List of Alabama placenames of Native American origin explained

Many places throughout Alabama take their names from the languages of the indigenous Native American/American Indian tribes. The following list includes settlements, geographic features, and political subdivisions whose names are derived from these indigenous languages. The primary Native American peoples present in Alabama during historical times included the Alibamu, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Koasati, and the lower and upper Muscogee (Creeks).^[1]

With the exception of the Cherokee, all of the historical Alabama tribes speak Muskogean languages. There are competing classification systems, but the traditionally accepted usage divides the dialects into Eastern Muskogean (Alibamu, Koasatia, and Muscogee) and Western Muskogean (Chickasaw and Choctaw).^[2] The Cherokee language belongs to the separate Iroquoian language family.^[3]

Listings

State

• Alabama – named for the Alibamu, a tribe whose name derives from a Choctaw phrase meaning "thicket-clearers"^[4] or "plant-cutters" (from albah, "(medicinal) plants", and amo, "to clear").
  • Alabama River

Counties

• Autauga County – from the Alibamu phrase atagi, meaning "pure water".
• Cherokee County – named after the Cherokee people.
  • Shared with the town of Cherokee.
• Choctaw County – named after the Choctaw people.
• Conecuh County – from the Muscogee phrase koha anaka, meaning "near Canebrake".
  • Shared with the Conecuh River.
• Coosa County – from the Choctaw phrase koshak, meaning "cane".
  • Shared with the Coosa River.
• Escambia County – from the Choctaw phrase oski ambeha, meaning "the cane therein".^[1]
• Etowah County – likely from an extinct Cherokee settlement named Etiwaw.
• Mobile County – named after a Native American tribe, perhaps from Choctaw moeli, meaning "to row" or "to paddle".
  • Shared with the city of Mobile, the Mobile Bay and the Mobile River.
• Talladega County – derived from the Muscogee phrase italua atigi, meaning "town on the border".
  • Shared with the cities of Talladega and Talladega Springs.
• Tallapoosa County – from the Choctaw words tali (rock) and pushi (pulverized).
  • Shared with the Tallapoosa River.
• Tuscaloosa County – derived from Muskogean words tashka (warrior) and lusa (black). Chief Tuskaloosa is remembered for leading a battle against Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in southern Alabama in 1540.^[5]
  • Shared with the city of Tuscaloosa.

Settlements

• Arbacoochee – from the Muskogean phrase abihkuchi, meaning "a pile at the base".
• Attalla – from the Cherokee word otali, meaning "mountain".^[1]
• Bashi – from the Choctaw phrase bachaya, meaning "line" or "row".
• Bogue Chitto – from the Choctaw phrase book chito, meaning "big creek".
• Boligee – from the Choctaw phrase boolitusha, meaning "to strike and cut into pieces".
• Cahaba – from the Choctaw phrase oka-uba, meaning "water from above".
  • Shared with the Cahaba River.
• Chewacla – from the Hitchiti phrase sawackla, meaning "raccoon village".
  • Shared with Chewacla State Park.
• Chickasaw - named for the Chickasaw tribe.
• Coosada - named for the Coushatta tribe.
• Cusseta - a Muscogee tribal town.
• Eastaboga, Alabama - from Muscogee Creek: este (person), Creek: ak (in water, a low place), Creek: pokv (from the work Creek: vpoketv: to sit/live).
• Escatawpa – from the Choctaw phrase eskatawpa, meaning "the place where cane is cut".
  • Shared with the Escatawpa River.
• Eufaula - from the Muscogee Creek: yofalv, the name of a tribal town.
• Eutaw - possibly from the Cherokee Etiwaw and its earlier form iitaawaa (long leafed pine tree).
• Kahatchie - from the Muscogee koha hachi (cane creek).^[1]
• Letohatchee - from the Muscogee li ito fachita (those who make arrows straight).^[1]
• Loachapoka - from the Muscogee Creek: loca poga (where the turtles live/sit) (from the words Creek: Loca and Creek: vpoketv) .^[1]
• Lubbub and Lubbub Creek - from the Choctaw word Choctaw: lahba, which means "warm".
• Nanafalia - from the Choctaw words nanih (hill) and Choctaw: falaiya (long).
• Notasulga - from the Muscogee noti sulgi (many teeth).^[1]
• Oakmulgee - from the Hitchiti word ockmulgee, which means "bubbling water," with oki meaning "water" and mulgi meaning "boiling".
• Ohatchee - possibly from the Muscogee oh hacci (upper stream).
• Oneonta - possibly from the Iroquoian Iroquoian languages: oneyota (protruding stone).
• Opelika - from the Muscogee Creek: opilwa lako (big swamp).^[1]
• Panola - from Choctaw word Choctaw: ponola or Choctaw: ponoola (cotton).
• Pintlala from the Muscogee phrase pithlohalata, meaning "dragging a canoe".^[6]
  • Shared with the nearby Pintlala Creek.
• Sylacauga - from the Muscogee words sule (buzzard) and kake (sitting).
• Talladega, Talladega County, and Talladega Springs - talladega is derived from the Muscogee words Creek: italua (town), and Creek: atigi (at the end, on the border).
• Tallahatta Springs - adaptation of Choctaw words, tali (rock) and hata (silver, white).
• Tallapoosa County and Tallapoosa River - from the Choctaw words tali (rock) and pushi (pulverized).^[1]
• Tallassee - from the Muscogee talwa hasi (old town).^[1]
• Tensaw and Tensaw River - Etymology is unclear. May be related to the Natchez teansa.
• Tibbie - a shortened form of the Choctaw word "oakibbeha". Oakibbeha means "blocks of ice therein," with okti meaning "ice" and the plural form abeha meaning "to be in".
• Tuscumbia - from the Choctaw words tashka (warrior) and abi (killer).^[1]
• Tuskegee – from the Koasati phrase tasquiqui, meaning "warriors".
• Uchee – named after the Yuchi people, whose name roughly translates to mean "sitting at a distance".
  • Shared with the Uchee Creek.
• Wedowee - a given name, possibly Muskogean for water sumac.
• Weogufka - from Creek wi, “water”, plus ogufki, “muddy” also Creek Indian for the Mississippi.
• Wetumpka – from the Muscogee phrase wewau tumcau, meaning "rumbling water".^[7]

