AUBURN, Maine — And the winner is: Lewiston-Auburn.

During a public meeting this month, supporters of a Lewiston-Auburn merger picked what the city would be called in the event that voters approve merging the cities.





The commission has received nearly 1,000 suggestions, many of which fall into three main categories.

The first involves variations of Androscoggin, including Androscoggin City, Androscoggin Falls, Andros, and Andro.

Another category combines the current names, such as Aubiston, Auston, Austin, Aulew, Lewburn, and Lauburn.

The third is simply Great Falls — which has been an identity for the area for quite some time.

The final debate came down to Great Falls or keeping the cities’ two names, Lewiston-Auburn. The commission decided on combining the town names into one approach to avoid confusion.

The potential name change is the final piece of a very large and complicated puzzle. Lewiston and Auburn are, respectively, Maine’s second- and fifth-largest cities.

The Lewiston Auburn Joint Charter Commission has been working on this project for two and a half years, and it is almost ready to let the voters decide on whether the two cities should merge into one.