Lamaline: Located on the Burin Peninsula, unless you have a knowledge of French, one might wonder why this town would be included in the group of "condemnatory names".

It is believed that originally that the towns name comes from the expression la maligne, which in translates in English to mean "malignant" or according to the Web translation dictionary, interglot.com, could also mean ghastly ominous, obnoxious, appalling, detestable, abominable, horrid, terrible, sinister, horrible, odious, ill- fated, and unholy.

Any one of these terms could describe the shoals, rocks, small islands and unforgiving seas that surrounded the harbour that were known to be treacherous to navigate when one tried to enter or leave the port.

Anglicized la maligne over time became Lamaline, a town with a rather nice sounding name.

The Census of 2016 showed the population of Lamaline to be 267, a 6.6% decrease from the 286 recorded in 2011.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/Lamaline