How Common of a Name is Preston?

I always wondered how common of a name a town could have. I always think it is interesting when towns from different states, or countries, have the same name.

The name Preston, for a town, is fairly common. There are 23 states that have a town named Preston in their borders. Not to forget, there are 32 places in England that have the name Preston as part of their town name. It is not very unique.

What is unique about Preston is that it is also a name for an.....asteroid!

Yes, I know that there are several asteroids out there, but how cool is it be a part of a town that shares a name with an asteroid! I think it is pretty sweet, so I thought I would do some more digging.

According to The New New Journalism, 3792 Preston was discovered on March 22, 1985 by Eugene Shoemaker and Carolyn Shoemaker, and they discovered it at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego, Calif. It is a part of the asteroid belt, and got the name Preston because of the American author Richard Preston, who wrote an article on Carolyn Shoemaker.

The asteroid measure between three and five miles across. That is a HUGE asteroid.

I find that pretty interesting, don't you? Do you know of any other unique places or things with the name Preston?