Elżbieta Lyra

Abstract

The origin of place-names in the U.S.A. is as complex and heterogeneous as American society itself. The intricate geographical nomenclature in that country includes many foreign names, among them some of Polish origin.We have limited the scope of this paper to places that bear Polish names, and have excluded those settlements that either no longer exist or have been swallowed up by larger conurbations. We have not paid attention to names such as Stanisławowo or Wojciechowo, commonly used by the American Polonia denoting only districts within large urban agglomerations, furthermore, towns whose names have been changed from Polish to American forms were omitted from this analysis.Towns and settlements bearing names of Polish origin have been correlated with the distribution pattern of Americans of Polish descent in the U.S.A.This article presents a synthesis of the research which has been carried out so far; the work is by no means completed.

Elżbieta Lyra, Institute of Geography- Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw
Franciszek Lyra, Department of English Language M. Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin