List of state and territory name etymologies of the United States explained

The fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the five inhabited U.S. territories, and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands have taken their names from a wide variety of languages. The names of 24 states derive from indigenous languages of the Americas and one from Hawaiian. Of those that come from Native American languages, eight come from Algonquian languages, seven from Siouan languages (one of those via Miami-Illinois, which is an Algonquian language), three from Iroquoian languages, two from Muskogean languages, one from a Caddoan language, one from an Eskimo-Aleut language, one from a Uto-Aztecan language, and one from either an Athabaskan language or a Uto-Aztecan language.

Twenty other state names derive from European languages: seven come from Latin (mostly from Latinized forms of English personal names, one of those coming from Welsh), five from English, five from Spanish, and three from French (one of those via English). The source language/language family of the remaining five states is disputed or unclear: Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Oregon, and Rhode Island.

Of the fifty states, eleven are named after an individual person. Six of those are named in honor of European monarchs: the two Carolinas, the two Virginias, Georgia, and Louisiana. In addition, Maryland is named after Queen Henrietta Maria, queen consort of King Charles I of England, and New York after the then-Duke of York, who later became King James II of England. Over the years, several attempts have been made to name a state after one of the Founding Fathers or other great statesmen of U.S. history: the State of Franklin, the State of Jefferson (three separate attempts), the State of Lincoln (two separate attempts), and the State of Washington; in the end, only Washington materialized (Washington Territory was carved out of the Columbia District and renamed Washington in order to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia, which contains the city of Washington).[1] [2]

Several of the states that derive their names from names used for Native peoples have retained the plural ending in "s": Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Texas. One common naming pattern has been as follows:

State names

State nameDate first attested in original languageLanguage of originWord(s) in original languageMeaning and notes

April 19, 1692 alba amo/Albaamaha 'Thicket-clearers'[3] or 'plant-cutters', from alba, '(medicinal) plants', and amo, 'to clear'. The modern Choctaw name for the tribe is Albaamu.[4]

December 2, 1666 alaxsxaq via Аляска (Alyaska) 'Mainland' (literally 'the object towards which the action of the sea is directed').[5]

February 1, 1883 aritz ona 'The good oak'.[6]
ali ṣona-g via Arizonac[7] 'Having a little spring'.[8]

July 20, 1796 akakaze via Arcansas Borrowed from a French spelling of a Miami-Illinois rendering of the tribal name kką:ze (see Kansas, below), which the Miami and Illinois used to refer to the Quapaw.[9] [10] [11]

May 22, 1850 california Probably named for the fictional Island of California ruled by Queen Calafia in the 16th-century novel Las sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.[12]

See also: Etymology of California.

