Person
Cleveland
Ohio (OH)est. 1796pop. 362,656/KLEEV-luhnd/
The meaning
“Cliff land”
How it got the name
Moses Cleaveland laid out the town in 1796, spelled with an a. A local newspaper is traditionally blamed for dropping the letter in the 1830s so the masthead would fit. The English root, from Old English clif-land, describes hilly ground — appropriate for a settlement above a river gorge.
Former names
- Cleaveland
- Cleveland