🠈 What's In a Name 🠊
In my youth, I developed the foolish notion that Saint George was named after the patron saint of England. Even worse, I tended to abbreviate the town as St. George.
My mistake was not uncommon as most of the locations in the US bearing the name Saint or Santa were named after a patron saint of the settlers.
While filling out paper work for an official project, I was confronted by city officials who demanded I change the paperwork to Saint George (with the name spelled out in full).
The officials wanted to emphasize that the town was named after George A. Smith (a son of Joseph Smith) who was very much alive at the town's founding. As such, they preferred to see the name spelled out in full.
I've encountered others who prefer to see the name abbreviated. Apparently the two groups are known to feud.
Being one who adores flavorful local customs, I've taken to spelling the name Saint George out in full.