|-|
||data-sort-value="January 1, 1743"| 1743 || Spanish || colorado || 'Ruddy' or 'red',[13] originally referring to the Colorado River.[14] |-|
|| April 15, 1696 || Eastern Algonquian, Mohegan-Pequot || quinnitukqut || From some Eastern Algonquian language of southern New England (perhaps Mahican), meaning 'at the long tidal river', after the Connecticut River.[15] The name reflects Proto-Eastern-Algonquian *kwən-, 'long'; *-əhtəkw, 'tidal river'; and *-ənk, the locative suffix).[16] |-|
|| January 31, 1680 || French via English || de la Warr || After the Delaware River, which was named for Lord de la Warr (originally probably Norman French de la guerre or de la werre, 'of the war'). Lord de la Warr was the first Governor-General of the Colony of Virginia.[17] |-|
|| April 2, 1513 || Spanish || (pascua) florida || 'Flowery (Easter)'[18] (to distinguish it from Christmastide, which was also called Pascua), in honor of its discovery by the Spanish during the Easter season.[19] |-| Georgia
|| October 3, 1674 || Latin via English (ultimately from Greek)|| Georgius ||The feminine Latin form of "George", named after King George II of Great Britain.[20] It was also a reference to Saint George, whose name was derived from the Greek word georgos, meaning 'husbandman' or 'farmer', from ge 'earth' + ergon 'work'.|-|
|| December 29, 1879 || Hawaiian || Hawaiʻi || Either from Hawaiki, legendary homeland of the Polynesians[21] (Hawaiki is believed to mean 'place of the gods'),[22] or named for Hawaiʻiloa, legendary discoverer of the Hawaiian Islands.[23] |-| rowspan=2|
|| rowspan=2| June 6, 1864 || Germanic || Idaho || Probably made up by George M. "Doc" Willing as a practical joke;[24] originally claimed to have been derived from a word in a Native American language that meant 'Gem of the Mountains'.[25] The name was initially proposed for the Territory of Colorado until its origins were discovered. Years later it fell into common usage, and was proposed for the Territory of Idaho instead.[26] [27] |-|| Plains Apache || ídaahę́ || Possibly from the Plains Apache word for 'enemy' (ídaahę́), which was used to refer to the Comanches.[28] |-|
|| March 24, 1793 || Algonquian, Miami-Illinois via French || ilenweewa || The state is named for the French adaptation of an Algonquian language (perhaps Miami-Illinois) word apparently meaning 'speaks normally' (cf. Miami-Illinois ilenweewa,[29] Ojibwe ,[30] Proto-Algonquian *elen-, 'ordinary', and -we·, 'to speak'),[31] referring to the Illiniwek (Illinois).|-|
|| December 2, 1794 || Latin (ultimately from Proto-Indo-Iranian) || indiāna || 'Land of the Indians'.[32] The names "Indians" and "India" come, via Latin, Greek, Old Persian and Sanskrit, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sindhu-, which originally referred to the Indus River.|-|
|| August 31, 1818 || Dakota, Chiwere via French || ayúxba/ayuxwe via Aiouez || Via French Aiouez, and named after the Iowa tribe. This demonym has no further known etymology,[33] [34] though some give it the meaning 'sleepy ones'.[35] |-|
|| May 12, 1832 || Kansa via French || kką:ze via Cansez[36] || Named after the Kansas River,[37] [38] which in turn was named after the Kaw or Kansas tribe. The name seems to be connected to the idea of "wind".[39] |-|
|| April 28, 1728 || Iroquoian || (see Meaning and notes) || Originally referring to the Kentucky River. While some sources say the etymology is uncertain,[40] most agree on a meaning of '(on) the meadow' or '(on) the prairie'[41] [42] (cf. Mohawk kenhtà:ke, Seneca gëdá’geh (phonemic pronounced as //kẽtaʔkeh//), 'at the field').[43] |-|
|| July 18, 1787 || French (ultimately from Frankish) || Louisiane || After King Louis XIV of France.[44] The name Louis itself comes from Frankish hluda, 'heard of, famous' (cf. loud) + wiga, 'war'.|-| rowspan=3|
|| rowspan=3| October 13, 1729 || English || main || A common historical etymology is that the name refers to the mainland, as opposed to the coastal islands.[45] [46] |-|| French || Maine|| After the French province of Maine.[47] |-|| English || (Broad)mayne || A more recent proposal is that the state was named after the English village of Broadmayne, which was the family estate of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the colony's founder.[26] [48] |-|
|| January 18, 1691 || English (ultimately from Hebrew) || Myriam || After Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I of England.[49] The name Mary originally meant 'bitterness' or 'rebelliousness' in Hebrew, and could also have come from the Egyptian word for 'beloved' or 'love'.[50] |-|
|| June 4, 1665 || Eastern Algonquian, Massachusett || muhsachuweesut || Plural of muswachusut, meaning 'near the great little-mountain' or 'at the great hill', which is usually identified as Great Blue Hill on the border of Milton and Canton, Massachusetts[51] (cf. the Narragansett name Massachusêuck).|-|
|| October 28, 1811 || Ojibwe via French || ᒥᔑᑲᒥ (mishigami) || 'Large water' or 'large lake'[52] [53] (in Old Algonquin, *meshi-gami).[54] |-|
|| April 21, 1821 || Dakota || mní sóta || 'Cloudy water', referring to the Minnesota River.|-|
|| March 9, 1800 || Ojibwe via French || ᒥᓯᓰᐱ (misi-ziibi) || 'Great river', after the Mississippi River.[52] [55] |-|
|| September 7, 1805 || Miami-Illinois via French || wimihsoorita || 'Dugout canoe'. The Missouri tribe was noteworthy among the Illinois for their dugout canoes, and so was referred to as the wimihsoorita, 'one who has a wood boat [dugout canoe]'.[56] |-|
|| November 1, 1860 || Spanish || montaña || 'Mountain'.[57] |-|
|| June 22, 1847 || Chiwere via French || ñįbraske || 'Flattened water', after the Platte River, which used to be known as the Nebraska River. Due to the flatness of the plains, flooding of the river would inundate the region with a flat expanse of water.[58] |-|
|| February 9, 1845 || Spanish || nevada || 'Snow-covered',[59] after the Sierra Nevada ('snow-covered mountains').|-|
|| August 27, 1692 || English (ultimately from Old English) || Hampshire || After the county of Hampshire in England,[60] whose name is derived from the original name for its largest city, Southampton, that being Hamtun, which is an Old English word that roughly translates to 'Village-Town'.|-|
|| April 2, 1669 || English (ultimately from Old Norse) || Jersey || After Jersey,[61] the largest of the British Channel Islands and the birthplace of one of the colony's two co-founders, Sir George Carteret.[61] The Latin name Caesarea was also applied to the colony of New Jersey as Nova Caesarea, because the Roman name of the island was thought to have been Caesarea.[62] [63] The name "Jersey" most likely comes from the Norse name Geirrsey, meaning 'Geirr's Island'. |-|
|| November 1, 1859 || Nahuatl via Spanish || Mēxihco via Nuevo México || From Spanish Nuevo México.[64] The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihca (in Nahuatl languages pronounced as /meːˈʃiʔko/), which referred to the Aztec people who founded the city of Tenochtitlan.[65] [66] Its literal meaning is unknown, though many possibilities have been proposed, such as that the name comes from the god Metztli.[67] |-| New York
|| October 15, 1680 || English || York || After the Duke of York (later King James II of England). Named by King Charles II of England, James II's brother.[68] The name "York" is derived from its Latin name Eboracum (via Old English Eoforwic and then Old Norse Jórvík), apparently borrowed from Brythonic Celtic *eborakon, which probably meant 'Yew-Tree Estate'.

