Would the world be a different place if Washington DC had been called Feili Neivul

In the 19th century, Stedman Whitwell was "deeply troubled by the will-nilly way that cities and towns were named in America". It seems that the plague of Washingtons and Springfields was too much to bear. He proposed a "Rational Geographical Nomenclature".

In contemporary USA there are apparently Springfields in 34 different states (5 of them are cities with populations over 50,000).

More here.

Also at MapRoom.