These Montana Town Names Will Make You Look Twice

Montana Town Names That Stand Out

Montana might not have a huge population, but we’ve got a lot of towns spread out across the state.

And yeah, some of them are pretty straightforward, places like Billings or Great Falls. Then you’ve got one that always gets a little chuckle, looking at you, Butte. But there are also quite a few towns with names that make you stop and think for a second.

World Atlas List Of Odd Montana Town Names

World Atlas took a look at Montana town names and put together a list of what they say are the seven most odd or bizarre.

They’re entitled to their opinion, and they got a few right. Personally, I think there are even more oddly named towns out there, but we’ll start with their list and then get into ours.

Hungry Horse

This one isn’t about someone being hungry as a horse. It actually comes from two horses that got loose and nearly starved, so they were, quite literally, hungry horses.

Big Arm

Named for its spot near Big Arm Bay, which kind of looks like a big arm reaching out into Flathead Lake.

Wisdom

Not as strange as it sounds. It was named after the Wisdom River, which is now the Big Hole River, and the name itself was tied to one of Thomas Jefferson’s qualities.

Pray

Alright, this one feels a little odd, but the story behind it is even better. The town’s founder, Valentine Egger, picked the name to flatter Montana Congressman Charles Nelson Pray and help secure a post office. And it worked.

Belt

Pretty straightforward. Belt Butte looks like it’s got a belt around it, so everything nearby picked up the name: Belt Creek, Big Belt Mountains, Little Belt Mountains, and the town itself.

Ekalaka

It’s actually named after Ijkalaka, the niece of Chief Red Cloud. When you realize how many places in America are named from Native American languages, this one doesn’t feel that unusual.

Two Dot

Okay, this one stands out. The name came from a cattle brand. George “Two Dot” Wilson marked his cattle with two dots, and the name stuck.

So that’s World Atlas’ list of Montana’s oddly named towns. We’ve got a few of our own in the gallery below that might get a laugh too.