When people (or Facebook) ask "what is your hometown?" does that mean the town you were born in, the town you grew up in, or the town you live in at present?

Where you grew up.

I second Shae.

Where you would go if you said you wanted to go back home.

In your case, I believe your hometown would be Bronxville, where you grew up. I have trouble with this question all the time; I was born in Rochester, NY, lived in a suburb of Buffalo/Niagara Falls from ages 3 to 14, lived in a small town in Ohio from ages 14 to 17, and then my family moved to a city in Iowa, where they still live, and I lived there for about 3 months before moving back to Ohio to go to college. So whenever someone asks where I’m from, I’m never sure what to say…New York, because I lived 14 out of my 21 years there? Ohio, because I graduated high school from there and currently attend university in that state? Iowa, because my family lives there? It’s all very confusing :(

Yes, where you grew up. HOME town.

The town where you spent the better part of your childhood – where you identify yourself as being “from”.

In an instance like Frankie’s I would default to the place I lived when I went to high school. Military brats have this problem all the time.
My cousins, the “admiral’s kids” used Arlington VA cause that is where the uncle’s last posting was and was the place they “went home to” for college breaks and where they finished high school.
It is hard to select from Okinawa (three years) or San Diego (four years) or Guam (three years), so they used Arlington.

@srmorgan I have issues with calling the town where I attended high school home, though…I only lived there for 4 years and never felt attached to it or like I belonged there; after we moved I vowed never to go back. If anything, I guess I’d call Iowa home, because when I go home for college breaks, that’s where I go. But since I didn’t grow up there, I’m not sure if that could truly be considered my home town. In which case, what constitutes my home town in my case? The place where I lived longest (NY)? Or the place where I lived my more formative years (Ohio)?

And to somewhat answer the original question, on my facebook I put our town in Iowa as my home town. And whenever a random stranger at a bar asks me where I’m from, I usually say either Iowa or Columbus (the city where I attend university). It’s just simpler. If it’s a friend or someone I may know for a significant period of time, I usually explain the whole moving situation, because then it’s worth the effort :P

Usually, this is a way for other people from your home town to find you – people you might remember from Back In The Day™. If you don’t necessarily feel attached to the people you went to high school with or grew up with, or if you moved around a lot, try to think of the people you lived near who you most want to have find you and what town that was. Where were you back when you were young and times were good (where applicable)?

It means whatever you want it to mean.

I have the same issue – I was a military kid who not only moved between different states in the US but also back and forth between the States and New Zealand.

Am I a Kiwi, am I an American… I am both…

To me it’s where you were born.

When being asked by local people, who live in the town I live now, I answer with the town I came from.

With everyone else, I answer with the town I live in now.

I mostly think of my hometown as being the place Ilive now. I’ve lived here for well over half my life, so the place I was born is of less relevance to me now.