Counties named after counties

[dr_whom]

The historic counties of England, sorted by the number of counties in the United States named after or sharing a name with them:
(Including New York County NY, New Kent County VA, and Warrick County IN)

Lincoln(shire): 24 (AR, CO, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, OK, OR, SD, TN, WA, WV, WI, WY)

Cumberland: 8 (IL, KY, ME, NJ, NC, PA, TN, VA)

Kent: 6 (DE, MD, MI, RI, TX, VA)
York(shire): 6 (ME, NE, NY, PA, SC, VA)

Essex: 5 (MA, NJ, NY, VT, VA)

Cheshire / Chester: 4 (NH, PA, SC, TN)
Lancashire / Lancaster: 4 (NE, PA, SC, VA)
Middlesex: 4 (CT, MA, NJ, VA)
Somerset: 4 (ME, MD, NJ, PA)

Bedford(shire): 3 (PA, TN, VA)
Hampshire / Southampton: 3 (MA, VA, WV)
Northampton(shire): 3 (NC, PA, VA)
Sussex: 3 (DE, NJ, VA)

Berkshire / Berks: 2 (MA, PA)
Buckingham(shire) / Bucks: 2 (PA, VA)
Gloucester(shire): 2 (NJ, VA)
Hertford(shire) / Hartford: 2 (CT, NC)
Northumberland: 2 (PA, VA)
Stafford(shire): 2 (KS, VA)
Suffolk: 2 (MA, NY)
Surrey / Surry: 2 (NC, VA)
Westmorland / Westmoreland: 2 (PA, VA)
Worcester(shire): 2 (MD, MA)

Durham: 1 (NC)
Huntingdon(shire): 1 (PA)
Norfolk: 1 (MA)
Oxford(shire): 1 (ME)
Rutland: 1 (VT)
Warwickshire / Warrick: 1 (IN)

Cambridgeshire: 0
Cornwall: 0
Derbyshire: 0
Devonshire: 0
Dorset: 0
Herefordshire: 0
Leicestershire: 0
Nottinghamshire: 0
Shropshire: 0
Wiltshire: 0

Comments

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

And now I really want to know what historical circumstance led to Lincolnshire leading the pack so impressively. Doesn't look like it can be blamed on early settlers' home counties -- a lot of those are more westerly, when immigration was largely being driven by other countries. Fondness for Robin Hood? I dunno.

[dr_whom]

...A lot of states named counties after Abraham Lincoln.

[landofnowhere]

And according to https://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA187#v=onepage&q&f=false, which I found linked from Wikipedia, the exceptions are
GA, KY, MO, NC, TN: named after Benjamin Lincoln, Revolutionary War general and
ME: named after the actual Lincolnshire.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

<headdesk>

Right, self, there are two countries involved here, and the answer may not be in England.

[dr_whom]

By the way, here are the Welsh counties that share names with US counties:

Montgomery(shire): 18 (AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MD, MS, MO, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA)
Monmouth(shire): 1 (NJ)

Scottish counties:
Ross(-shire): 1 (OH)
Stirlingshire / Sterling: 1 (TX)

Irish counties:
Antrim: 1 (MI)
Clare: 1 (MI)
Roscommon: 1 (MI)
Wexford: 1 (MI)

Ross, Sterling, and most of the Montgomerys are not named for the British counties, of course. I was surprised that Michigan is the only state with Irish county names, and that there are so many of them.