Hundreds of U.S. Places and Counties Have Patriotic Names or Pay Tribute to Founding Fathers
The Thirteen British colonies that would become the first of the United States – Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia – declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 4, 1776.
As of July 2024, there were 55 incorporated places with patriotic names. Topping the list: “Liberty” with “Independence” a distant second.
To commemorate the occasion, here’s some patriotic trivia courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau to share with family and friends at your Independence Day festivities.
Nation’s Population
The first federal census was not conducted until 1790 but the Census Bureau estimates Pennsylvania’s population in 1775 was 302,000 based on counts conducted during the Colonial and Continental periods. The following year, the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, formally asserting separation from British rule and making July 4, 1776, a pivotal point in the nation’s history.
By 2024, Pennsylvania’s population had grown to about 13.1 million, more than 43 times larger, according to Census Bureau estimates.
Delegates from all Thirteen Colonies signed the declaration. In 1780, the nearest available Census Bureau population estimate to the signing, nearly 2.8 million people lived in what would become the first of the United States of America.
According to Census Bureau estimates for July 2025, there are about 342.0 million people living in the United States, almost 123 times more than in 1780.
Patriotic Place Names
The nation is filled with patriotically named places. Some share names with prominent historical figures (Madison, Wisconsin, or Jeffersontown, Kentucky) while others are named for patriotic concepts or ideals (Yankee Springs, Michigan, or Independence, Kansas).
As of July 2024, 164 U.S. places and 126 counties or county equivalents shared at least part of their name with one of the following Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, or John Jay (Figure 1).
About 0.8% of incorporated places and 4.0% of counties share at least part of their name with a founding father.
“Place” refers to most cities, towns, villages and boroughs.
George Washington is the only founding father after whom a state is named. And that state even has a small city named George. The 2020 Census population of George, Washington: 809.
Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital, is also named in his honor.
As of July 2024, there were 55 incorporated places with patriotic names. Topping the list: “Liberty” with “Independence” a distant second (Figure 2).
The list also includes places with names containing a patriotic reference like Libertyville, Illinois, and Federal Heights, Colorado.
As of July 2024, 0.28% of the nation’s 19,479 incorporated places had names invoking patriotic concepts (Figure 2).
Available Data
The Census Bureau releases estimates of the total population for cities and towns. It also releases population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin for the nation, states, counties, and metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas.
The latest data and tables with the names of all U.S. counties and incorporated places were released in May 2025.
Information on a wide variety of population characteristics — from ancestry to internet use — is available on the Population webpage.
Related Statistics
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