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

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Many places throughout the United States of America 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 languages.

State names[]

Main article: List of U.S. state name etymologies
  • Alabama – Named for the Alibamu, a tribe whose name derives from a Choctaw phrase meaning "thicket-clearers"[1] or "plant-cutters" (from albah, "(medicinal) plants", and amo, "to clear"). The modern Choctaw name for the tribe is Albaamu.[2]
  • Alaska – from Aleut alaxsxaq, "the mainland" (literally "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed").[3]
  • Arizona – may be from O'odham ali ṣona-g, "having a little spring", though it may come from Basque: aritz zonak ("Good oaks").[4]
  • Arkansas – from the Illinois rendering of the tribal autonym kką:ze (see Kansas, below), which the Miami and Illinois used to refer to the Quapaw.[4][5][6]
  • Connecticut – from some Eastern Algonquian language of southern New England (perhaps Mahican), meaning "at the long tidal river" (after the Connecticut River).[7][8] The name reflects Proto-Eastern-Algonquian *kwən-, "long"; *-əhtəkw, "tidal river"; and *-ənk, the locative suffix[9]
  • Idaho – may be from Plains Apache ídaahę́, "enemy", used to refer to the Comanches,[10] or it may have been an invented word.
  • Illinois – from the French rendering of an Algonquian (perhaps Miami) word apparently meaning "s/he speaks normally" (c.f. Miami ilenweewa),[11] from Proto-Algonquian *elen-, "ordinary" + -wē, "to speak",[12][13] referring to the Illiniwek.
  • Iowa – from Dakota ayúxba or ayuxwe, via French Aiouez.[14][15][16]
  • Kansas – from the autonym kką:ze.[5]
  • Kentucky – from an Iroquoian word meaning "at the meadow" or "on the prairie"[17] (c.f. Seneca gëdá’geh [kẽtaʔkeh], "at the field").[18]
  • Massachusetts – from an Algonquian language of southern New England, and apparently means "near the small big mountain", usually identified as Great Blue Hill on the border of Milton and Canton, Massachusetts[19] (c.f. the Narragansett name Massachusêuck).[19]
  • Michigan – from Ottawa mishigami, "large water" or "large lake".".[20][21]
  • Minnesota – from Dakota mni-sota, "turbid water".[8][22]
  • Mississippi – from an Algonquian language, probably Ojibwe, meaning "big river" (Ojibwe misiziibi).[20][23]
  • Missouri – named for the Missouri tribe, whose name comes from Illinois mihsoori, "dugout canoe".[24]
  • Nebraska – from Chiwere ñįbraske, "flattened water".[25]
  • New Mexico – the name "Mexico" comes from Nahuatl Mēxihco, of unknown derivation.[26]
  • North and South Dakota – dakhóta comes from the Sioux word for "friend" or "ally".[25]
  • Ohio – from Seneca ohi:yo’, "beautiful river".[27][28]
  • Oklahoma – invented by Chief Allen Wright as a rough translation of "Indian Territory"; in Choctaw, okla means "people", "tribe", or "nation", and homa- means "red", thus: "Red people".[8][29]
  • Tennessee – Derived from the name of a Cherokee village, Tanasi, whose etymology is unknown.[30]
  • Texas – ultimately from Caddo táyshaʔ, "friend".[31][32]
  • Utah – from a language of one of the Ute tribe's neighbors, such as Western Apache yúdah, "high up".[33]
  • Wisconsin – originally "Mescousing", from an Algonquian language, though the source and meaning is not entirely clear; most likely from the Miami word Meskonsing meaning "it lies red"[34][35] (c.f. Ojibwe miskosin).[20]
  • Wyoming – from Munsee Delaware xwé:wamənk, "at the big river flat".[36]

Alabama[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Alabama
  • Tuscaloosa and 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. The Black Warrior River, originally named Tuskaloosa River, is also named in his honor.[37]
  • Tuskegee - from the Koasati word tasquiqui (warriors).[38]
  • Wetumpka- Is an Alabamu tribal name, referring to both a traditional Alabamu Indian village and the band of people who lived there. Although the villagers were Alabamu Indians, "Wetumpka" was not their own word for themselves-- it was the name given to the village by the neighboring Creek tribe. Wetumhka (also spelled Wetumka, Wetumhkv, We-wau-tum-cau, and a variety of other ways) means "tumbling water" in Creek, and refers to a waterfall near the village site.[citation needed]

Alaska[]

  • Denali, Denali National Park – from Koyukon deenaalee, "the tall one" (with -naał-, "be long/tall").[39]

Arizona[]

Arkansas[]

Solgohachia (pronounced saw-guh-HATCH-ee [1]) is an unincorporated community in Conway County, Arkansas, United States, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Morrilton on state highway 9 and Highway 287. The name is from the Choctaw word Sok-ko-huch-cha, meaning "muscadine river" (Cushman, p. 603).

California[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in California
  • Azusa - from Tongva village "Azucsagna"
  • Malibu – from Ventureño "Umalibu, perhaps reflecting [(hu)maliwu], "it (the surf) makes a loud noise all the time over there".[41]
  • Pismo Beach - from Chumash "Pismu" for "tar"
  • Poway - from Kumeyaay language
  • Temecula - from Luiseño "Temeekunga"
  • Simi Valley – from Ventureño "Simiyi".[42]
  • Mojave Desert - from Mohave people

Colorado[]

  • Arapahoe County[43]
  • Town of Kiowa, county seat of Elbert County[44]
  • Kiowa County[45]
  • Chief Hosa Lodge in Denver Mountain Parks, named after Little Raven, also called Hosa[46]
  • Left Hand Creek and Left Hand Canyon, named after Chief Niwot, from Arapaho "left handed"[47][48]
  • Little Raven Street near downtown Denver[49]
  • Niwot Census-designated place in Boulder County[48][50]
  • Mount Ouray, on the border of Chaffee and Saguache counties[51][52][53][54]
  • Town of Ouray, county seat of Ouray County[55]
  • Saguache County and its county seat, possibly from Ute terms meaning "sand dune",[56] "blue earth",[57] "blue water", or "green place"[58]

Connecticut[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin
  • Housatonic River From the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond the mountain place"
  • Niantic River and Niantic village – For the Niantic tribe, called the Nehântick or Nehantucket in their own language
  • Quinnipiac River – From an Algonquian phrase for "long water land".
  • Hammonasset Beach - for the Hammonassett tribe of Eastern Woodland Indians, one of five tribes that inhabited the shoreline area of Connecticut. The Indian word “Hammonassett” means “where we dig holes in the ground,” a reference to the tribe's agricultural way of life.

Delaware[]

  • Naamans Creek is named after a Minqua chief who befriended the settlers of New Sweden.[59]

District of Columbia[]

  • Anacostia—from the Piscataway name Anakwashtank, meaning 'a place of traders'.[60] Originally the name of a village of the Piscataway tribe on the Anacostia River. Also rendered as Nacochtank or Nacostine.
  • Potomac River—from the Piscataway language or from a northern dialect of Virginia Algonquian, original form patawomek, meaning 'they bring it' (for trading).
  • Takoma—originally the name of Mount Rainier, from Lushootseed [təqʷúbəʔ] (earlier *təqʷúməʔ), 'snow-covered mountain'.[61] The location on the boundary of DC and Maryland was named Takoma in 1883 by DC resident Ida Summy, who believed it to mean 'high up' or 'near heaven'.[62]

Florida[]

  • Abacoa, Florida – Originally the name of a village of the Jaega tribe.[63]
  • Alachua County and Alachua – from the Timucuan chua, meaning sinkhole .[64]
  • Alafaya – After the Alafay people, a sub-group of the Pohoy
  • Apalachicola – from Choctaw Apalachee + oklah, "people".[65] Name of the Apalachicola tribe.
  • Apopka, Florida – from probably Seminole Aha, meaning "Potato," and papka, meaning "eating place".
  • Caloosahatchee River – from Calusa + hatchee, Choctaw for river.
  • Hialeah – From Muscogee meaning "pretty prairie".
  • Immokalee – from Choctaw(?) im-okli, "his/her home".[66]
  • Kissimmee - Disputed meaning, perhaps derived from Ais word "Cacema" meaning "long water".[67]
  • Loxahatchee River – from Seminole for river of turtles.
  • Manatee County – from Taíno manatí meaning "breast".
  • Miami – Native American name for Lake Okeechobee and the Miami River, precise origin debated; see also Mayaimi.[68]
  • Micanopy – named after Seminole chief Micanopy.
  • Myakka City, Florida – from unidentified Native American language.
  • Ocala, Florida – from Timucua meaning "Big Hammock".
  • Okaloosa County, Florida – Okaloosa is named from the Choctaw words oka (water) and lusa (black).
  • Okeechobee County, Florida – Okeechobee is named from the Hitchiti words oki (water) and chobi (big), a reference to Lake Okeechobee, the largest lake in Florida.
  • Osceola County, Florida – Osceola is named after Osceola, the Native American leader who led the Second Seminole War.
  • Paynes Prairie – Named after leading chief of the Seminoles King Payne.
  • Pensacola – from the Choctaw name of a Muskogean group, "hair people", from pashi, "hair" + oklah, "people".[69]
  • Seminole County, Florida – Seminole is named after the Seminole Native American tribe.lp
  • Steinhatchee – From the Muscogee "hatchee" meaning creek
  • Suwannee River – From Timucua "suwani" meaning echo river.[70]
  • Tallahassee – from the name of a Creek town, talahá:ssi, perhaps from (i)tálwa, "tribal town" + ahá:ssi, "old, rancid".[71]
  • Tampa – probably from the name of a Calusa village, with no further known etymology.[72]
  • Tequesta – Named for the Tequesta tribe.
  • Thonotosassa, Florida – from the Seminole-Creek words thlonto and sasse, meaning the place was a source of valuable flint.
  • Wekiva Springs, Florida – from Creek word for "spring".
  • Withlacoochee River (Florida) – from Creek we (water), thlako (big), and chee (little), or little big water.


