Sociological: We have seen this trend in the past naming of cities, but Mormon makes it explicit here. The names of cities are related to the names of important people in their founding. In this case, we are not directly told that there is an Ammonihah, but this is the clear import of the verse. The Book of Mormon also typically associates the name of both the land and city with the founder, a practice that was also common in the Old World (Tvedtnes, John A. “Cities and Lands in the Book of Mormon.” In: Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon. FARMS 1999, pp. 164-167). This is a very logical method of naming given the nature of Nephite political geography.
“The concept that formal ownership of (or at least possession of certain legal rights over) lands and other property lay in elite hands is evident in language used in the Book of Mormon. The key words that alert us to how the Nephites thought about these matters are “possessions,” “possess,” and related terms. There may have been two senses of possess. Sometimes the word could be translated merely “occupy,” as in Helaman 1:20 (an invading army “took possession of the city.”) But a prime example gives us the more usual and pointed sense, which is that possession involves the right to exploit the resources of an area including its inhabitants. Consider Mosiah 23:29. Alma and his brethren “went forth and delivered themselves up into [the hands of the Lamanites]; and the Lamanites took possession of the land of Helam” where they and their Amulonite toadies then oppressively exploited the goods and labor of Alma’s people for the economic support of the masters (see Mosiah 23:38-39; 24:9).” (Sorenson, John L. “The Political Economy of the Nephites.” In: Nephite Culture and Society. New Sage Books, 1997, p. 205).
In Mesoamerica, as well as throughout the Book of Mormon, rights to the land centered in the leadership of the community. Thus Ammonihah is the founder, and rightfully the focus of the community as the one whose right it was to control the proceeds of the land. It also appears that lineages dominated the transmission of these property rights. We receive very little clear information of this in the Book of Mormon, but the model begins with Nephi and lasts through to the reign of the judges. It is during the reign of the judges that we begin to lose clear tracings of this dynastic model, but it was certainly apparent at the beginning where Alma the Elder yields the seat to his son. Once Alma the younger relinquishes it in Zarahemla the official record is no longer clear on the dynasties, but we may suppose that in other cities (such as Ammonihah) the leadership would have followed either the kings of the order of the Nehors, or the lineal replacement of judges as was begun in Zarahemla.
An exception to this process is the case of the people of Zenock who inhabit the city of Lehi-Nephi. In that case, however, the city existed prior to Zenock’s people being given permission to settle in that city, and the name clearly carried over from an earlier time period.