Like humans, some popular cities in the world also have nicknames which are based on their specific qualities.
For example, New York which is one of the most popular cities in the world and an important American city has been known by many of its nicknames, for example, New York City is called “The big people, The melting pot, New Amsterdam, the empire city and many more”.
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There are many other cities all over the world which are known by their nicknames, but today we are going to discuss here the nicknames of London city.
London is one of the world’s historical cities and once it was also the main city of the world hence it has got many nicknames, some of which are listed below.
Like humans, countries and cities do have nicknames. Actually, they have more than just one or two nicknames. When we talk about the nicknames of London, we got a big list to discuss but not every nickname is popular and few people are out there who know all of them or even most of them. So, here we will discuss with you only the top 10 Nicknames of London city.
We have collected this data from different sources including websites, and historical books, and even we have used Wikipedia to ensure that all information we are sharing with our audience is 100% authentic and useful. To make this list more interesting for our visitors, we have added some historical facts about each nickname which will give you a reason to understand the birth of these different nicknames.
Defiantly, there are always chances for improvements. If you found something more interesting to include in this list, then don’t forget to ping us with your user information so we can share it with the world. Till then, enjoy the list of the Top 10 nicknames of London City:
- The Smoke or the Big Smoke
- The Swinging City
- Reykjavik
- The Great Wen
- The City and the square mile
- The Smoke or the Big Smoke
- The Swinging City
- Reykjavik – Nicknames of London
- The Great Wen
- The City and the square mile
1. The Smoke or the Big Smoke
This is one of the popular nicknames of London 2019, UK. Air pollution in London is increasing day by day for centuries. In the middle of the 20th century, almost in 1952 great clouds of smoke covered the whole and those clouds stayed in the atmosphere for many days and they also caused many skin diseases. Still, air pollution in London gave rise to pea soup fogs. That’s why London city is also called the smoke or the Big smoke.
2. The Swinging City
The Swinging city is another nickname for the Capital city of the United Kingdom. “The Swinging City” this nickname was given to London city when it played an important role in Cultural Revolution in mid of the 1960s. Due to that cultural revolution in London, it was given the nickname of the swinging city.
3. Reykjavik – Nicknames of London
This name was given to London city by Economists. The Economists have concern that the United Kingdom had the same banking system as Ice Land has. This nickname was given to London in 2008 due to Icelandic banking characteristics. The Economists were considering that the United Kingdom has the same banking system which causes financial crises in Ice Land and it may cause crises in the UK.
4. The Great Wen
Wen means “Sebaceous cyst”, so this is one of the disgusting nicknames of London. This nickname was given in the 1820s by William Cobbett in his work “Rural Rides”. William Cobbett was a rural champion of the United Kingdom and his aim was to always prefer rural life to urban life. In the 1820s when London started growing rapidly he also called this practice as “Swelling on the face of the nation”.
5. The City and the square mile
This term was used by the people of London for the area of London. But especially these terms are used as metonyms by the financial services industry of London.
6. Where Royalty Lives
The British royal family is famous, not just in Britain or Europe but all around the world. We do have royal families in our other countries too but no one is more famous than the royal family of Britain which lives in London. This is why sometimes London city has been called the nickname “Where Royalty Lives”. The other reason for this nickname is the number of royal members live in one city. I won’t be wrong if I call London the only city in the world where the most number of royal family members live. Not just that, the close relatives so Queen Elizabeth 2 also lives in London.
For tourism purposes, many tourists only travel to London city to explore its beautiful and magnificent historical buildings. Among them, the famous places of the British royal family are at the top. Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace are located in London city and are famous because of its beautiful structure. While these palaces have been made in the 17th century and not very old but still, a tour of London city is not completed without exploring them.
Other than palaces, there are many other things that make this city the city where royalty lives which includes the luxury property of the Royal family which extends all around the country. In London, you will able to find many of them which include luxury farms, hotels, castles, and even forests. All of them are open to the public but cost some price to enter.
7. Home of The Big Ben
Big Ben is not the clock tower which is located at the north end of Westminster Palace but it is a huge bell of this clock tower. The Big Ben clock tower is the symbol of the city and uses to be one of the largest towers in the world which was completed in 1859. As it gives London the city so much popularity all around the world, people start calling Big Ben the nickname London city. The clock towers then have been building in many famous cities of the world which have been somehow inspired by the clock tower of London where the Big Ben bell is located.
There are 5 bells in the tower but Big Ben is the largest among them because of its weight which is 13.5 long tons. It has been classified as the largest bell in the UK for 23 years. This tower is also recognized as a British cultural icon all around the world, hence made a popular tourist attraction of the city.
8. Londinium
It would be wrong if I include Londinium in the list of the popular nickname of London because Londinium was the original name of London city but there are many people who know this and know it as London’s nickname. This name was given by the Romans when they build the Londinium settlement in 43 AD. Today, the Londinium settlement which was formed by Romans is known as the city of London.
There isn’t much information available when we search for the history of Londinium but it has been confirmed that this name is based on different languages and translations. For example, Londinium has been called Londini, Londinio, Lundinium, and Londinion, etc in different eras.
Today there are many architectures that have to build by the Romans one of them is the popular London wall which has been used as a defending wall by the Romans. Its total length was 3 miles where it was 8 feet wide and 20 feet high. This wall was built around the city. The wall still exists and is easily seen in different locations around London. It is not the same as it builds by the Romans as it has been destroyed with time during wars and natural disasters.
Londinium served as the commercial center and covered all surrounding of the river Thames. Traces of Roman London across the city can be found. The reason behind choosing the Thames river was its located which was ideal for transport and it made easy the transportation of goods between the continent and the city easy.
9. London Town
While we all know that London is the city but its nickname “London Town” become famous by a British romantic song called a nightingale which has been sung in Berkeley Square. It was written by the famous Eric Maschwitz and this song has been composed by Manning Sherwin. Singer Vera Lynn is the one who sung this song during the Second World War and made it famous all around Europe. The song was first published in 1940 but later many version of this song has been released.
Like other nicknames of London, this one is not very common and known by limited people. In today’s era, when you use this name, people usually confused it with a small town which is located inside the city where there is no town with this name exist. In some old movies, especially related to World War 2, this name has been used but in the modern era and entertainment industry, this is not famous.
The song which gives London this new nickname also becomes part of the album called “London Town” by Sir Paul McCartney due to the popularity of the nightingale but sadly, with the passage of time, it is now an unknown song for the people of London. We hope that, with this information, you would recall this song and remember how a song has given to the birth of a nickname to London city.
10. The Square Mile and The City
This nickname “The Square Mile and The City” is referred with one of the popular but small regions of London called “The City of London”. It is famous and has important value in London city because it is considered as a financial hub. It is a financial hub because The City of London contains the central business district and many historic centres. The people of London who are associates with finance also use this term.
While it is one of the known nicknames of the city but it is usually limited to the people who have affiliation with this region. The rest of the city doesn’t even know whether this nickname even exists or not.
So, these are the some “popular nicknames of London city”. As I’ve mentioned earlier that many popular cities in the world are also known by some other names which are their nicknames. And those nicknames are given to the cities due to some special qualities which they possess.
We hope you will like this list of nicknames of London, UK, but stay in touch with us for more interesting stuff about London.