Georgia[]

  • Cherokee County
  • Coweta County
  • Dahlonega
  • Muscogee County
  • Seminole County
  • Toccoa
  • Cataula - a small community on US 27 in Harris county where 20th century guitar virtuoso Chet Adkins was born.
  • Upatoi - a creek that runs between Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in west-central Georgia.
  • Chattahoochee River - a major tributary of the Apalachicola River that makes up the southern half of the Alabama-Georgia border.
  • Nankipooh - once a whistle stop on the Central of Georgia railroads "R" branch, it is now a suburb of Columbus, GA
  • Ochillie - a creek that flows northwest through Chattahoochee county, within the boundaries of the Fort Benning military reservation, and into Upatoi creek.
  • Schatulga - a small community in western Columbus, GA/Muscogee county.
  • Weracoba - a creek and city park in Columbus, GA

Idaho[]

  • Benewah County
  • Kootenai County
  • Latah County
  • Potlatch
  • Shoshone County

Illinois[]

Communities

  • Algonquin
  • Aptakisic - named for Chief Optagushick of the Potawatomi tribe; means "Half Day," or "sun at the center of the sky."
  • Ashkum - name originated from Chief Ashkum of the Potawatomi Indians.[73]
  • Cahokia - The name refers to one of the clans of the historic Illini confederacy, who met early French explorers to the region
  • Chautauqua
  • Chebanse - "Chebanse" derives from zhishibéns, meaning "the little duck" in the Potawatomi language
  • Chenoa
  • Chicago, Chicago Heights and Chicago Ridge - for the Miami-Illinois word Shikaakwa, wild leek
  • Chillicothe - comes from the name of the Chalagawtha sept of the Shawnee nation
  • Colusa
  • Dakota
  • East Peoria
  • Erie
  • Fox Lake Hills
  • Fox River Grove
  • Geneseo - "Geneseo" is a variation of the Iroquois word Genesee, meaning "shining valley" or "beautiful valley"
  • Illiopolis - The name was formed from Illinois and -polis, a Greek suffix meaning "city".
  • Iroquois
  • Iuka - named after the Chickasaw Indian Chief
  • Kankakee
  • Kansas - named by the French after the Kansas, Omaha, Kaw, Osage and Dakota Sioux Indian word "KaNze" meaning, in the Kansas language, "south wind."
  • Kaskaskia - "Cascasquia" is an alternative, supposedly more French, spelling of "Kaskaskia" that is sometimes encountered. It was named after a clan of the Illiniwek encountered by the early French Jesuits and other settlers.
  • Kewanee - "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken
  • Kickapoo - named after the Kickapoo people
  • Mount Erie
  • Mackinaw - Mackinaw (sometimes spelled Mackinac) is derived from the Ojibwe word mikinaak meaning "turtle".
  • Mahomet - after Mahomet Weyonomon, a tribal chieftain from Connecticut
  • Maquon - from the Algonquian language A-ma-quon-sip-pi, Amaquon meaning mussel, or mussel shell
  • Maroa - named after the Maroa Indians
  • Mascoutah - a derivative of the Mascouten tribe.
  • Mendota - The name "Mendota" is derived from a Native American word meaning "junction of two trails".
  • Menominee - Named after the Menominee Indian tribe.
  • Merrimac - name taken from the nearby Meramec River whose name was translated as 'Ugly Water' from Algonquian by French Jesuits in the area. However, scholars of the language translate it as 'place of strong current.'
  • Mettawa - named for a nearby Potawatomi settlement
  • Minonk - from the Ojibwe word meaning “a good place” or from the Mohican word meaning “high point”.
  • Minooka
  • Mokena - a name derived from a Native American language meaning "mud turtle"
  • Moweaqua
  • Nachusa
  • Nekoma
  • Neoga - Neoga means "deer" in the Kickapoo language
  • Neponset
  • Nokomis
  • Oconee - named after the daughter of a local Indian chieftain
  • Ohio
  • Old Shawneetown
  • Okawville
  • Omaha
  • Oneco
  • Oneida
  • Onarga
  • Oquawka
  • Oregon
  • Oskaloosa
  • Ottawa - named after the Odawa people
  • Owaneco
  • Panama
  • Panola - a Native American word for cotton
  • Patoka - named after a local Indian chieftain
  • Pawnee
  • Pecatonica - The word Pecatonica is an anglicization of two Algonquian language words; Bekaa (or Pekaa in some dialects), which means slow and niba, which means water; forming the conjunction Bekaaniba or Slow Water.
  • Peoria and Peoria Heights - named after the Peoria Tribe which previously lived in the area
  • Peotone - Derived from the Potawatomi language meaning "come here".[74]
  • Pesotum
  • Pistakee Highlands - "pistakee" comes from the Algonquin word for buffalo
  • Pocahontas
  • Ponemah
  • Pontiac - named after Pontiac, an Odawa war chief
  • Pontoosuc
  • Potomac - originally named Marysville after the wives of the two founders, John Smith and Isaac Meneley, who started businesses here circa 1840. On May 13, 1871, a post office was established at the town and was named Potomac, most likely after the Potomac River. The town's name was later changed to conform to this.
  • Roanoke
  • Sangamon - from a Pottawatomie word Sain-guee-mon meaning "where there is plenty to eat."
  • Sauk Village - named after the Sauk people
  • Saunemin - named after a Kickapoo chief
  • Scioto and Scioto Mills - The name Scioto is derived from the Wyandot word skɛnǫ·tǫ’ meaning “deer”
  • Seneca
  • Shabbona and Shabbona Grove - named after the Potawatomi chief and peacemaker Shabbona
  • Shawneetown
  • Shokokon
  • Skokie
  • Somonauk
  • Tamaroa - named after the Tamaroa, an Illiniwek people
  • Tampico
  • Tennessee - named after the state of Tennessee
  • Tioga - The name "Tioga" means "at the forks". The various Iroquois tribes all had similar words for the concept: the Oneida called it Te-ah-o-ge, the Mohawk called it Te-yo-ge-ga, the Cayuga called it Da-o-ga and the Seneca called it Da-yo-o-geh.
  • Tiskilwa
  • Toluca
  • Tonica - named after the Tunica people
  • Topeka
  • Towanda - named after Towanda, Pennsylvania; the name means "burial ground" in the Algonquian language.
  • Tuscola
  • Tuscarora
  • Wabash Point - The name "Wabash" is an English spelling of the French name for the river, "Ouabache." French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, "Wabashike," (pronounced "Wah-bah-she-keh"), the word for "pure white."
  • Walla Walla - name means "many waters"
  • Wapella
  • Wataga
  • Watseka - Incorporated in 1865, the name "Watseka" derives from the Potawatomi name "Watch-e-kee", "Daughter of the Evening Star", the wife of early eastern Illinois settler Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard.[75]
  • Wauconda - Originally spelled "Wakanda"
  • Waukegan - meaning "little fort"; cf. Potawatomi wakaigin "fort" or "fortress"
  • Wauponsee - named for a Potawatomi Chief whose name means “Bright Place in the Sky”
  • Wenona
  • Wenonah
  • West Peoria
  • Winnebago
  • Winnetka - name is believed to originate from the Potawatomi language, meaning "beautiful place"
  • Wyoming - named after the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania which derives from the Lenape Munsee name xwé:wamənk, meaning "at the smaller river hills."

Counties and Townships

  • Cahokia Township - The name refers to one of the clans of the historic Illini confederacy, who met early French explorers to the region
  • Chebanse Township - "Chebanse" derives from zhishibéns, meaning "the little duck" in the Potawatomi language
  • Chillicothe Township - comes from the name of the Chalagawtha sept of the Shawnee nation
  • Dakota Township
  • Erie Township - named after Erie County, New York which in turn was named after Lake Erie. The lake was named by the Erie people, a Native American people who lived along its southern shore. The tribal name "erie" is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan, meaning "long tail"
  • Fox Township in Kendall County and in Jasper County - from the Fox tribe
  • Genesee Township - from the Iroquois word Genesee, meaning "shining valley" or "beautiful valley"
  • Geneseo Township - "Geneseo" is a variation of the Iroquois word Genesee, meaning "shining valley" or "beautiful valley"
  • Illini Township
  • Illiopolis Township - The name was formed from Illinois and -polis, a Greek suffix meaning "city".
  • Iroquois County and Iroquois Township - Named after the Iroquois Indian tribe.
  • Kankakee County and Kankakee Township
  • Kansas Township in Edgar County and in Woodford County - named by the French after the Kansas, Omaha, Kaw, Osage and Dakota Sioux Indian word "KaNze" meaning, in the Kansas language, "south wind."
  • Kaskaskia Township - "Cascasquia" is an alternative, supposedly more French, spelling of "Kaskaskia" that is sometimes encountered. It was named after a clan of the Illiniwek encountered by the early French Jesuits and other settlers.
  • Kewanee Township - "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken
  • Kickapoo Township - named after the Kickapoo people
  • Macoupin County - Miami-Illinois term for the American lotus, Nelumbo lutea
  • Nachusa Township
  • Peoria County - named after the Peoria Tribe which previously lived in the area
  • Sangamon County - from a Pottawatomie word Sain-guee-mon meaning "where there is plenty to eat."
  • Sciota Township - The name Scioto is derived from the Wyandot word skɛnǫ·tǫ’ meaning “deer”
  • Wabash County - The name "Wabash" is an English spelling of the French name for the river, "Ouabache." French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, "Wabashike," (pronounced "Wah-bah-she-keh"), the word for "pure white."
  • Winnebago County

Lakes and Rivers

  • Chicago River - for the Miami-Illinois word Shikaakwa, wild leek
  • Fox River (Illinois River tributary) = from the Fox tribe
  • Illinois River
  • Iroquois River - Named after the Iroquois Indian tribe.
  • Kankakee River
  • Kaskaskia River - "Cascasquia" is an alternative, supposedly more French, spelling of "Kaskaskia" that is sometimes encountered. It was named after a clan of the Illiniwek encountered by the early French Jesuits and other settlers.
  • Kishwaukee River and South Branch Kishwaukee River - derived from the Potowatomi word meaning the "river of the sycamore."
  • Lake Michigan
  • Mackinaw River and Little Mackinaw River - Mackinaw (sometimes spelled Mackinac) is derived from the Ojibwe word mikinaak meaning "turtle".
  • Macoupin Creek - Miami-Illinois term for the American lotus, Nelumbo lutea
  • Mississippi River
  • Menominee River and Little Menominee River - Menominee means "good seed" or "wild rice".
  • Pecatonica River - The word Pecatonica is an anglicization of two Algonquian language words; Bekaa (or Pekaa in some dialects), which means slow and niba, which means water; forming the conjunction Bekaaniba or Slow Water.
  • Piscasaw Creek
  • Pistakee Lake - "pistakee" comes from the Algonquin word for buffalo
  • Sangamon River - from a Pottawatomie word Sain-guee-mon meaning "where there is plenty to eat."
  • Sinsinawa River - One version holds that "Sinsinawa" derives from an Algonquian word (possibly Potawatomi, Fox or Menominee language) for "rattlesnake" to describe the Sioux. Another version says "home of the young eagle".
  • Somonauk Creek
  • Wabash River and Little Wabash River - The name "Wabash" is an English spelling of the French name for the river, "Ouabache." French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, "Wabashike," (pronounced "Wah-bah-she-keh"), the word for "pure white."
  • Waukegan River - meaning "little fort"; cf. Potawatomi wakaigin "fort" or "fortress"