Bodies of water

• Buttahatchee River - from the Choctaw words bati (sumac) and Choctaw: hahcha (river).
• Chattahoochee River - from the Muskogean words chato (rock) and huchi (marked).
• Chattooga River - may derive from the Cherokee word jitaaga (chicken) or Muscogee cato (rock).
• Choctawhatchee River - Choctaw word hacha (river) and the name for the tribe, literally the "River of the Choctaws".
• Luxapallila Creek - from Choctaw words luksi a balali (turtles crawl there)
• Noxubee River - derived from Choctaw word nakshobi (to stink).^[8]
• Quilby Creek, creek in Sumter County. Name derived from the Choctaw language purported to mean "creek where the panther was killed".
• Sea Warrior Creek, creek in Choctaw County. "Sea Warrior" is the result of a name corrupted from the Choctaw language (Isawaya) purported to mean "crouching deer".
• Sepulga River - possibly from the Muscogee svwokle, a tribal town.
• Sipsey River - from the Choctaw word sipsi (cottonwood).^[1]
• Sucarnoochee River - probably from the Choctaw words shokha (hog) and hachcha (stream).
• Tensaw River
• Tombigbee River - from the Choctaw words Itte-ombee-eye ika-abee (wooden box making river).^[9]
• Waxahatchee Creek - from the Muscogee Creek: wakse (a clan name) and Creek: hacci (stream).

Other

• Cheaha Mountain - derived from the Choctaw word chaha, meaning "high".^[1]

See also

• List of place names in the United States of Native American origin

References

Sources

• Book: Bright, William . William Bright . 2004 . Native American Placenames of the United States . Norman . University of Oklahoma Press . 080613576X.
• Book: Gannett, Henry . The origin of certain place names in the United States, Volume 8, Issue 197 . 1902 . Government Printing Office . Washington, D.C. . 70 . April 8, 2011.
• Book: The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. 1905. 27. Gannett, Henry. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2018-08-09. 2020-08-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20200810142309/https://books.google.com/books?id=BqwPAAAAIAAJ. live.
• Book: History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 1 . Owen . Thomas McAdory . Owen . Marie Bankhead . 1921 . S. J. Clarke Publishing Company . Chicago.
• Book: Read, William A. . 1984 . Indian Place Names in Alabama . . The University of Alabama Press . 15 . 0-8173-0231-X .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Southeastern Indian Place Names in what is now Alabama . 1994 . Indian Place Names in Alabama . William A. Read . Alabama Department of Archives and History . 8 April 2011.
2. Book: Native Languages of the Southeastern United States . Hardy . Heather . Scancarelli . Janine . 2005 . University of Nebraska Press . Lincoln, NE . 69–71 .
3. Book: Mithun, Marianne. The Languages of Native North America. 1999. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 0-521-23228-7.
4. Web site: Alabama: The State Name . 2007-02-24 . Alabama Department of Archives and History . 2019-06-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190606045052/http://www.archives.state.al.us/statenam.html . live .
5. Book: Hudson, Charles M.. Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun . registration. 1997. University of Georgia Press. 230–232. Charles M. Hudson (author) .
6. Book: Foscue, Virginia . 1989 . Place Names in Alabama . . The University of Alabama Press . 112 . 0-8173-0410-X .
7. Web site: Southeastern Indian Place Names in what is now Alabama . 1994 . Indian Place Names in Alabama . William A. Read . Alabama Department of Archives and History . 8 April 2011.
8. Book: Byington, Cyrus . Choctaw Language Dictionary . 1909 . Global Bible Society.
9. Web site: Tombigbee River: What does it mean? . Rufus Ward . February 27, 2010 . The Commercial Dispatch . The Columbus Lowndes Public Library . 8 April 2011.