> I tried looking up "Hollywood" and apparently the entire country assumes this to mean Hollywood, FL.
Also, take a look at "Springfield" (unfortunately, I can't figure out to link to a result). It says most of the country thinks it's Springfield, MA, which I frankly don't believe. IMHO, the correct answer is most likely Springfield, IL, because that's the capital of Illinois and you'd learn that while learning states and capitals in elementary school.
Similarly, I think most of the other Springfields have "catchment areas" (for lack of a better term) that are far too large. They should shrink because of the particular "fame" of Springfield, IL.
Edit: After reading https://pudding.cool/2023/03/same-name/method/, I think their "usually refers to" ratings are actually disinformative. It might be OK for places no one ever hears about except through proximity, but "Wikipedia article length" is not a good-enough proxy for cultural knowledge. They really should base this map on some kind of survey data (even a non-scientific internet survey would be far better and probably get pretty close to the truth).
Springfield, MA is quite a bit bigger, though. In fact, Springfield, MO is also larger (at least comparing metropolitan areas) than the capital of Illinois.
This situation happens again between Augusta, GA (where the PGA Masters are held) and Augusta, ME (the capital), and perhaps most confusingly for students, between Salem, OR (the capital) and tiny Salem, MA, which owes its outsized reputation to the infamous witch trials.
But for me as a child, the winner was surely Juno Beach, FL, colloquially "Juno", which was where the snowball shack and the pier were (with its overcrowded surf break), while for most people the syllables in "Juneau" probably refer to somewhere much colder.
Also, take a look at "Springfield" (unfortunately, I can't figure out to link to a result). It says most of the country thinks it's Springfield, MA, which I frankly don't believe. IMHO, the correct answer is most likely Springfield, IL, because that's the capital of Illinois and you'd learn that while learning states and capitals in elementary school.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield,_Illinois
Similarly, I think most of the other Springfields have "catchment areas" (for lack of a better term) that are far too large. They should shrink because of the particular "fame" of Springfield, IL.
Edit: After reading https://pudding.cool/2023/03/same-name/method/, I think their "usually refers to" ratings are actually disinformative. It might be OK for places no one ever hears about except through proximity, but "Wikipedia article length" is not a good-enough proxy for cultural knowledge. They really should base this map on some kind of survey data (even a non-scientific internet survey would be far better and probably get pretty close to the truth).