Protected areas

  • Channahon State Park
  • Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge
  • Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge
  • Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge - The name Hackmatack is an Algonquin term for the American tamarack or Larix laricina, a conifer formerly abundant in regional wetlands.
  • Illini State Park
  • Illinois Caverns State Natural Area
  • Iroquois County State Wildlife Area
  • Johnson-Sauk Trail State Recreation Area
  • Kankakee River State Park
  • Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area
  • Kickapoo State Recreation Area
  • Kishwaukee River State Fish and Wildlife Area
  • Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area
  • Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie - The name Midewin (/mɪˈdeɪwɪn/, mi-DAY-win) is a Potawatomi word referring to the tribe's healers.
  • Mississippi River State Fish and Wildlife Area
  • Sangchris Lake State Recreation Area
  • Shabbona Lake State Park
  • Saganashkee Slough - It was formerly a huge swamp that extended from west of 104th Avenue to the limits of Blue Island, and its original name, Ausaganashkee, is a Potawatomi Indian word that means "slush of the earth," wrote former Forest Preserve District general superintendent Cap Sauer in a historical account written in the late 1940s.[76]
  • Shawnee National Forest

Names from fiction

  • Metamora - based on the character in the popular play Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags.
  • Niota - based on the name of a fictional character in a dime novel, a Native American chief named "Nee-o-tah."

Indiana[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Indiana
  • Mishawaka - named after Shawnee Princess Mishawaka [77]
  • Shipshewana - named after Potawatomi Chief Shipshewana [78]
  • Wanatah - named after the Potawatomi Chief Wanatah, meaning ‘Knee Deep in Mud’, "He who Charges His Enemies" or "The Charger".[79]
  • Delaware County - named for the Delaware, who were moved to the area in the 1840s.[80]
  • Miami County - named for the Miami, a Native American people, many of whom still live in this area.[81]
  • Mississinewa River - partly derived from the Miami Indian word namahchissinwi which means "falling waters" or "much fall in the water".[82]
  • Tippecanoe River - name comes from a Miami-Illinois word for buffalo fish, reconstructed as */kiteepihkwana/.[83]
  • Salamonie River - derived from the Miami Indian word osahmonee which means "yellow paint". The Indians would make yellow paint from the bloodroot plant that grew along the river banks.[84][85]
  • Wabash River - French traders named the river after the Miami Indian word for the river, waapaahšiiki, meaning "it shines white", "pure white", or "water over white stones"[86]
  • Lake Wawasee - named for Miami chief Wawasee (Wau-wuh-see), brother of Miami chief Papakeecha, which translated means "Flat Belly."[87]
  • Wapahani High School - Wapahani is a Delaware Indian word for "White River".[88]
  • Winamac - town name from the Potawatomi word for "catfish."

Iowa[]

  • Anamosa, Iowa - named after the legend of a local Native American girl
  • Battle Creek - named for a skirmish between Native American tribes near the stream.
  • Cherokee County, Iowa - named after the Cherokee
  • Cherokee, Iowa - named after the Cherokee
  • Chickasaw County, Iowa - named after the Chickasaw Nation
  • Camanche, Iowa, named after the Camanche
  • Keokuk, Iowa - named after the Sauk chief Keokuk
  • Keosauqua, Iowa - named after the Meskwaki and Sauk name for the Des Moines River.
  • Osceola, Iowa - named after the Seminole leader Osceola.
  • Sioux City, Iowa - named after the Yankton Sioux
  • Sioux County, Iowa - named after the Sioux nation.
  • Wapello County, Iowa - named after Wapello, a Meskwaki chief.

Kansas[]

  • Topeka – from Kansa dóppikʔe, "a good place to dig wild potatoes".
  • Wichita – Wichita (/ˈwɪtʃɪtɔː/ WITCH-i-taw) disputed; from Choctaw, "Big Arbor".Osage, "Scattered Lodges". Kiowa, "Tattooed Faces". Creek, "Barking Water".
  • Osawatomie- Osawatomie's name is a compound of two primary Native American Indian tribes from the area, the Osage and Pottawatomie.
  • Ottawa- Ottawa Tribe of is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes of Odawa people in the United States.
  • Tonganoxie- derives its name from a member of the Delaware tribe that once occupied land in what is now Leavenworth County and western Wyandotte County.
  • Shawnee- The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe.
  • Osage City- The Osage Nation (English pronunciation: /ˈoʊseɪdʒ/ OH-sayj) (Ni-u-kon-ska, “People of the Middle Waters”) is a Midwestern Native American tribe

Kentucky[]

  • Iroquois Park - The Iroquois Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe.
  • Shawnee Park - The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe.
  • Cherokee Park - The Cherokee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe.

Louisiana[]

  • Atchafalaya River - from Choctaw words meaning 'long river' (similar to Bogue Falaya's meaning, below); a distributary of the Red River and Mississippi River
  • Atchafalaya Swamp - the largest wetland area in the United States
  • Avoyelles Parish - for the Avoyel people
  • Baton Rouge - meaning 'red stick,' in French; a red stick was used by area Native Americans to mark the boundaries of tribal territory; Louisiana's capital city since 1849.
  • E. Baton Rouge Parish - see Baton Rouge
  • W. Baton Rouge Parish - see Baton Rouge, above
  • Bayou Nezpique - French for 'tattooed nose bayou,' a reference to the art of tattooing practiced by Native Americans in the area
  • Bayou Plaquemine Brule - Acadian French, translating as 'burnt persimmon bayou,' from the Atakapa language
  • Bogue Falaya - tributary of the Tchefuncte River, from the Choctaw words for 'long' and 'river'
  • Caddo Parish - for the Caddo Native Americans
  • Calcasieu Parish - means 'crying eagle,' the name of an Atakapa leader
  • Catahoula Lake - from a Taensa word meaning 'big, clear lake'
  • Catahoula Parish - for Catahoula Lake
  • Houma - for the Houma people; seat of Terrebonne Parish
  • Mississippi River - from the Ojibwe name for the waterway, 'Great River'
  • Natchez, Louisiana - present-day village in Natchitoches Parish; after the Natchez people
  • Natchitoches - after the Natchitoches people; Natchitoches was founded in 1714.
  • Natchitoches Parish - for the town
  • Opelousas – for the native Appalousa people who formerly occupied the area
  • Ouachita Parish - for the Ouachita River
  • Ouachita River - for the Ouachita tribe, one of several Native American tribal groups who lived along the river.
  • Plaquemine - town in Iberville Parish, in the vicinity of Bayou Plaquemine Brulé (see above)
  • Plaquemines Parish - based on the Atakapa word for persimmon, as the early French colonists found persimmon trees growing in the lands near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
  • Ponchatoula is a name signifying "falling hair" or "hanging hair" or "flowing hair" from the Choctaw Pashi "hair" and itula or itola "to fall" or "to hang" or "flowing". The Choctaw name Ponchatoula means "flowing hair", arrived at by the Choctaw as a way of expressing the beauty of the location with much moss hanging from the trees. "Ponche" is a Choctaw word meaning location, an object, or a person [1]. See the eponymous Ponchatoula Creek.
  • Saint Tammany Parish - for the legendary Native American chief Tamanend
  • Tangipahoa, Louisiana - a present-day village in Tangipahoa Parish (see below)
  • Tangipahoa Parish - for the Tangipahoa River
  • Tangipahoa River - for the Tangipahoa tribe, closely related to the Acolapissa people; the name is said to refer to those who grind corn.
  • Tchefuncte River - for the historic Tchefuncte culture
  • Tensas Parish - for the Taensa people
  • Tickfaw, Louisiana - a present-day village in Tangipahoa Parish (see Tickfaw River)
  • Tickfaw River - appears to have the same linguistic roots as Tangipahoa River.
  • Tunica - a community in West Feliciana Parish, for the Tunica people
  • - a forest region and wildlife management area, also for the Tunica people

Maine[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin

Maryland[]

Main article: List of place names in Maryland of Native American origin

Massachusetts[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin
  • Housatonic River From the Mohican phrase "usi-a-di-en-uk", translated as "beyond the mountain place"

Michigan[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Michigan

Minnesota[]

Political units[]

The following are state, county, townships, cities, towns, villages and major city neighborhoods of Minnesota with placenames of indigenous origin in the Americas.

