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10 days agoI recognize that you are asking about European place names but how humans named things in North America might give some insight. A really great book on how places got their names in the US is Names on the Land: a historical account of place-naming in the United States by George R. Stewart (ISBN 978-1-59017-273-5).
The word trivia comes from Latin. In Roman times people would place signs with interesting tidbits about their nearby town where roads meet as a way of luring travellers to their town. Tri means three and via is road. So trivia are useless and entertaing facts originally found at the confluence of three roads.