UNITED STATES FACTS: Origins of the Names of U.S. States
Alabama – Indian for tribal town, later a tribe (Alabamas or Alibamons) of the Creek confederacy.
Alaska – Russian version of Aleutian (Eskimo) word, alakshak, for “peninsula,” “great lands,” or “land that is not an island.”
Arizona – Spanish version of Pima Indian word for “little spring place,” or Aztec arizuma, meaning “silver-bearing.”
Arkansas – Algonquin name for the Quapaw Indians, meaning “south wind.”
California – Bestowed by the Spanish conquistadors (possibly by Cortez). It was the name of an imaginary island, an earthly paradise, in Las Serges de Esplandian, a Spanish romance written by Montalvo in 1510. Baja California (Lower California, in Mexico) was first visited by Spanish in 1533. The present U.S. state was called Alta (Upper) California.
Colorado – From Spanish for “red,” first applied to Colorado River.
Connecticut – From Mohican and other Algonquin words meaning “long river place.”
Delaware – Named for Lord De La Warr, early governor of Virginia; first applied to river, then to Indian tribe (Lenni-Lenape), and the state.
District of Columbia – For Christopher Columbus, 1791.
Florida – Named by Ponce de Leon Pascua Florida, “Flowery Easter,” on Easter Sunday, 1513.
Georgia -For King George II of England, by James Oglethorpe, colonial administrator, 1732.
Hawaii – Possibly derived from native word for homeland, Hawaikior Owhyhee.
Idaho – Said to be a coined name with an invented meaning: “gem of the mountains”; originally suggested for the Pikes Peak mining territory (Colorado), then applied to the new mining territory of the Pacific Northwest. Another theory suggests Idahomay be a Kiowa Apache term for the Comanche.
Illinois – French for Illinior “land of Illini,” Algonquin word meaning “men” or “warriors.”
Indiana – Means “land of the Indians.”
Iowa – Indian word variously translated as “here I rest” or “beautiful land.” Named for the Iowa R., which was named for the Iowa Indians.
Kansas – Sioux word for “south wind people.”
Kentucky – Indian word that is variously translated as “dark and bloody ground,” “meadowland,” and “land of tomorrow.”
Louisiana – Part of territory called Louisiana by Sieur de La Salle for French King Louis XIV.
Maine – From Maine, ancient French province. Also: descriptive, referring to the mainland as distinct from the many coastal islands.
Maryland – For Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England.
Massachusetts – From Indian tribe named after “large hill place” identified by Capt. John Smith as being near Milton, MA.
Michigan – From Chippewa words, mici gama, meaning “great water,” after the lake of the same name.
Minnesota – From Dakota Sioux word meaning “cloudy water” or “sky-tinted water” of the Minnesota River.
Mississippi – Probably Chippewa; mici zibi, “great river” or “gathering-in of all the waters.” Also: Algonquin word, messipi.
Missouri – An Algonquin Indian term meaning “river of the big canoes.”
Montana – Latin or Spanish for “mountainous.”
Nebraska – From Omaha or Otos Indian word meaning “broad water” or “flat river,” describing the Platte River.
Nevada – Spanish, meaning “snow-clad.”
New Hampshire – Named, 1629, by Capt. John Mason of Plymouth Council for his home county in England.
New Jersey – The Duke of York, 1664, gave a patent to John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret to be called Nova Caesaria, or New Jersey, after England’s Isle of Jersey.
New Mexico – Spaniards in Mexico applied term to land north and west of Rio Grande in the 16th century.
New York – For Duke of York and Albany, who received patent to New Netherland from his brother Charles II and sent an expedition to capture it, 1664.
North Carolina – In 1619 Charles I gave a large patent to Sir Robert Heath to be called Province of Carolana, from Carolus, Latin name for Charles. A new patent was granted by Charles II to Earl of Clarendon and others. Divided into North and South Carolina, 1710.
North Dakota – Dakota is Sioux for “friend” or “ally.”
Ohio – Iroquois word for “fine or good river.”
Oklahoma – Choctaw word meaning “red man,” proposed by Rev. Allen Wright, Choctaw-speaking Indian.
Oregon – Origin unknown. One theory holds that the name may have been derived from that of the Wisconsin River, shown on a 1715 French map as “Ouaricon-sint.”
Pennsylvania – William Penn, the Quaker who was made full proprietor of this area by King Charles II in 1681, suggested “Sylvania,” or “woodland,” for his tract. The king’s government owed Penn’s father, Admiral William Penn, 16,000 pounds, and the land was granted as partial settlement. Charles II added the “Penn” to Sylvania, against the desires of the modest proprietor, in honor of the admiral.
Puerto Rico – Spanish for “rich port.”
Rhode Island – Exact origin is unknown. One theory notes that Giovanni de Verrazano recorded an island about the size of Rhodes in the Mediterranean in 1524, but others believe the state was named Roode Eylandtby Adriaen Block, Dutch explorer, because of its red clay.
South Carolina – See North Carolina.
South Dakota – See North Dakota.
Tennessee – Tanasiwas the name of Cherokee villages on the Little Tennessee River. From 1784 to 1788 this was the State of Franklin, or Frankland.
Texas – Variant of word used by Caddo and other Indians meaning “friends” or “allies,” and applied to them by the Spanish in eastern Texas. Also written Texias, Tejas, Teysas.
Utah – From a Navajo word meaning “upper,” or “higher up,” as applied to a Shoshone tribe called Ute. Spanish form is Yutta. The English is Utaor Utah. Proposed name Deseret, “land of honeybees,” from Book of Mormon, was rejected by Congress.
Vermont – From French words vert(green) and mont(mountain). The Green Mountains were said to have been named by Samuel de Champlain. When the state was formed, 1777, Dr. Thomas Young suggested combining vertand montinto Vermont.
Virginia – Named by Sir Walter Raleigh, who fitted out the expedition of 1584, in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England.
Washington – Named after George Washington. When the bill creating the Territory of Columbia was introduced in the 32d Congress, the name was changed to Washington because of the existence of the District of Columbia.
West Virginia – So named when western counties of Virginia refused to secede from the U.S. in 1863.
Wisconsin – An Indian name, spelled Ouisconsin and Mesconsing by early chroniclers. Believed to mean “grassy place” in Chippewa. Congress made it Wisconsin.
Wyoming – From the Algonquin words for “large prairie place,” “at the big plains,” or “on the great plain.”
Source: State officials, Smithsonian Institution, and Topographic Division, U.S. Geological Survey, Dept. of the Interior.