  • Ah-gwah-ching, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Agwajiing "Outdoors"
  • County and City of Anoka
  • Bejou, Minnesota - From the Ojibwe language: Bizhiw "bobcat, lynx".
  • Bemidji, Minnesota – Shortened from the Ojibwe language: Bemijigamaag "Traversing lake".
  • Bena, Minnesota - From the Ojibwe language: Bine "grouse, partridge".
  • Chanhassen, Minnesota
  • Chaska, Minnesota
  • Chengwatana, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Zhingwaadena "Pine-town"
  • Chippewa County, Minnesota
  • Chisago County, Minnesota – Shortened from the Ojibwe language: Gichi-zaaga'igan "Big lake".
  • Chokio, Minnesota
  • Cohasset, Minnesota
  • Cokato, Minnesota
  • Dakota County, Minnesota
  • Endion, Duluth, Minnesota - From the Ojibwe language: Endaayaan "my home".
  • Eyota, Minnesota
  • Hackensack, Minnesota
  • Hanska, Minnesota
  • Hokah, Minnesota
  • County and City of Isanti
  • Kabetogama, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Gaa-biitoogamaag "Place of paralleling water-body".
  • Kanabec County, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Ginebiko-ziibiing "At the Snake River"
  • County and City of Kandiyohi
  • Kasota, Minnesota
  • Keewatin, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Giiwedin "North"
  • Keewaydin, Minneapolis, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Giiwedin "North"
  • Koochiching County, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Gojijiing "At the inlet"
  • County and City of Mahnomen – From the Ojibwe language: Manoomin "Wild rice"
  • former Manomin County, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Manoomin "Wild rice"
  • Mahtomedi, Minnesota
  • Mahtowa, Minnesota
  • Mankato, Minnesota
  • Menahga, Minnesota
  • Mendota, Minnesota
  • Mendota Heights, Minnesota
  • Minnehaha, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Minneiska, Minnesota
  • Minnetonka, Minnesota
  • Nashwauk, Minnesota
  • Nokomis, Minneapolis, Minnesota - From the Ojibwe language: Nookomis "my grandmother".
  • Nokomis East, Minneapolis, Minnesota - From the Ojibwe language: Nookomis "my grandmother".
  • Nisswa, Minnesota
  • Township and City of Ogema - From the Ojibwe language: Ogimaa "Chief, leader".
  • Okabena, Minnesota
  • Onamia, Minnesota
  • Otsego, Minnesota
  • Owatonna, Minnesota
  • Pequot Lakes, Minnesota
  • Pokegama, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Bakegamaa "Side lake"
  • Shakopee, Minnesota – From the Dakota language: Shák'pí "Six"
  • Squaw Lake, Minnesota
  • Wabasso, Minnesota
  • Waconia, Minnesota
  • Wadena, Minnesota
  • Wahkon, Minnesota
  • Waseca, Minnesota
  • Waubun, Minnesota – From the Ojibwe language: Waaban "Dawn/East"
  • Wayzata, Minnesota
  • Wenonah, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • Winona, Minnesota

Water bodies[]

  • Bde Maka Ska
  • Lake Bemidji
  • Kawishiwi River
  • Minnehaha Creek and Falls
  • Minnesota River
  • Mississippi River
  • Nemadji River
  • Pokegama Lake
  • Lake Saganaga
  • Sauk River (Minnesota)
  • Us-kab-wan-ka River
  • Watab River
  • Lake Winnibigoshish

Landforms[]

  • Mesabi Range

Mississippi[]

Counties[]

  • Amite County - either from French amitié ("friendship"), or Choctaw himmita ("young")[89]: 4 
  • Attala County
  • Chickasaw County
  • Choctaw County
  • Coahoma County
  • Copiah County
  • Issaquena County
  • Itawamba County
  • Leflore County - named for an influential, mixed-race Choctaw chief, Greenwood LeFlore
  • Neshoba County
  • Noxubee County
  • Oktibbeha County
  • Panola County
  • Pontotoc County
  • Tallahatchie County
  • Tippah County
  • Tishomingo County
  • Tunica County
  • Yalobusha County
  • Yazoo County

Municipalities & Unincorporated Communities[]

  • Acona - uncertain etymology[89]: 3 
  • Alamucha[89]: 3 
  • Arcola[89]: 5 
  • Arkabutla[89]: 5 
  • Bigbee and Bigbee Valley - shortened from Tombigbee[89]: 8 
  • Biloxi[89]: 8 
  • Bogue Chitto, Kemper and Neshoba Counties[89]: 10 
  • Bogue Chitto, Lincoln County[89]: 10 
  • Bolatusha[89]: 15 
  • Buckatunna[89]: 16 
  • Byhalia- uncertain etymology[89]: 17–18 
  • Bywy[89]: 18 
  • Cayuga - named for the Cayuga, an Iroquois nation from New York[89]: 20 
  • Chatawa[89]: 20 
  • Cheraw - named for the Cheraw people of North Carolina[89]: 21 
  • Chiwapa[89]: 24 
  • Choctaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi[89]: 25 
  • Choctaw, Neshoba County, Mississippi[89]: 25 
  • Chulahoma[89]: 27 
  • Chunky[89]: 27 
  • Coahoma[89]: 29 
  • Cohay[89]: 29 
  • Coila[89]: 30 
  • Conehatta[89]: 30 
  • Coosa[89]: 32 
  • Eastabuchie[89]: 33 
  • Escatawpa[89]: 34 
  • Eucutta[89]: 35 
  • Hiwannee[89]: 38 
  • Homochitto[89]: 40 
  • Hopoca - uncertain etymology[89]: 41 
  • Hushpuckena[89]: 43 
  • Issaquena[89]: 44 
  • Itta Bena[89]: 45 
  • Ituma[89]: 45 
  • Iuka - uncertain etymology[89]: 46 
  • Kewanee - uncertain Choctaw etymology; uncertain relationship to Kewanee, Illinois as an anatopism[89]: 48 
  • Kokomo - named after Kokomo, Indiana, itself of uncertain etymology[89]: 49 
  • Kolola Springs[89]: 49 
  • Looxahoma[89]: 51 
  • Mashulaville[89]: 54 
  • Mantachie[89]: 53 
  • Michigan City - named after Michigan
  • Mingo - named after the Chickasaw word for chief, not the Mingo tribe[89]: 55 
  • Muskegon - named after Muskegon, Michigan[89]: 59 
  • Mississippi City[89]: 54 
  • Nanachehaw (Allen)[89]: 59–60 
  • Napanee - uncertain etymology[89]: 62 
  • Natchez[89]: 62 
  • Neshoba[89]: 62 
  • New Houlka[89]: 42 
  • Nitta Yuma[89]: 64 
  • Noxapater[89]: 65 
  • Ocobla[89]: 70 
  • Ofahoma[89]: 71 
  • Okahola[89]: 70 
  • Oklahoma[89]: 74 
  • Okolona[89]: 74 
  • Oktoc[89]: 76 
  • Oswego - named for Oswego, New York[89]: 77 
  • Osyka[89]: 77 
  • Pachuta[89]: 78 
  • Pascagoula[89]: 78 
  • Pelahatchie[89]: 81 
  • Pocahontas - named after a Powhatan individual from Virginia[89]: 84 
  • Pontocola - extinct settlement in Pontotoc County (see Pontocola Road)[89]: 84 
  • Pontotoc[89]: 84 
  • Poticaw Landing - uncertain etymology[89]: 86 
  • Quofaloma[89]: 89 
  • Sabougla[89]: 89 
  • Sapa - very uncertain etymology[89]: 90 
  • Saratoga - named for Saratoga, New York[89]: 90 
  • Satartia[89]: 91 
  • Scooba[89]: 91 
  • Senatobia[89]: 91 
  • Shoccoe - named for Shocco Creek, North Carolina, itself of Catawba etymology[89]: 93 
  • Shongelo[89]: 93 
  • Shubuta[89]: 94 
  • Shuqualak[89]: 94 
  • Sipsey Fork[89]: 96 
  • Skuna[89]: 97 
  • Sucarnoochee[89]: 98 
  • [89]: 99 
  • Tallahala[89]: 101 
  • Tallula[89]: 105 
  • Talowah[89]: 105 
  • Tamola[89]: 105 
  • Tascohoma/Tuscahoma - extinct settlement near Holcomb, Mississippi (see Tascohoma Cemetery)[89]: 107 & 125 
  • Tawanta - very uncertain etymology[89]: 108 
  • Tchula[89]: 108 
  • Teoc[89]: 109 
  • Texas - named for Texas, which has Caddoan etymology[89]: 110 
  • Tibbee[89]: 110 
  • Tillatoba[89]: 112 
  • Tippo[89]: 113 
  • Tishomingo[89]: 114 
  • Toccopola[89]: 117 
  • Tocowa[89]: 117 & 119 
  • Toomsuba[89]: 120 
  • Topeka - named for Topeka, Kansas[89]: 121 
  • Topisaw[89]: 121 
  • Tougaloo - likely derived from Choctaw for "two creeks" or "second creek" and unrelated to the Cherokee Tugaloo[89]: 122 
  • Toxish - extinct settlement in Pontotoc County (see Toxish Road)[89]: 122 
  • Tula[89]: 123 
  • Tunica and North Tunica[89]: 124 
  • Tupelo[89]: 124–125 
  • Tuscola[89]: 125 
  • Wahalak[89]: 128 
  • Wautubbee[89]: 129 
  • Wenasoga - very uncertain etymology[89]: 130 
  • Winona - named Winona, Minnesota, itself named after a Dakota individual[89]: 130 
  • Yazoo City and Little Yazoo[89]: 131 
  • Yokena[89]: 135 

Geographic Features[]

Missouri[]

  • Chilhowee, Missouri
  • Chillicothe, Missouri
  • Koshkonong, Missouri
  • Lake Tapawingo, Missouri
  • Lake Winnebago, Missouri
  • Meramec River, Missouri
  • Miami, Missouri
  • Neosho, Missouri
  • Niangua, Missouri
  • Osage Beach, Missouri
  • Osage County, Missouri
  • Osceola, Missouri
  • Saginaw, Missouri
  • Sarcoxie, Missouri
  • Seneca, Missouri
  • Syracuse, Missouri
  • Tallapoosa, Missouri
  • Tecumseh, Missouri
  • Wasola, Missouri

Montana[]

