Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show “Father Knows Best†took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, “This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.†And they do.
Here’s Matt Groening, spilling the beans on where Springfield actually is located at long last:But wait, isn’t West Springfield the size of Texas?? How is that even possible? Quick, we need to watch every single Simpsons episode ever in order to figure out just how accurate this is! Nerds, to the DVDs!
(This is actually completely unsurprising, as he’s long talked about how the characters are named after streets in Portland and such. But I guess it’s good to know?)