Counties Common Names

In creating these maps, some obvious patterns came up. Many of the most common names maps occur in an area bounded by Iowa, Arkansas, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. IL-IN-IA share 29 names in common. This trifecta appears on 18 of the 42 maps. IL-IN-IA-KY share 23 names in common and jointly appear on 16 of the maps.

Allegheny (and various spellings) are very apparent on the Eastern seaboard, but not necessarily New England. Boone is popular in the central states but not the south. Cherokee is divided among two areas. You could travel from Canada to Mexico in the Clay states. Custer is on of the few names that is more common in the West. Likewise, Douglas tends to be more western. The names Lewis and Clark together cover a rough spread from New York to Kansas to Washington. Lake seems to be the most scattered across the nation. Marion is generally central with an exception in Oregon.

Maps were created from http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa.