There are times when places are going to change their name, or there are at least other ideas as to what they would be called. However, most individuals will be blissfully unaware that the place where they reside was initially intended to be called something else.
Take these three states as prime examples.
Tennessee is, of course, famous for a number of things, but it wasn’t always known by that name. Instead, it was previously known as Franklin, which just doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it.
There is also West Virginia, which may have always been known by that name, but that’s not to say that there weren’t ideas to refer to it as something else. In fact, it was initially to be called Kanawha before the West Virginia idea came to fruition.
Finally, there is Utah. It was apparently very close to becoming known as Deseret.