  • Absaroka– Named after the Absaroka Indians, derived from Hidatsa name for the Crow people; it means "children of the large-beaked bird."[97]
  • Bear Paw Mountains - Indigenous names include Assiniboine: Waną́ be, lit. 'bear paws',[98] Crow: Daxpitcheeischikáate, lit. 'bear's little hand',[99] and Gros Ventre: lit. 'there are many buttes'.[100]
  • Belly River - The name of the river may come from the Blackfoot word mokowan of mokoan, meaning 'stomach'. The river was previously referred to as Mokowan River.[1] Its Gros Ventre name also means 'belly river'.[101]
  • Blackfoot - The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi or Siksikaitsitapi [102]meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot-speaking real people"[a]) is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: The Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Kainah ("Blood"), and two sections of the Piikani (Piegan Blackfeet), the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani (Amskapi Piikani or Pikuni).[103] Broader definitions include groups, like the Tsúùtínà (Sarcee) and A'aninin (Gros Ventre), spoke quite different languages but allied or joined with the Blackfoot Confederacy as well.
    • Blackfoot River (Montana)
  • Comanche, Montana is named for the Comanche people of the southern plains.
  • Crazy Mountains - "Crazy Woman Mountains" given them, in complement to their original Crow name, after a woman who went insane and lived in them after her family was killed in the westward settlement movement. [104]
  • Kalispell is a Salish word meaning "flat land above the lake".
  • Kootenay, Kootenai are an indigenous people of Montana, Idaho, Alberta and British Columbia. They are part of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in the United States.
    • Kootenai National Forest
    • Kootenay River
  • Yaak River (A’ak, Yaac, Yahk, Yahkh, and Yak) – is a Kootenay word meaning ‘arrow’.
  • Yellowstone – This is a translation of the Hidatsa name Mi tsi ada-zi ("Yellow Rock River").[105] French trappers named the river Roche Jaune, and later American trappers translated it into English as "Yellow Stone".
    • Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
    • Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
    • Yellowstone National Park
    • Yellowstone Plateau
    • Yellowstone River

Nebraska[]

Main article: List of place names in Nebraska of Native American origin

Nevada[]

  • Lake Tahoe
  • Panaca, Nevada - derived from the Southern Paiute word Pan-nuk-ker, which means metal, money, and wealth.
  • Tonopah, Nevada
  • Washoe County, Nevada
  • Winnemucca, Nevada

New Jersey[]

Main article: List of place names in New Jersey of aboriginal origin

New Hampshire[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin

New Mexico[]

  • Jemez Springs, New Mexico - Named for the nearby Pueblo of Jemez
  • Nambe, New Mexico - Tewa: Nambe Owingeh [nɑ̃̀ŋbèʔ ʔówîŋgè]; Nambé is the Spanish version of a similar-sounding Tewa word, which can be interpreted loosely as meaning "rounded earth."
  • Pojoaque, New Mexico - Tewa: P'osuwaege Owingeh [p’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè]
  • Taos, New Mexico - The English name Taos derives from the native Taos language meaning "place of red willows"
  • Tesuque, New Mexico - Tewa: Tetsuge Owingeh [tèʔts’úgé ʔówîŋgè])
  • Tucumcari, New Mexico - from Tucumcari Mountain, which is situated nearby. Where the mountain got its name is uncertain. It may have come from the Comanche word tʉkamʉkarʉ, which means 'ambush'. A 1777 burial record mentions a Comanche woman and her child captured in a battle at Cuchuncari, which is believed to be an early version of the name Tucumcari.

New York[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in New York
  • Canandaigua
  • Coxsackie (town), New York - <cook-sakē>, it means 'Hoot of the Owl'.
  • Geneseo - Gen-nis-he-yo it means "beautiful valley"
  • Manhattan – probably from <man-ǎ-hǎ-tonh>, which seems to reflect Munsee Delaware [ˈeːnta mənaˈhahteːŋk], "where one gathers bows" (with -/aht/-, "bow").[106]
  • Niagara Falls
  • Oneida
  • Onondaga
  • Oswego
  • Poughkeepsie
  • Saratoga
  • Seneca Lake
  • Skaneateles
  • Schoharie

North Carolina[]

  • Ahoskie
  • Catawba
  • Cherokee
  • Lumber River
  • Chowan County
  • Cullowhee
  • Currituck County
  • Eno River⟨⟩
  • Hatteras
  • Manteo
  • Lake Mattamuskeet
  • Neuse River
  • Ocracoke
  • Pamlico County
  • Pasquotank County
  • Perquimans County
  • Roanoke Island
  • Sauratown Mountains
  • Saxapahaw
  • Swannanoa
  • Wanchese
  • Watauga County
  • Waxhaw
  • Yadkin River[107][108][109]

North Dakota[]

Pembina, North Dakota - The name Pembina is an Ojibwa word for Viburnum edule, a plant with red berries which grows in the area.[110] Nineteenth-century journal-writers and observers have translated the word as "summer berry" or "high cranberry".[111]

Ohio[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Ohio
  • Ashtabula—from Lenape ashtepihəle, 'always enough (fish) to go around, to be given away';[112] contraction from apchi 'always'[113] + tepi 'enough' + həle (verb of motion).[114]
  • Chillicothe—from Shawnee Chala·ka·tha, referring to members of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee people: Chalaka (name of the Shawnee group, of unknown meaning) + -tha 'person';[115] the present Chillicothe is the most recent of seven places in Ohio that have held that name, because it was applied to the main town wherever the Chalakatha settled as they moved to different places.
  • Conneaut—probably derived from Seneca ga-nen-yot, 'standing stone'. See the article conneaut. Compare Juniata, originating from the name Onayutta or Onojutta in another Iroquoian language (probably Susquehannock), and the Oneida nation, whose name Onę˙yóteˀ also means 'standing stone'.
  • Coshocton—derived from Unami Lenape Koshaxkink 'where there is a river crossing', probably adapted as Koshaxktun 'ferry' ('river-crossing device').[116]
  • Cuyahoga—originally Mohawk Cayagaga 'crooked river', possibly related to kayuha 'creek' or kahyonhowanen 'river'. The Mohawk form of the name "Cayagaga" means 'crooked river', though it became assimilated to the Seneca name "Cuyohaga," meaning 'place of the jawbone' in Seneca.[117] The river is in an area mainly settled by the Seneca people in the 18th century, and the Seneca name stuck.
  • Geauga—Onondaga jyo’ä·gak,[118] Seneca jo’ä·ka’, 'raccoon'[119] (originally the name of the Grand River).[120]
  • Mingo and Mingo Junction—named after the Mingo people, Iroquoians who moved west to Ohio in the 18th century, largely of the Seneca nation; alternate form Minqua, both derived from Lenape Menkwe,[121] referring to all Iroquoian peoples in general, possibly from Onondaga yenkwe, 'men'.[122]
  • Muskingum—Shawnee Mshkikwam 'swampy ground' (mshkikwi- 'swamp' + -am 'earth');[123]

"The Muskingum River was the channel by which eastern Ohio was penetrated, mainly by the Delawares during the first half of the eighteenth century, and to a much lesser extent by bands of Shawnees preceding the Delawares by a few decades. In its present form Muskingum, this river name has been in use among both Indians and whites for more than two centuries as another one of those terms of Indian-white travel-and-trade lingo, such as Ohio, Scioto, and others.

Whatever its aboriginal form may have been, Muskingum as a river name was fragmentary, requiring in any Indian language the addition of a term signifying 'river.' Zeisberger and other Moravian missioners spelled it Muskingum, as we do today, as well as Mushkingum (transliterated from German-based Muschkingum). Most likely, both of these spellings represented two different pronunciations current among the Delawares. Zeisberger's definition of the name, based on a combination of moos, 'an elk,' and wuschking, 'eye' (in his own spelling), meaning 'elk's eye,' looks like a folk etymology resting on the similarity in sound between Muschkingum and wuschgingunk (Zeisberger's spelling), defined as 'on or in the eye.'

John Johnston states that 'Muskingum is a Delaware word, and means a town on the river side.' This is partly correct and partly wrong. Muskingum (or Mushkingum, for that matter) indeed is a Delaware word, but by no stretch of the imagination does it mean 'a town on the river side.' It is certain though that it named a town on the river side. Possibly this town was an old Shawnee settlement whose name the nearby Delawares adapted to their own tongue in the form of *M'shkiink'm (Mushkinkum), and by force of folk etymology understood it to mean 'elk's eye.' It appears quite probable that the original Shawnee place name as assimilated by the Delawares, may have been *m'shkeenkw/aam(-), a Shawnee term combining *m'shkeenkw-, 'swampy,' with -aam, a stem approximately denoting '(land, soil, etc.) being as indicated,' and invariably followed by -'chki or some other adverbial determinant, with the composite meaning, 'where the land is swampy, soggy.' Where this place was located, it is impossible to ascertain.

Evidently, in their assimilation of this Shawnee place name, the Delawares, disregarding as unessential the final locative affix, were solely concerned with *M'shkeenkwaam, from which it was but a small step, over intermediary *M'shkeenk'm, to folk-etymologically conditioned *Muushkiink'm ( Mushkinkum; Muskingum).</ref> taken to mean 'elk's eye' in Lenape by folk etymology, as if < mus 'elk'[124] + wəshkinkw 'its eye'.[125]

  • Ohio River—from Seneca Ohiyo 'the best river' or 'the big river'.[126] Ohiyo (pronounced "oh-ˈhee-yoh") is the Iroquois translation of the Algonquian name Allegheny, which also means 'the best river'. The Indians considered the Allegheny and Ohio to be all one river.[127] Alleghany, or as some prefer to write it, Allegheny,—the Algonkin name of the Ohio River, but now restricted to one of its branches,—is probably (Delaware) welhik-hanné or [oo]lik-hanné, 'the best (or, the fairest) river.' Welhik (as Zeisberger wrote it) is the inanimate form of the adjectival, meaning 'best,' 'most beautiful.' In his Vocabulary, Zeisberger gave this synthesis, with slight change of orthography, as "Wulach'neü" [or [oo]lakhanne[oo], as Eliot would have written it,] with the free translation, "a fine River, without Falls." The name was indeed more likely to belong to rivers 'without falls' or other obstruction to the passage of canoes, but its literal meaning is, as its composition shows, "best rapid-stream," or "finest rapid-stream;" "La Belle Riviere" of the French, and the Oue-yo´ or O hee´ yo Gä-hun´-dä, "good river" or "the beautiful river," of the Senecas. For this translation of the name we have very respectable authority,—that of Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian of Pennsylvania, who lived seventeen years with the Muhhekan Indians and was twice married among them, and whose knowledge of the Indian languages enabled him to render important services to the colony, as a negotiator with the Delawares and Shawanese of the Ohio, in the French war. In his "Journal from Philadelphia to the Ohio" in 1758, after mention of the 'Alleghenny' river, he says: "The Ohio, as it is called by the Sennecas. Alleghenny is the name of the same river in the Delaware language. Both words signify the fine or fair river." La Metairie, the notary of La Salle's expedition, "calls the Ohio, the Olighinsipou, or Aleghin; evidently an Algonkin name,"—as Dr. Shea remarks. Heckewelder says that the Delawares "still call the Allegany (Ohio) river, Alligéwi Sipu.</ref>
  • Olentangy—an Algonquian name, probably from Lenape ulam tanchi or Shawnee holom tenshi, both meaning 'red face paint from there'. The Vermilion River likewise was named with a translation of the original Ottawa name Ulam Thipi, 'red face paint river'.[128]
  • Piqua—Shawnee Pekowi, name of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee.
  • Sandusky—from Wyandot saandusti meaning 'water (within water-pools)'[129] or from andusti 'cold water'.[130]
  • Scioto—derived from Wyandot skɛnǫ·tǫ’, 'deer'[130][131] (compare Shenandoah, also derived from the word for deer in a related Iroquoian language).
  • Tuscarawas—after the Iroquoian Tuscarora people, who at one time had a settlement along the river of that name.[132]
  • Wapakoneta—from Shawnee Wa·po’kanite 'Place of White Bones' (wa·pa 'white'+(h)o’kani 'bone'+-ite locative suffix).[133][134][135]