|-|
|| June 30, 1686 || Latin via English (ultimately from Frankish) || Carolus via Carolana || After King Charles I of England and his son, King Charles II of England.[69] The name Charles itself is derived from Frankish karl, 'man, husband'.|-|
|| November 2, 1867 || Sioux/Dakota || dakhóta || 'Ally' or 'friend', after the Dakota tribe.[70] |-|
|| April 19, 1785 || Seneca via French || ohi:yo’ || 'Large creek', originally the name of both the Ohio River and Allegheny River.[71] Often incorrectly translated as 'beautiful river',[72] due to a French mistranslation.|-|
|| September 5, 1842 || Choctaw || okla + homa || Devised as a rough translation of 'Indian Territory'. In Choctaw, okla means 'people', 'tribe', or 'nation', and homa- means 'red', thus 'red people'.[73] |-|
|| 1765 || Unknown || Disputed || Disputed meaning. First named by Major Robert Rogers in a petition to King George III.[74] |-|
|| March 8, 1650 || Welsh and Latin || Penn + silvania || 'Penn's woods', after Admiral William Penn, the father of its founder William Penn.[75] Pennsylvania is the only state that shares part of its name with its founder.[76] The name "Penn" comes from the Welsh word for 'head'.[77] |-| rowspan=2 |
|| rowspan=2 | February 3, 1680 || Dutch || roodt eylandt || 'Red island', referring to Aquidneck Island.[78] The Modern Dutch form of the phrase is 'rood eiland'.|-|| Greek || Ρόδος (Ródos) || For a resemblance to the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.|-|
|| November 12, 1687 || Latin via English (ultimately from Frankish) || Carolus via Carolana || After King Charles I of England and his son, King Charles II of England.[69] The name Charles itself is derived from Frankish karl, 'man, husband'.|-|
|| November 2, 1867 || Sioux/Dakota || dakhóta || 'Ally' or 'friend', after the Dakota tribe.[70] |-|
|| May 24, 1747 || Cherokee || ᏔᎾᏏ (tanasi) || Tanasi (in Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ) was the name of a Cherokee village;[79] the meaning is unknown.[80] |-|
|| June 30, 1827 || Caddo via Spanish || táyshaʔ via Tejas || 'Friend', used by the Caddo to refer the larger Caddo nation (in opposition to enemy tribes). The name was borrowed into Spanish as texa, plural texas, and was used to refer to the Nabedache people (and later to the Caddo Nation in general). When the Spanish decided to convert the Nabedache to Catholicism, they constructed La Misión de San Francisco de los Texas, which later came to be used in naming the Viceroyalty of New Spain’s province.[81] |-| rowspan=2|
|| rowspan=2| December 20, 1877 || Apache via Spanish || yúdah via yuta || From the Spanish designation for the Ute people, yuta, in turn perhaps a borrowing from Western Apache yúdah, meaning 'high',[82] sometimes incorrectly translated as 'people of the mountains'.[83] [84] |-|| Ute via Spanish|| noochee via yuta || From the Ute's self-designation pronounced as /[nutʃi̥]/, plural pronounced as /[nuːtʃiu]/, as suggested by J. P. Harrington,[85] [86] though this etymology is disputed.[87] |-|-|
|| September 27, 1721 || French || vert + mont || 'Green mount' or 'green mountain'; vert in French means 'green', and mont means 'mount' or 'mountain'. However, in French, 'green mountain' would actually be written mont vert.[88] [89] |-|
|| 1584 || Latin || Virginia || 'Country of the Virgin', after Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married.[90] |-| Washington
|| February 22, 1872 || English || Washington || After George Washington,[91] whose surname was in turn derived from the town of Washington in historic County Durham, England.[92] [93] The etymology of the town's name is disputed, but agreed to be ultimately Old English.|-|
|| September 1, 1831 || Latin || Virginia || The western, transmontane counties of Virginia, which separated from Virginia during the American Civil War. See Virginia, above.|-|
|| February 5, 1822 || Miami-Illinois via French || Meeskohsinki[94] via Ouisconsin(k) || Originally spelled Mescousing by the French, and later corrupted to Ouisconsin.[95] It likely derives from a Miami-Illinois word Meskonsing, meaning 'it lies red' or 'river running through a red place'.[96] It may also come from the Ojibwe term miskwasiniing, 'red-stone place'.|-|
|| August 14, 1877 || Munsee/Delaware || xwé:wamənk || 'At the big river flat'; the name was transplanted westward from the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.[97] |}

