Dull, Boring, Bland: Towns With Unexciting Names Unite

Dull and Boring, meet Bland. Dull, Scotland, and Boring, Ore., two small communities united by unexciting names, have joined forces with a third: Bland Shire, Australia. Dull and Boring became sister communities in 2012, after a Scottish woman passed through the US town on a cycling holiday. Officials tell the AP that the relationship has boosted the profile of both places. Dull officials on Friday hosted the mayor of the region of Bland Shire, New South Wales, at a reception to celebrate the third member of a club dubbed the League of Extraordinary Communities.

Bland Shire and Boring are both named after early residents, William Bland and William Boring, while Dull's name may come from a Gaelic word for meadow. Boring has a population of about 10,000 while Bland Shire has about 6,000 people and Dull is a hamlet with just 84 occupants. Dennis Melloy, provost of the Perth and Kinross region that's home to Dull, said the relationship with Boring and Bland had "created a real feel-good factor for their communities with quirky names." And he said the alliance could expand. "We've found Ordinary and Dreary, both in America, and I think they could soon be part of it all," he said. (More Boring, Oregon stories.)