Oviedo (Florida)

Oviedo (/ˌoʊˈviːdoʊ/oh-VEE-doh) is a city in Seminole County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 33,342, representing an increase of 7,026 (26.7%) from the 26,316 counted in the 2000 Census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. Oviedo is known for its historic houses and buildings, as well as its population of chickens that roam the downtown area. Although the city has historically been rural, in recent years it has had an influx of new developments to support its rapid growth, due to its proximity to the University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Research Park. Several national publications have placed Oviedo on their nationally ranked lists as one of the best places to live in the US. In the late 1870s, individuals living a few miles south of Lake Jesup needed an easily accessible post office in the Florida back country. Andrew Aulin, an early settler and shop-owner, decided to file paperwork for a post office, and in his first site location report, needed a name that was different from any other post office in Florida. Aulin liked having a Spanish name, "to honor the Spanish heritage of the state," and decided to name his post office location "Oviedo" after the city of Oviedo in northern Spain (the capital city of the Principality of Asturias) and the University of Oviedo. Some say he visited the university, while others say he just liked the sound of it, but most agree that he likely pronounced the name correctly oh-vee-AY-doh rather than the Americanized way of oh-VEE-doh.[citation needed] A recent campaign advocates for honoring Aulin's original concept for the town's moniker by returning to the correct Spanish pronunciation oh-vee-AY-doh).