From Tasmania to Minnesota, here are all the other cities in the world named Bellingham

Maybe you’ve had a prescription get lost because it was mailed to a Walgreens across the country. Or maybe you’ve bought a ticket to see a movie at the Bellingham Regal Cinemas, only to find that the movie wasn’t playing at the time listed on your ticket. If you have, chances are you know there are other cities named Bellingham in the world.

But just how common is the name, and where are the other Bellingham’s located? Here’s the full list.

How Bellingham, WA got its name

Bellingham can trace its name back to William Bellingham, who managed the British Navy’s store accounts, according to a 2009 article on the Washington Secretary of State’s website. British explorer George Vancouver named Bellingham Bay after his colleague. When the four cities surrounding the bay consolidated in 1903, they took the name Bellingham as a compromise.

Massachusetts

The biggest of the other Bellingham’s can be found in Massachusetts. With a population around 17,000, the town is located in Norfolk County, less than 40 miles southwest of Boston, and just north of the Rhode Island border. The town was incorporated in 1719, according to its website, adopting the name Bellingham after an early governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Richard Bellingham.

Minnesota

Bellingham, Minnesota is much smaller, with a population of 148 in the 2020 census. Located in western Minnesota’s Lac qui Parle County, the town is named for Robert Bellingham, who founded the town in 1887, according to its website.

Around the world

George Town, a small city in Tasmania, Australia, has a small independent locality called Bellingham. The town had a population of 78 as of the 2021 census.

The United Kingdom has a village named Bellingham as well. Located in Northumberland, a county in northern England, by the border it shares with Scotland, has easy access to a national park like its American counterpart. It had a population of just over 4,000 in the 2011 census, according to the county’s website.

London also has a ward named Bellingham, which is located on the southern edge of Lewisham, a borough in southeast London. According to Lewisham’s government, Bellingham has a population of just under 12,000. Its name is taken from a medieval manor and means “the water-meadow belonging to Beora’s people,” according to the Lewisham council.