Why does New York State have so many cities named after historical European cities?

by greekmatthew

I was taking some geography quizzes and doing trivia when I noticed that the state of New York has cities that are named after famous historical places, mostly European cities. Some of these are

Rome, Hamburg, Syracuse, Dunkirk, New Berlin, Carthage, Amsterdam, Bath, Potsdam, Copenhagen, Carthage, Greece, Leeds, Rotterdam

I'm sure there are others I am missing. I do know that these kind of names for cities in the United States are not uncommon in many states, but it seems New York has much more than average. Is there any particular reason as to why this is and if it was a pattern or tradition in New York's history? I was just curious!

sunagainstgold

This doesn't completely answer your question, but I have an earlier response about the naming of specifically colonial-era cities after Old World ones (which would heavily apply in the case of New York State, of course).