Oklahoma[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Oklahoma
  • Anadarko - Caddo language - Derived from Nadá-kuh, means "bumblebee place."
  • Bokchito - Choctaw language - "Big creek"
  • Bokoshe - Choctaw language - "little creek"
  • Camargo - Cheyenne language - "little dog"
  • Catoosa - Cherokee language - phonetically pronounced "Ga-du-si" or "Ga-tu-si". Various interpretations of this word exist, including: "between two hills", "on the hill", "into the hills", and possibly signifying a prominent hill or place thereon.
  • Chickasha - Choctaw language - Chickasaw Indian tribe
  • Eucha - Cherokee language - named for Principal Chief Oochalata
  • Eufaula - Creek language - from the Eufaula tribe, part of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy
  • Gotebo - Kiowa language - named for Kiowa Gotebo (Qodebohon)
  • Inola - Cherokee language - "black fox"
  • Keota - Choctaw language - "the fire gone out"
  • Kinta - Choctaw language - "beaver"
  • Konawa, Oklahoma - Seminole language - "string of beads"
  • Neodesha - Osage language - Derived from ni-o-sho-de "The water is smoky with mud"
  • Nowata - Lenape - Derived from nuwita "Welcome"
  • Nuyaka (Creek Nation) - Creek language - Derived from "New York"
  • Oochelata - Cherokee language - named for Principal Chief Oochalata
  • Eufaula - Creek language - from the Eufaula tribe, part of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy
  • Okemah - Kickapoo language - "Things up high"
  • Okmulgee - Creek language - "Boiling waters"
  • Olustee - Creek language - "black water"
  • Oologah - Cherokee language - "Dark Cloud"
  • Owasso - Osage language - "End of the trail" or "turnaround"
  • Pawhuska - Osage language - "White hair"
  • Pocola - Choctaw language - "ten"
  • Sasakwa - Seminole language - "wild goose"
  • Skullyville - Choctaw language -derivation from iskuli - "money"
  • Tahlequah - Cherokee language - "Open place where the grass grows"
  • Talihina - Choctaw language - "iron road" (railroad)
  • Tamaha - Choctaw language - "town"
  • Taloga - Creek language - "beautiful valley" or "rocking water"
  • Tulsa - Creek language - Derived from tallasi "Old town"
  • Tushka - Choctaw language - "warrior"
  • Tuskahoma - Choctaw language - "red warrior"
  • Wapanucka - Lenape language -"Eastern land people"
  • Watonga - Arapaho language - "black coyote"
  • Weleetka - Creek language - "Running water"
  • Wetumka - Creek language - "Tumbling water"
  • Wewoka - Seminole language - "Barking water"

Oregon[]

  • Alsea/Alsea River, named for the Alsea people
  • Clackamas, multiple places named for the Clackamas tribe
  • Clatskanie, a place on the Nehalem River
  • Clatsop County, named for the Clatsop tribe
  • Coos Bay/Coos County, named for the Coos people
  • Depoe Bay, named for a local Indian
  • Klamath, multiple places named for the Klamath Tribes
  • Multnomah Falls/Multnomah County named for the Multnomah people
  • Nehalem, multiple places named for the Nehalem people
  • Scappoose, means "gravelly plain" in an unknown native language
  • Tillamook, multiple places named for the Tillamook people
  • Tualatin, multiple places named for the Tualatin people
  • Umatilla, multiple places named for the Umatilla people
  • Umpqua, multiple places named for the Umpqua people
  • Willamette, multiple places from the Clackamas name for the Columbia River
  • Yachats/Yachats River, uncertain origin
  • Yamhill, multiple places named for a band of the Kalapuya people

Pennsylvania[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Pennsylvania
  • Allegheny—probably from Lenape welhik hane[136][137] or oolik hanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream'.[138] Originally the name of the Allegheny River, later used to name the Allegheny Mountains too. David Zeisberger published a divergent view in 1780, giving the original form of the name as "Alligewinenk, which means 'a land into which they came from distant parts'."[139]
  • Aliquippa—Lenape alukwepi 'hat';[140] after Queen Aliquippa, who was named that because she wore a large hat.[141]
  • Analomink—From "tumbling water."[142]
  • Catawissa—Lenape, 'growing fat;' a reference to a Delaware Chief in the area, Lapachpeton.[143]
  • Conemaugh—Lenape kwənəmuxkw 'otter'.[144][145]
  • Connoquenessing—Lenape, 'A long way straight' [146]
  • Conshohocken—Lenape kanshihakink 'in elegant land': kanshi 'elegant' + haki 'land' + -nk locative suffix.[147][148]
  • Juniata River—from onoyutta, 'standing stone' in an Iroquoian language, probably Susquehannock. The Juniata Tribe lived by the river's banks and set up a tall standing stone with inscriptions in the center of their sacred meeting ground at the confluence of the Juniata River and Standing Stone Creek (in present-day Huntingdon). Compare Conneaut, Oneida.
  • Kingsessing—The name Kingsessing or Chinsessing comes from the Delaware word for "a place where there is a meadow".
  • Kiskiminetas—derived from Lenape kishku manitu 'make daylight' (kishku 'day'[149] + manitu 'make'[150] ), a command to warriors to break camp and go on maneuvers while it is still night (as though it were daylight), according to John Heckewelder.[151]
  • Kittanning—Lenape kithanink 'on the main river': kit 'great, large, big' + hane 'swift river from the mountains' + -ink locative suffix,[152] "the big river" or "the main river" being an epithet for the Allegheny-cum-Ohio, according to John Heckewelder.[153]
The Lackawanna Valley by George Inness (c. 1855)
  • Lackawanna—Lenape laxaohane 'fork of a river'[154][155]
  • Loyalhanna—after the name of a Lenape town, Layalhanning, meaning 'at the middle of the river': layel or lawel 'middle' + hane 'river' + -ink locative suffix.[156]
  • Loyalsock—Lenape, 'middle creek.' (It is located halfway between lycoming and muncy creeks.)[143]
  • Lycoming—from Lenape lekawink 'place of sand' or lekawi hane 'sandy stream', from lekaw 'sand'.[157]
  • Manayunk—Lenape məneyunk 'place of drinking': məne 'drink' + yu 'here' + -nk locative suffix.[158]
  • Mauch Chunk—Lenape maxkw-chunk 'bear mountain'.[159]
  • Mehoopany—Lenape, 'where there are wild potatoes."[143]
  • Meshoppen Lenape, 'corals,' or 'beads.'[143]
  • Monongahela—Lenape Mənaonkihəla 'the high riverbanks are washed down; the banks cave in or erode',[160] inanimate plural of mənaonkihəle 'the dirt caves off (such as the bank of a river or creek; or in a landslide)'[161] < mənaonke 'it has a loose bank (where one might fall in)'[162] + -həle (verb of motion).
  • Muckinipattis—Lenape for 'deep running water', from mexitkwek 'a deep place full of water'[163] or mexakwixen 'high water, freshet'.[164]
  • Muncy–after the Munsee people < Munsee language mənsiw, 'person from Minisink' (minisink meaning 'at the island': mənəs 'island' + -ink locative suffix) + -iw attributive suffix.[165]
  • Nanticoke—From the Nanticoke language, 'Tide water people.' (In reference to themselves)[143]
  • Nemacolin—after the 18th-century Lenape chief Nemacolin.
  • Nescopeck—Shawnee, 'deep and still water.' [143]
  • Nittany—'single mountain', from Lenape nekwti 'single'[166] + ahtəne 'mountain'.[167]
  • Ohiopyle—from the Lenape phrase ahi opihəle, 'it turns very white',[168][169] referring to the frothy waterfalls.[170]
  • Passyunk—from Lenape pahsayunk 'in the valley',[171] from pahsaek 'valley' (also the name of Passaic, New Jersey).
  • Pennypack–Lenape pənəpekw 'where the water flows downward'.[172]
  • Perkiomen—Lenape, 'where there are cranberries.'[143]
  • Poconos—Lenape pokawaxne 'a creek between two hills'.[173]
  • Punxsutawney—Lenape Punkwsutenay 'town of sandflies or mosquitoes': punkwəs 'sandfly' (<punkw 'dust' + -əs diminutive suffix) + utenay 'town'.[174]
  • Pymatuning—Lenape Pimhatunink 'where there are facilities for sweating'[112] < pim- 'to sweat in a sweat lodge'[175] + hatu 'it is placed'[176] + -n(e) inanimate object marker + -ink locative suffix.
  • —Lenape kwənamesink 'place of long fish': kwəni 'long' + names 'fish' + -ink locative suffix.[177]
  • Quittapahilla Creek—Lenape kuwe ktəpehəle 'it flows out through the pines':[178] kuwe 'pine tree'[179] + ktəpehəle 'it flows out'.[180]
  • Shackamaxon—Lenape sakimaksink 'place of the chiefs':[181] sakima 'chief'[182] + -k plural suffix + -s- (for euphony) -ink locative suffix
  • Shamokin—Lenape Shahəmokink[183] 'place of eels', from shoxamekw 'eel'[184] + -ink locative suffix.
  • Shickshinny—Lenape, 'a fine stream.' [143]
  • Sinnemahoning—Lenape ahsəni mahonink 'stony lick', from ahsən 'stone'[185] and mahonink 'at the salt lick'.[186]
  • Susquehanna—Lenape siskuwihane 'muddy river': sisku 'mud' + -wi- (for euphony) + hane 'swift river from the mountains'.[187]
  • Tamaqua—Lenape, 'little beaver;' named for a Delaware chief, "King Beaver."[143]
  • Tiadaghton—Seneca, 'pine creek.'[143]
  • Tinicum—Lenape mahtanikunk 'Where they catch up with each other'.[188]
  • Tulpehocken—Lenape tulpehakink 'in the land of turtles': tulpe 'turtle' + haki 'land' + -nk locative suffix.[189]
  • Tioga—Onondaga, 'At the forks.'[143]
  • Tionesta—Munsee, 'There it has fine banks.'[143]
  • Towamensing—Lenape, 'pasture land,' (literally 'the place of feeding cattle.') [143]
  • Towanda—Nanticoke, 'where we bury the dead.'[143]
View on the Wissahickon by James Peale (1830)
  • Tunkhannock—Lenape tank hane 'narrow stream',[190] from tank 'small' + hane 'stream'.
  • Venango—From Lenape 'Onange,' meaning 'a mink.'[143]
  • Wapwallopen—Lenape òphalahpink, 'where the white wild hemp grows,'[143] from òp- 'white'[191] + halahpis 'Indian hemp'[192] + -nk locative.
  • Wiconisco—Lenape wikin niskew 'A muddy place to live',[193] from wikin 'to live in a place'[194] + niskew 'to be dirty, muddy'.[195]
  • Wissahickon—contraction of Lenape wisamekwhikan 'catfish creek': wisamekw 'catfish'[196] (literally 'fat fish':[197] <wisam 'fat' + -èkw, bound form of namès 'fish'[198] ) + hikan 'ebb tide, mouth of a creek'.[199][200]
  • Wyalusing—Lenape, 'the place where the aged man dwells,' a reference to the Moravian missionaries who set up a village in the area.[143]
  • Wyoming Valley—Munsee, xwēwamənk 'at the big river flat': xw- 'big' + ēwam 'river flat' + ənk locative suffix.[201]
  • Wysox—Lenape, 'the place of grapes.'[143]
  • Youghiogheny—Lenape yuxwiakhane 'stream running a contrary or crooked course', according to John Heckewelder.[202]

