Well for one thing it didn't seem to transfer over to North America when the Brits (and French, etc) were naming towns and cities here in Canada, and the US...where I grew up. It's like a legacy thing.
It seems they were more likely to stick to singular words here in NA when naming regions. So it's interesting to me? Is that taboo or something?
I think you guys are taking "weird" a bit too literally, I don't mean it in a negative way.
If it was common here in Canada then I wouldn't find it 'weird' or unusual would I? And I can assure you it's not very common. Even if there are exceptions.
Regardless that was not what the Brits (or whichever Euro empire) chose to eventually name Milwaukee, they chose Milwaukee. So that's a poor counterpoint...
I chose that example precisely because both of them are in the language of the former natives, now barely spoken in the area, and not in the language of the empire that conquered it. ;)
In the US, specifying the state seems to serve the same purpose of avoiding confusion. "Springfield, MA" and "Springfield, IL", as opposed to "Springfield-upon-Connecticut" and "Springfield-on-the-Lake".
It seems they were more likely to stick to singular words here in NA when naming regions. So it's interesting to me? Is that taboo or something?