Territory and federal district names

Territory or federal district nameYear first attested in original languageLanguage of originWord(s) in original languageMeaning and notes
American Samoa
1911[98]
(July 17)		American + Sāmoa The CIA World Factbook says "The name Samoa is composed of two parts, 'sa', meaning sacred, and 'moa', meaning center, so the name can mean Holy Center; alternately, it can mean 'place of the sacred moa bird' of Polynesian mythology."[99] "American" is ultimately derived from Amerigo Vespucci.[100] The name "American Samoa" first started being used by the U.S. Navy around 1904, and "American Samoa" was made official in 1911.

1738 Columbia Named for Columbia, the national personification of the United States, which is itself named for Christopher Columbus.
Guam
1898[101]
(December 10) 		Guåhan 'What we have', from Guåhån in Chamorro language.[102] The name "Guam" was first used in the Treaty of Paris (1898).
Northern Mariana Islands
1667[103] Islas Marianas Mariana Islands chain named by Spain for Mariana of Austria.[104]
Puerto Rico
1493 puerto rico "Rich port".[105] The CIA World Factbook says "Christopher Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist) and the capital city and main port Ciudad de Puerto Rico (Rich Port City); over time, however, the names were shortened and transposed and the island came to be called Puerto Rico and its capital San Juan."[106]

1493 Islas Vírgenes Named by Christopher Columbus for Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.[107] [108] The name "Virgin Islands of the United States" (U.S. Virgin Islands) was adopted in 1917 when the islands were purchased by the U.S. from Denmark.[109]
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Various Various Various The name "United States Minor Outlying Islands" started to be used in 1986.[110] Previously, some of the islands were included in a group called "United States Miscellaneous Pacific Islands".
  • Baker Island was named for Michael Baker in 1832.[111]
  • Howland Island was named after a whaling vessel in 1842.[112]
  • Jarvis Island was named after three people named "Jarvis" in 1821 (when they discovered the island).[113]
  • Johnston Atoll was named for Captain Charles Johnston in 1807.[114]
  • Kingman Reef was named for Captain W. E. Kingman in 1853.[115]
  • Midway Atoll was named in the 19th century for its location being approximately halfway between North America and Asia.[116]
  • The CIA World Factbook says this about Navassa Island: "The flat island was named 'Navaza' by some of Christopher Columbus' sailors in 1504; the name derives from the Spanish term "nava" meaning 'flat land, plain, or field'".[117]
  • Palmyra Atoll was named in 1802 when the USS Palmyra shipwrecked there.[118]
  • Wake Island was named after Samuel Wake, a British captain, in 1796. A different captain, William Wake, discovered the island in 1792.[119]

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

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  4. Bright (2004:29)
  5. Ransom, J. Ellis. 1940. Derivation of the Word ‘Alaska’. American Anthropologist n.s., 42: pp. 550–551
  6. News: A sorry state of affairs when views change . . 2007-03-03 . Thompson, Clay . 2007-02-25.
  7. Web site: Online Etymology Dictionary . Etymonline.com . 2012-08-15.
  8. Bright (2004:47)
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  39. Connelley, William E. 1918. Indians . A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans, ch. 10, vol. 1
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