The Ham in the Hamburger - An Old Question Revisited
Created | Updated Oct 22, 2008
Ever bumped into the anecdotal/philosophical question, why there's no ham in a hamburger? This question is often used as an example to demonstrate the complications generated by homonyms in folk etymology, or also to remind us to widen our horizons. The standard answer, of course, is that in reality the hamburger is named after the German city of Hamburg1, following the same naming pattern as encountered for numerous other foodstuffs, like the kasseler (cured pork thing from Kassel), the manchego (cheese from La Mancha) or mayonnaise (the amorphous white stuff from Menorca). The fact that one will find the word "ham" in "hamburger" is mere coincidence.
Coincidence - Shmoincidence
Now, this begs the question whence the "Ham" in "Hamburg" comes from. This particular question is rarely addressed in common literature. The city is named after the castle of "hamma", in one of its oldest versions "Hammaborg", with "borg" being the word for "castle" or "fortress". It cannot be told with absolute certainty, but one widely accepted and plausible etymology is that the word "ham" in "Hamburg" comes from the old-high-german word "hamma" which denotes a "kink" or a "bend" - which in the case of the castle referred to a curve or bend of the river Elbe, near which it was situated2.
Upon the transition to old english the word "hamma" suffers a slight shift in meaning, denoting "hollow or bend of the knee" which is (loosely) the part of the pig used to make "ham" - which is the reason why ham is called ham.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one should remember, when confronted with the original question, that the correct answer is that both the hamburger (sandwich) and the City of Hamburg have their origin in ham, for different reasons in a different context, granted, but anyway.