Aberdeen Was not Named After Aberdeen

Cases of cities and regions founded during the colonial era and named after existing European cities and/or regions are numerous. New Zealand, for instance, refers to the Dutch province of Zeeland. Similarly, New Caledonia was named after Caledonia, the Latin name for Scotland; New Hampshire was named after the English county of Hampshire; and New South Wales was named after the British country of Wales.

Consequently, it may seem logical that the area of Aberdeen, located on southern Hong Kong Island, was named after the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Yet, it was not. Aberdeen, known locally as 香港仔 or Heung Gong Tsai (Little Hong Kong), was, in fact, named after George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen.

Incidentally, it is believed that Hong Kong Island (and later the entire region) was named Hong Kong after the first British visitors to Hong Kong misunderstood the name of the town 香港仔 or 香港村 (Heung Gong Tsuen; Hong Kong Village) as being the name of the entire island.

By the way, another city that may seem to have been named after a British city but was not is New York City, in the United States. Similar to Aberdeen, New York City was not named after the English city of York, but after James Stuart, Duke of York (who was later crowned King James II).