Today I Learned There Are Actually Four North Poles
You may think the North Pole is at 90 degrees latitude, opposite the South Pole. It’s true that the northernmost point on earth, in the middle of an almost permanently frozen Arctic Ocean, is a place we refer to as the North Pole. It’s where Santa Claus is said to live. But according to our research there are actually four North Poles (and for that matter, three Santa Clauses). Along with these revelations, you’ll find over 170 cities on the map below that have names you may find especially festive this time of year.
View Christmas Themed Cities in a full screen map
As with the Halloween-themed scary place names, we’ve prepared a map with Christmas-themed names. You can use the map above to explore these locations, or type your zip code or city name in the form below to find the Christmasy place nearest you. (Apologies to those who don’t celebrate the holiday, though you’ll find plenty of secular names in the group—Snow, anyone?)
Alas, the North Pole is still exactly where you expect it. But there are four other places in the United States that also claim the name: North Pole, Alaska, is the most well-known, and the closest to the actual location and climate. Still, if you’re in Idaho, New York, or Oklahoma, you also have a North Pole.
The most common city names are listed below, each with at least five states that have dubbed a place with this Christmas or holiday-themed name.
| Name | Number | States |
|---|---|---|
| Star | 13 | Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia |
| Bell | 10 | Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Oklahoma |
| Snow | 7 | Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Utah |
| Shepherd | 7 | Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas |
| Comet | 6 | Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia |
| Garland | 6 | Maine, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah |
| Evergreen | 6 | Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, and Virginia |
| Bethlehem | 6 | Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and New York |
| Chestnut | 6 | Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, and West Virginia |
| Christmas | 5 | Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, and Mississippi |
| Jolly | 5 | Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas |
| Bells | 5 | Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas |
| Atlers | 5 | California, Colorado, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Virginia |
| Rudolph | 5 | Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin |
Star is the most common, unless you combine the Bell and Bells. Surprisingly, there are only five Christmases, though that would increase if we included the four similarly-rooted Christmas City, Christmas Cove, Christmas Valley, and Christmasville.
As mentioned above, there are three Santa Clauses, but the jolly man has some Saint Nicknames. There are four Saint Nicholases and in Idaho it’s just Santa (no Claus). The man in the red suit has far fewer namesakes than his reindeer. Between the nine flyers, there are 18 cities named after reindeer, Comet being the most common. And unlike the song, which suggests Rudolph gets ignored, it’s Dancer and Prancer who get no love, with not a single city named after either of them.
If you live in Michigan, you have the most Christmas-themed cities to choose from, with 10. Florida and Texas each have eight, then six states each have seven. There are nine states that aren’t feeling the spirit at all: Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wyoming don’t have a single city with a Christmas theme.
If all this doesn’t have you singing like Hallelujah Junction, California, then we’ll close with the perfect place for you. Make your way to the sunny climes of Humbug, Arizona.