Rhode Island[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin

South Carolina[]

  • Oconee County, South Carolina
  • Seneca, South Carolina

Islands[]

  • Edisto Island
  • Kiawah Island
  • Wadmalaw Island

Lakes[]

  • Lake Jocassee
  • Lake Keowee
  • Lake Toxaway

Rivers[]

  • Ashepoo River
  • Coosawhatchie River
  • Santee River
  • Stono River
  • Wando River

South Dakota[]

Counties[]

  • Minnehaha County – from Dakota minnehaha, meaning "waterfall".
  • Oglala Lakota County – Lakota for "to scatter one's own".[203]
  • Yankton County – corruption of Sioux Ihanktonwan, meaning "the end village".[204]

Settlements[]

  • Canistota – from the New York Native American word canistoe, meaning "board on the water".[204]
  • Capa – from the Sioux for "beaver".
  • Kadoka – Lakota for "hole in the wall".
  • Kampeska – Sioux for "bright and shining", "like a shell or glass".[204]
  • Oacoma
  • Oglala – Lakota for "to scatter one's own".[203]
  • Ottumwa – Algonquian word possibly meaning "rippling waters", "place of perseverance or self-will", or "town".
  • Owanka – Lakota for "good camping ground". It was originally named Wicota, a Lakota word meaning "a crowd".[204]
  • Pukwana – the name given to the smoke emitted from a Native American peace pipe.
  • Ree Heights – named after the Arikara people, sometimes known as the Ree. Arikara may have been a neighboring tribe's word for "horns" or "male deer".[204]
  • Seneca – from Algonquian sinnekaas, which referred to the Seneca people.[204]
  • Teton – from Dakota tinton or tinta, meaning "prairie".[204]
  • Wanblee – from Lakota Waŋblí Hoȟpi, meaning "golden eagle nest".
  • Wasta – from Dakota wastah, meaning "good".[204]
  • Wakonda – from Sioux wakor or waukon, meaning "wonder, marvel, mystery, sacred".[204]
  • Wakpala
  • Wecota – from Lakota wicota, meaning "a crowd".[204]
  • Wetonka from Dakota wi-tȟáŋka, meaning "big sun".[205]
  • Yankton – corruption of Sioux Ihanktonwan, meaning "the end village".[204]

Tennessee[]

  • Chattanooga – based on cvto, a Muskogean term for 'rock'
  • Etowah – Muskogean term for 'town'
  • Euchee Old Fields (ceremonial planting ground) of the Yuchi
  • Natchez - tribal name of people who lived to the south west in present-day Mississippi, which had significant trade with the indigenous Yuchi and Muscogee of the present-day Nashville area, responsible for creating the Natchez Trace.
  • Ooltewah - variation of eh-DOH-wah, Muskogean term for 'town'
  • Sewanee - located on top of the southern end of the Cumberland Plateau, assumed to be a variant of the Algonquian tribal name Shawnee, or a contraction of Haudenosaunee referring to the northern Iroquois or eastern Tuscarora.
  • Tullahoma - Choctaw for 'red rock' (tali - rock, homma - red)
  • Unicoi County, Unicoi town, and Unicoi Range – Cherokee word meaning "white," "hazy," "fog-like," or "fog draped."

Texas[]

  • Waco – from Wichita [wiːko], the name of a tribal subgroup, the Waco people.[206]
  • Nacogdoches - from Caddo language, Nacogdoche tribe of the Caddo
  • Quanah - named for the Comanche Chief, Quanah Parker

Utah[]

  • Utah County, Utah Lake, etc. – "Utah" via "Yudah" or "Yutah" from a language of one of the Ute tribe's neighbors, such as Western Apache yúdah, "high up".[33]
  • Mount Timpanogos – from Paiute for "rocks and runny water."
  • Moab, Utah – from Paiute "moapa," meaning "mosquitoes;" possibly named after the biblical Moab.
  • Wasatch (Wasatch Range, Wasatch County, Wasatch Plateau, Wahsatch, etc.) – from "wasatch," a Ute word for "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range."[207]
  • Juab County – from Paiute word for "flat plain."
  • Kanab, Utah – from Paiute word for willow tree.
  • Kamas, Utah – from indigenous word for an edible, wild bulb.
  • Oquirrh Mountains – from Goshute for "glowing, or wooded mountain."
  • Uintah County – from Ute for "pine land."
  • Various municipal street names including Arapeen Drive ("Arapeen" was a notable 19th-century Paiute), Chipeta Way ("chipeta" is Ute for "rippling water") and Wasatch Boulevard ("wasatch" is Ute for "mountain pass").[208]

Vermont[]

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin

Virginia[]

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in Virginia
  • Accomack County, Virginia
  • Allegheny Mountains and Alleghany County, Virginia
  • Appomattox River and Appomattox County, Virginia, after the Appomattoc
  • Chesapeake Bay and city of Chesapeake, Virginia
  • Chickahominy River, after the Chickahominy people
  • Mattaponi River, after the Mattaponi
  • Meherrin River, after the Meherrin
  • Nansemond River, after the Nansemond
  • Nottoway County, after the Nottoway people
  • Occoquan River
  • Pamunkey River, after the Pamunkey
  • Pohick Creek
  • City of Poquoson
  • Powhatan County
  • Rappahannock River, Rappahannock County, and town of Tappahannock, Virginia
  • Roanoke River and city and county of Roanoke, Virginia
  • Shenandoah River and Shenandoah Valley
  • Yeocomico River

Washington[]

  • Seattle – named after Chief Seattle, whose Lushootseed name was Siʔáł.[209]
  • Tacoma – from Lushootseed [təqʷúbəʔ] (earlier *təqʷúməʔ), "snow-covered mountain".[61]
  • Yakima
  • Puyallup
  • Kitsap Peninsula, Kitsap County – named after Chief Kitsap
  • Alki Beach
  • Snohomish – Lushootseed [sduhúbʃ], the name of a Salishan group (earlier *snuhúmʃ).[210]
  • Chelan, Chelan County, Lake Chelan - a Salish language word, "Tsi - Laan," meaning 'Deep Water'.
  • Chiwawa River
  • Chinook, Chinook Pass
  • Cle Elum, Cle Elum River
  • Copalis Beach, Copalis Crossing
  • Cowlitz County, Cowlitz River
  • Dosewallips River
  • Duckabush River
  • Duwamish River
  • Entiat, Entiat River
  • Hamma Hamma River
  • Hoh River
  • Hoquiam
  • Humptulips, Humptulips River
  • Hyak
  • Issaquah
  • Kachess Lake
  • Kalaloch
  • Kittitas County, Kittitas
  • Neah Bay
  • Palouse
  • Pysht River
  • Sol Duc River
  • Spokane – from the Spokane dialect of Interior Salish spoqín.[211]
  • Tillicum
  • Tonasket
  • Tulalip Bay
  • Tumwater
  • Twisp, Twisp River
  • Wishkah River
  • Walla Walla
  • Stehekin
  • Okanogan
  • Omak
  • Orondo
  • Sammamish
  • Sequim
  • Skagit River
  • Skookumchuck River
  • Squaxin Island
  • Stillaguamish River
  • Suquamish
  • Nooksack River
  • Nisqually River
  • Chehalis, Chehalis River
  • Wenatchee, Wenatchee River
  • La Push – lapoos or labush is the Chinook Jargon adaptation of the fr. la bouche ("mouth")
  • Nespelem
  • Pasayten River, Pasayten Wilderness
  • Snoqualmie, Snoqualmie Pass, Snoqualmie River
  • Skykomish River
  • Wenatchee
  • Toppenish
  • Tumwater - City in Thurston County - Fast Water / Waterfall
  • Wapato

West Virginia[]

  • Kanawha County, West Virginia
  • Monongahela National Forest

Wisconsin[]

Counties[]

  • Calumet County, Wisconsin
  • Chippewa County – the Ojibwe (or Chippewa) people
  • Iowa County – the Iowa people
  • Kenosha County – Kenosha (ginoozhe), an Ojibwe word meaning pike (fish).
  • Kewaunee County – for either a Potawatomi word meaning river of the lost or an Ojibwe word meaning prairie hen, wild duck or to go around.
  • Manitowoc County – Manitowoc (manidoowag) is an Ojibwe word meaning spirits.
  • Menominee County – the Menominee people
  • Milwaukee and Milwaukee County – Algonquin word Millioke which means The Good Land, or Gathering place by the water. Another interpretation is beautiful or pleasant lands.
  • Oneida County – the Oneida people.
  • Oshkosh – Menominee Chief Oshkosh, whose name meant "claw"[212] (cf. Ojibwe oshkanzh, "the claw").[213]
  • Outagamie County – the Outagamie (Meskwaki, Fox) people.
  • Ozaukee County – Ozaukee (Ozaagii) is the Ojibwe word for the Sauk people.
  • Sauk County
  • Waukesha and Waukesha County – Potawatomi word meaning little foxes.
  • Waupaca County – Menominee word meaning white sand bottom or brave young hero.
  • Waushara County – a Native American word meaning good earth.
  • Winnebago County – the Winnebago people.

