{"id":9635,"date":"2011-11-13T14:08:57","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T19:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=9635"},"modified":"2022-04-06T06:36:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T11:36:26","slug":"x-marks-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/x-marks-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"X Marks the Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It occurs to me how few place names begin with the letter X. I’ll admit that lots of places in China and other portions of the world do. However, those names derive from another language and gain their X during translation. I believe we need to distinguish the set of names converted from foreign logographic and alphabetic systems from those that begin with X natively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll also focus on the United States, not because I don’t appreciate places like Xanten<\/a>, Germany, Xoxocotla<\/a>, Mexico, and Xinguara<\/a>, Brazil, but because I can save those for another day. Maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phenomenon expresses itself in the U.S. primarily with a plethora of Xenia towns. Xenia derives from an ancient Greek concept of hospitality and generosity towards guests. That seems like a nice enough name for a town. It’s like calling a city “Welcome” except with a fancier twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classical Greek hasn’t received much attention in the U.S. educational system in a long time so it’s not surprising that (1) Xenia seems like an odd designation today and (2) the set of Xenias generally trace their founding to the 19th Century when classical education was in vogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Zinnia.<\/a>
Zinnia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Also, let’s not confuse it with Zinnia the similar-sounding flower, like I did when I first started searching. One might think that a nice bunch of flowers would serve as an excellent sign of hospitality. However Xenia and Zinnia are not related: Zinnia derives from the name of an 18th Century German botanist, J. G. Zinn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Searching for Xenia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I found several Xenia locations using the USGS Geographic Names Information System<\/a>. Some of them are more remarkable than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Xenia,<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n