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Union Square has several meanings:

placename in the United States

• Union Square (Allston) in Boston, Massachusetts
• Union Square (Baltimore) in Maryland
• Union Square (New York City)
• Union Square, San Francisco, California
• Union Square (Seattle) in Washington
• Union Square (Somerville) in Massachusetts

other uses

• Union Square (Hong Kong)

The source of the name “Union Square” is uncertain but probably reflects the patriotic sentiment of this time before the Civil War.

As a senior at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., I recently completed an architectural and historical study of Union Square. In his excellent article, Mr. Muschamp states that the square was given its name because of the ''reunification of the United States achieved by the Civil War.'' My research indicates that the area that was to become Union Square was acquired in 1832, well before the Civil War, by the New York State Legislature to serve as an intersection of two streets. The square was named for the ''union'' of Albany Post Road (Broadway) and Boston Road (Fourth Avenue). It was the center of a fashionable district by the 1850's. Incidentally, in 1861 the square served as a gathering place for supporters of the Union cause.

SEEMON BY REV DR. CHEEVER A discourse in behalf of the Institution at Washington D. G., for the education of colored girls, who are to become teachers of their kinsfolk, was delivered in the Church of the Puritans, on Union-square. last evening, by the pastor, Rev. Dr. CHEEVER The audience was large, and the occasion was one of deep interest.

 thanks dan!

The name "Union" originally signified that two main roads -- Broadway and 4th Avenue -- crossed here, but it took on a different meaning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the square became a rallying spot for labor protests; many unions, as well as fringe political parties, moved their headquarters nearby.

 thanks neil!

Located in the heart of the city, Union Square is bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets and centers around a manicured park with the naval monument topped with a bronze Goddess of Victory, erected in 1903. Union Square was so named by the city’s first American mayor, John Geary, on the eve of the Civil War because demonstrations were held here in support of Union’s troops.