Lake, River, Spring, Pond, Bay and Swamp

April 1, 2019 Alex

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The United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) is responsible for maintaining and standardizing geographic names in the United States. The USBGN oversees the naming of various geographic features, including mountains, rivers, lakes, cities, and towns.

I took water toponyms associated with water bodies and built maps. The concentrations of various water toponyms in the United States are as follows.

Table of Contents

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Lake”
The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Pond”
The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Swamp”
The occurrence of place names that contain the word “River”
The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Spring”
The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Bay”
The occurrence of place names that contain the words “Swamp”, “Pond”, “Lake”, “Spring”, “Bay” and “Swamp”

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Lake”

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has identified and named over 123,000 individual lakes that are at least 10 acres (4 hectares) in size. However, this number represents only a fraction of the total lakes in the country, as there are countless smaller lakes, ponds, and reservoirs that are not officially recorded or named.

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Pond”

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has identified and documented numerous ponds through its National Water Information System (NWIS) database.

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Swamp”

Swamps are wetland areas characterized by standing water and dominated by trees and other vegetation. The United States’ USBGN data reveals that an abundance of settlements on the East Coast incorporates the word “swamp” in their names.

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “River”

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has identified and named over 250,000 rivers and streams in the country. However, this number includes various sizes of waterways, ranging from major rivers like the Mississippi and the Colorado to smaller tributaries and streams.

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Spring”

Determining the exact number of springs in the United States is challenging due to the vast number of springs and the difficulty in cataloging them comprehensively. So it’s not surprising that the word “spring” is present in the name of many localities in the United States.

The occurrence of place names that contain the word “Bay”

The United States has a significant number of bays along its coastlines, including both coastal and estuarine bays. But localities that contain the word “bay” can be found in any part of the United States.