Housing developments have been the biggest generators of odd names. Beijing alone has a Chateau Regalia, a Rose and Ginkgo, Merlin Champagne Town, Le Leman Lake Villa, Beijing Riviera and International Wonderland.

Developers say the international flavor helps sell houses. On the outskirts of Beijing, the Jackson Hole resort community, known in Chinese as Hometown America, attracts residents dreaming of a “free and uncomplicated life.”

Tides of embrace or rejection of foreign arts, styles and philosophies have ebbed and flowed through Chinese history. In recent years, officials have tried to push back against Western values in textbooks and English-language acronyms in television and radio broadcasts.

The concern over place names has been raised as part of an official Chinese geographical survey that began in 2014. Along with an explosion in foreign names, there has also been a noticeable disappearance of traditional names, Mr. Li said. The survey found that since 1986, 60,000 township names and 400,000 village names had fallen out of use as a result of development and urbanization, The Beijing News reported.

It was not supposed to happen. There has been a regulation on the books in China since 1996 that prohibits the use of the names of foreign people or places for locations in China, including housing developments, The Beijing News said. But the rule has had little impact.