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Residents of the American Southwest may remember the álamo in alameda. This álamo is not the 18th-century Franciscan mission that was the site of a key battle in the fight for Texas independence, however, but the Spanish name for the poplar tree (the mission, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, was named for the trees that grew near it). Spanish speakers used álamo as the basis for their word alameda, which can name either a grove of poplars or a tree-lined avenue. English speakers found alameda so appropriate for a shady public promenade that they borrowed it as a generic term in the 1700s. And yes, the Spanish alameda and nearby poplar trees also contributed to the naming of the city of Alameda, California.
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“Alameda.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alameda. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.
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