: Lake Michigan city nicknamed the Malibu of the Midwest for surfing
- Pewaukee: Waukesha County; the ending means land in Algonquian languages
- Wonewoc: Juneau County village; probably meaning howling hills
- Minocqua: Oneida County; from an Ojibwe name defined as noon-day rest
- Manitowoc: Lake Michigan city; often explained as dwelling of the great spirit
- Mishicot: Manitowoc County; named after a Potawatomi chief, once spelled with two Ts
- Wauzeka: Crawford County; honors a leader whose Ho-Chunk name means pine tree
- Muscoda: Say MUS-co-day; possibly from an Ojibwe word for prairie
- Poy Sippi: Waushara County; from the Potawatomi name for the Pine River
- Neshkoro: Marquette County; named for two settlers, Nash and Kora
- Ashwaubenon: Brown County; possibly Ojibwe for place to keep a lookout
- Suamico: Brown County village; meaning disputed, often given as beaver tail
- Waupun: Dodge and Fond du Lac counties; a misspelling of Ojibwe for dawn
- Winneconne: Winnebago County village that staged a joke secession in 1967
- Nekoosa: Wood County; from a Ho-Chunk word for running water
How to pick the right name
Pronounce it like a local
Wisconsin spelling and speech do not always agree. It is uh-KON-uh-muh-wok for Oconomowoc, MUS-co-day for Muscoda and PRAIR-ee doo SHEEN for Prairie du Chien.
Stack your stops
Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Ephraim are neighbors on the Door Peninsula, so one scenic drive covers a food name, an animal name and a borrowed name.
Expect a sign, not a downtown
Imalone, Ono and Phlox are unincorporated communities. A photo with the road sign may be the whole attraction, so be polite and park safely.
Borrow the patterns for fiction
Need a made-up Wisconsin town? Mix the real patterns: an animal plus Lake, a French phrase with du, or a cozy word plus Prairie. Keep real towns out of anything unflattering.
Save this list for later
Pin it to a naming board, or tap the heart next to any name to keep it in your favorites on this device.
Frequently asked questions
What is the weirdest town name in Wisconsin?
Imalone, Embarrass and Footville top most lists. Luck, Ono, Disco, Random Lake and Fence are close behind, and all of them are real.
How did Embarrass, Wisconsin get its name?
French Canadian lumberjacks found the river so clogged with snags that logs could barely pass. They called it the Riviere Embarrase, from a French word meaning to obstruct or entangle.
Is Imalone, Wisconsin a real place?
Yes. Imalone is an unincorporated community in Rusk County, along the Chippewa River about 9 miles northwest of Ladysmith. The origin is uncertain; one story says a clerk told a salesman I'm alone, and the salesman wrote it down as the name.
Which Wisconsin towns are famous for food?
Seymour claims the first hamburger, served at its 1885 fair. Colby gave its name to Colby cheese, first made there in 1874, and Egg Harbor's name is tied to a legendary egg fight.
Why do so many Wisconsin towns have Native American names?
Menominee, Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk peoples named the rivers, lakes and villages long before settlers arrived. Muskego means sunfish, Nekoosa means running water and Waupun comes from an Ojibwe word for dawn.
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