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I can see what you're saying, but Summer is a fairly well-established name too. I don't think how common the word is has anything to do with the reason. Maybe the word does sound nicer to Americans in countrast with the infformal "Fall." When people are talking about the essense of the season itself, they're more apt to use Autumn, as in "Autumn is my favorite season," which could easily be followed by "I'm going back to school in the Fall." So you could be onto something in that Americans will have more nature-related connotations with Autumn rather than as a strictly practical word like Fall. It's still very much a word name though and is in our minds on the same level as Winter and Summer.