Dunedins Around the World

Dunedin, Florida has been the Toronto Blue Jays’ spring training home since the team’s inaugural season in 1977. The origins of the name Dunedin come from Scotland, and although the etymology flies over my head, the modern Gaelic name of Edinburgh, Scotland is Dùn Èideann, pronounced roughly as Dunedin in English.

What other Dunedins are there around the world? Here’s an incomplete list:

• Dunedin, Ontario: This Dunedin is part of the former village of Creemore, now part of Clearview, and it’s about 130 kilometers north of Toronto. As written on the Creemore website, “No this is not the winter training home of the Toronto Blue Jays. Our Dunedin is a quaint hamlet on the shores of the Noisy River. So small is our Dunedin that there are no stores, but it’s in the middle of some great scenery and there’s a hidden park with an unmarked entrance right off the main road.”
• Dunedin, New Zealand: Nicknamed “Edinburgh of the South,” this Dunedin is the second-largest city on the South Island of New Zealand. The name is taken from the Gaelic name for Edinburgh, hence the city’s nickname. The Scottish settled in the area in 1848, and as of 2013, the city’s population was just over 120,000. Dunedin is considered one of the four primary cities of New Zealand, largely because of its culture, economy and location.
• Dunedin, Virginia, USA: Part of the city of Chesapeake, this Dunedin, like many to follow on this list, is tiny. There isn’t much information available online about the village, but there is a parking lot sale on April 7 that has 40 people going and 312 interested. Sounds like... fun.
• Dunedin, Zimbabwe: Aside from weather forecasts, there is no information available online about this Dunedin. It’ll be cloudy and 16 degrees Celsius on Monday, if anyone was interested.
• Dunedin, South Africa: It’s farmland in the middle of South Africa. This Dunedin is part of the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape. There isn’t much information available online, but I found a few pictures.
• Dunedin, Australia: Located on the western portion of the continent, this Dunedin is a homestead. And that’s all I know.

And then, of course, there’s Dunedin, Florida — the second-most populated Dunedin in the world, only behind the Dunedin in New Zealand (and Edinburgh, but that doesn’t really count). The city has strong Scottish routes and hosts the Dunedin Highland Games yearly.