Word Nerd: The many meanings of Philadelphia

This week kicked off with the first of three sessions of the Knowledge@Wharton High School (KWHS) summer program. As we speak, 23 students are at the Wharton School in Philadelphia. Another 76 will head there for two more sessions, to be held in June and July. That got us wondering about all the possible meanings of the name Philadelphia.

Above: Philadelphia skyline – view from South Street Bridge (photo by Jordan Staub, used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

Founded in 1682, Philadelphia is perhaps the most historic city in the US – home of the country’s first library (1731), first hospital (1751), and first medical school (the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School, founded 1765). It was the country’s capital from 1790 to 1800. It was also an early industrial hub, and home to the first US stock exchange (1790) and first business school (1881 – Wharton, of course). It’s also the birthplace of the US Marine Corps, and was a prime destination for the Great Migration (1910-1970), or the movement of some 6 million African-Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and Midwest (African-Americans now make up more than 40% of the city’s population).

Above: The ‘Love Statue’ in JFK Plaza is one of Philadelphia’s best known landmarks. The fountain is dyed pink in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month (photo by nakashi, used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

But what kind of name is Philadelphia? How did the city get it? In Greek, phileo means ‘love’, and adelphos means ‘brother’. So Philadelphia means ‘brotherly love’. The city’s founder, William Penn, was an English Quaker, and knew firsthand what religious persecution was like. He wanted his city to be one where all people could worship freely.

Today, the city’s name is associated worldwide with a famous brand of cream cheese. But the cheese is not from Philadelphia – it was invented in New York, and named ‘Philadelphia’ after the city renowned for the quality of its food.

Above: Philadelphia’s reputation for quality helped brand this New York cream cheese. These boxes are for sale in Lima, Peru (photo by David Berkowitz, used under CC BY 2.0 licence)

The term ‘Philadelphia lawyer’ once meant a competent and expert lawyer. But in a litigious country like the US, where lawyers are popular but not well-loved, the term now carries a negative connotation, and refers to shrewd lawyers who exploit technicalities.

The city also lends its name to an abnormality – the ‘Philadelphia chromosome’ – found in patients suffering from leukemia, because the lab where it was first noted is in this city.

Before William Penn founded his city, though, there were other Philadelphias. Among the most ancient of them was the Turkish city that is now known as Alaşehir. The New Testament Book of Revelation mentions it as one of the seven churches of Asia.

What is today Amman, the capital of Jordan, was also once known as Philadelphia. The site of one of the largest ancient settlements in western Asia, which goes back to 7,250 BCE, it was previously known as ‘Ain Ghazal and Rabbath Ammon. In the wake of the conquest by Alexander the Great, the area was heavily influenced by Greek culture. Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the Macedonian ruler of Egypt, occupied and rebuilt Amman, and named it Philadelphia after himself.

There are Philadelphias around the world, including in Germany, South Africa, and the UK. There are about a dozen Philadelphias in the US itself.

Check out this video of a song that The Boss wrote for the 1993 film Philadelphia. It was one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia.

And we leave you with this delightful 2012 photo of a young visitor to the White House, named Jacob Philadelphia, who wondered if US President Barack Obama’s hair felt the same as his own.

Above: Little Jacob Philadelphia asked if US President Barack Obama’s hair felt like his own, to which Obama replied, “Touch it, dude!”(photo by Pete Souza for the White House)

By: Uma Asher