The name of the tiny island of Key West makes perfect sense. It’s the farthest west in the chain of low-lying islands, or keys, that run south and west from the southern tip of mainland Florida. What could be more appropriate?

Visitors love to snap photos at Key West's Southernmost Point marker, which delineates the southernmost spot of land in the continental U.S. (Photo by Rob O'Neal, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Interestingly enough, I discovered several other places in the state of Florida that also bear the engaging island city’s name. Daytona Beach has a Key West Village, for example. This is a hotel built in 1947, perhaps by someone who loved the original Key West.

Tequesta has a subdivision titled Key West Village. It contains upscale single-family homes — maybe for those who would like to live on the island but can’t manage to do so.

Florida isn’t the only state that has a Key West. There’s a historic estate, and a subdivision, named Key West in Albemarle County, Va. The name goes back to the time of King George II of England, when the ruler presented the land now in the westernmost section of the subdivision to a gentleman named Martin Key.

Not to be outdone, Iowa has an unincorporated community near Dubuque named Key West. The area’s proximity to Dubuque Regional Airport has brought many businesses, including a number of high-tech companies. It was named because it was considered to be the main (or key) route west from Dubuque.

Toured by scores of visitors daily, Key West's Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum is the focus of the island's literary heritage. (Photo by Andy Newman, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Even farther west, there’s a Key West Street in the city of Caldwell, Idaho. (There’s also a Key Largo Avenue, an Orlando Street and a Daytona Avenue in the same grid.) And that makes a strange kind of sense. Ernest Hemingway lived in Idaho a good while after his decade-long residence in Key West; he died in Ketchum. The association with Hemingway, and through him with the island city, isn’t hard to understand.

But what struck me as the most obscure use of the Key West name occurs in Odessa, Texas — home of a place called Key West Senior Village.

Granted, Texas is west of Florida, but where does the “key” part come in?

The name and location intrigued me so much that I had to find out more about it. I learned that Odessa’s Key West Senior Village is a rental community of affordable apartments for seniors from Odessa and surrounding areas.

Opened in 2005, Key West Senior Village defines itself as a “senior community,” meaning all residents must be capable of taking care of themselves. It was constructed with the needs of less-active elders in mind, with special safety features in the bathrooms and a courtesy van providing transportation for non-drivers.

Other places named Key West certainly can't offer the island city's famed Mallory Square Sunset Celebration. (Photo by Bob Krist, Florida Keys News Bureau)

The reasoning behind the naming of Texas’ “Key West” is unclear, but it suggests to me that the owners believe the laid-back lifestyle of our Key West is the ideal of many senior citizens — who, for one reason or another, don’t live in the Florida Keys but wish they did.

Why are so many different places called Key West? Well, the original Key West is known for its balmy weather even in January, sunnier skies than pretty much anywhere else, small-town flavor with warmhearted residents, strong and lively creative community, picturesque Victorian architecture and fascinating seafaring history.

Since it suggests so many positive attributes, no wonder the name crops up in such unlikely places!