Cities, Towns and Villages[]

  • Algoma, Winnebago County, Wisconsin
  • Altoona, Wisconsin
  • Amnicon Falls, Wisconsin
  • Aniwa, Wisconsin
  • Antigo, Wisconsin
  • Arkansaw, Wisconsin
  • Ashippun, Wisconsin
  • Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
  • Astico, Wisconsin
  • Aztalan, Wisconsin
  • Baraboo, Wisconsin
  • Carcajou, Wisconsin
  • Catawba, Wisconsin
  • Chetek, Wisconsin
  • Chenequa, Wisconsin
  • Chicago Junction, Wisconsin
  • , modern-day Racine, Wisconsin (so named "Chippecotton" or "Kipiwaki", meaning 'root'; "Racine" is French for 'root')
  • Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
  • Coloma, Wisconsin
  • Couderay, Wisconsin
  • Dakota, Wisconsin
  • Horicon, Wisconsin
  • Huron, Wisconsin
  • Iola, Wisconsin
  • Kaukauna, Wisconsin (named for early French settler pronunciation "Kakalin," and later Grand Kakalin, bastardized either from Menomonee "Ogag-kane" or "O-gau-gau-ning," meaning 'the place where fish stop' due to the massive amounts of fish they found where the river fell 52 feet beneath the falls. Because of the forceful rushing rapids, travelers were forced to carry their canoes around it)
  • Kegonsa, Wisconsin
  • Kenosha, Wisconsin
  • Kekoskee, Wisconsin
  • Keshena, Wisconsin
  • Kewaskum, Wisconsin
  • Kinnickinnic, Wisconsin
  • Koshkonong, Wisconsin
  • Koshkonong Mounds, Wisconsin
  • Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin
  • Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin
  • Lake Wisconsin, Wisconsin
  • Lake Wissota, Wisconsin
  • Manawa, Wisconsin
  • Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
  • Manitowoc, Wisconsin (named 'Spirit's Home' for the Manitou spirit commonly seen at the mouth of the eponymous Manitowoc River, it is derived from Ojibwe "Manitou+woc", where "Manitou" means 'spirit' and "-woc" means a suffix for 'home')
  • Mazomanie, Wisconsin
  • Menasha, Wisconsin (from a Menominee phrase meaning 'thorn in the island')
  • Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
  • Menomonie, Wisconsin
  • Mequon, Wisconsin
  • Merrimac, Wisconsin
  • Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • South Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Minnesota Junction, Wisconsin
  • Minocqua, Wisconsin
  • Misha Mokwa, Wisconsin
  • Mishicot, Wisconsin
  • Monona, Wisconsin
  • Moquah, Wisconsin
  • Mosinee, Wisconsin
  • Mukwonago, Wisconsin (from Potowatomi, meaning 'a ladle/bend in the stream')
  • Muscoda, Wisconsin
  • Muskego, Wisconsin
  • Nashotah, Wisconsin
  • Niagara, Wisconsin
  • Necedah (town), Wisconsin
  • Neda, Wisconsin
  • Neenah, Wisconsin (from Winnebago "Neenah," meaning 'running water')
  • Nekoosa, Wisconsin
  • Neopit, Wisconsin
  • Neosho, Wisconsin
  • Neshkoro, Wisconsin
  • Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (from Potowatomi, meaning 'waterfall')
  • Oconto, Wisconsin
  • Oconto Falls, Wisconsin
  • Ogema, Wisconsin
  • Okauchee Lake, Wisconsin
  • Onalaska, Wisconsin
  • Ono, Wisconsin
  • Ontario, Wisconsin
  • Oregon, Wisconsin
  • Oshkosh, Wisconsin
  • Osseo, Wisconsin
  • Otsego, Wisconsin
  • Penokee, Wisconsin
  • Peshtigo, Wisconsin
  • Pewaukee, Wisconsin
  • Pokegama, Wisconsin
  • Potosi, Wisconsin
  • Poy Sippi, Wisconsin
  • Poynette, Wisconsin
  • Requa, Wisconsin
  • Sauk City, Wisconsin
  • Saukville, Wisconsin
  • Shawano, Wisconsin
  • Sheboygan, Wisconsin (of obscure but likely Algonquian origins, it may derive from "Shawb-wa-way-kum", meaning either 'thundering under the ground' or 'path between the lakes'; bastardized through French "Cheboigan")
  • Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
  • Sioux, Wisconsin
  • Suamico, Wisconsin
  • Tamarack, Wisconsin
  • Taycheedah, Wisconsin
  • Tichigan, Wisconsin
  • Tomahawk, Wisconsin
  • Viroqua, Wisconsin
  • Wabeno (community), Wisconsin
  • Waubeka, Wisconsin
  • Waucousta, Wisconsin
  • Waukesha, Wisconsin (originally known by local tribes as "Tshee-gas-cou-tak," meaning 'burnt, fire-land', possibly later derived from Ojibwe "Wagosh" meaning 'fox', or alternatively from a Chief 'Leatherstrap' or "Wau-tsha", met by the early white settler Morris Cutler, who honored him with the namesake)
  • Waumandee, Wisconsin
  • Waunakee, Wisconsin Waunakee is called Wanąǧi [wa-na-GHEE] in the Hocąk language, meaning "spirit," as in a spirit which has departed from the body. I was told by a tribal colleague that it was given this name due to the spirits who can sometimes be heard there at night, singing. "Wanąǧi" is attested in other Wisconsin place names as well: Wanąǧi Homįk ("where the spirit lies" or "cemetery") is the Hocąk name for Reesburg, WI.
  • Waupaca, Wisconsin
  • Waupun, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin (meaning 'east, daybreak, dawn')
  • Wausau, Wisconsin (from Chippewa, meaning 'far away')
  • Wausaukee, Wisconsin
  • Wautoma, Wisconsin
  • Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
  • Weyauwega, Wisconsin
  • Winneboujou, Wisconsin
  • Winneconne (town), Wisconsin
  • Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
  • Wonewoc, Wisconsin
  • Wyocena, Wisconsin
  • Wyoming (community), Wisconsin
  • Wyoming, Iowa County, Wisconsin
  • Wyoming, Waupaca County, Wisconsin
  • Yuba, Wisconsin

Bodies of Water, Forests, Parks or Regions[]

  • Ahnapee River
  • Amnicon River
  • Aztalan State Park
  • Baraboo River
  • Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
  • Chequamegon Bay
  • Lake Chippewa
  • Chippewa Falls
  • Chippewa River (Wisconsin)
  • Couderay River
  • Lake Gogebic
  • Gogebic Range
  • Horicon Marsh
  • Lake Kegonsa
  • Kickapoo River
  • Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River)
  • Kinnickinnic River (St. Croix River)
  • Lake Koshkonong
  • Manitou Island (Wisconsin)
  • Manitowoc River
  • Maunesha River
  • Lake Mendota
  • Little Menominee River
  • Menominee River
  • Michigan Island
  • Milwaukee River
  • Lake Minocqua
  • Moccasin Lake
  • Lake Mohawksin
  • Lake Monona
  • Little Muskego Lake
  • Lake Namakagon
  • Namekagon River
  • Lake Nebagamon
  • Nemadji River
  • Lake Nokomis
  • Oconomowoc Lake
  • Okauchee Lake
  • Oneida Lake
  • Papoose Creek
  • Pecatonica River
  • Peshtigo River
  • Pewaukee Lake
  • Pokegama Lake
  • Puckaway Lake
  • Sauk Prairie
  • Shawano Lake
  • Sheboygan River
  • Sinsinawa River
  • Siskiwit Lake (Wisconsin)
  • Siskiwit River
  • (Tokaunee Creek)
  • Totagatic River
  • Lake Waubesa
  • Lake Wingra
  • Lake Winnebago
  • Lake Wisconsin
  • Lake Wissota
  • Yahara River

Wyoming[]

  • Cheyenne – From Dakota Šahíyena, the diminutive of Šahíya, "Cree".[214]
  • The name "Wyoming" comes from a Delaware Tribe word Mechaweami-ing or "maughwauwa-ma", meaning large plains or extensive meadows, which was the tribe's name for a valley in northern Pennsylvania. The name Wyoming was first proposed for use in the American West by Senator Ashley of Ohio in 1865 in a bill to create a temporary government for Wyoming Territory.[215]
  • Popo Agie River — From the Absalooke or Crow Language Poppootcháashe, which means "Plopping River" for the sound the water makes when it comes out of the sinkhole in Sinks Canyon, near present Lander, Wyoming.[216]

See also[]

  • List of placenames of indigenous origin in the Americas
  • List of federally recognized tribes by state: As of May 2013, there were 566 Native American tribes legally recognized by the U.S. Government, according to the article, "List of federally recognized tribes."
  • Native Americans in the United States

References[]

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  136. ^ "welhik". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  137. ^ "Heckewelder here does not give the strict meaning of hanne. The word in common use among Algonkin [i.e., Algonquian] tribes for river is sipu, and this includes the idea of 'a stream of flowing water'. But in the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia sipu did not sufficiently convey the idea of a rapid stream, roaring down mountain gorges, and hanne takes its place to designate not a mere sipu, or flowing river, but a rapid mountain stream." Russell, Erret (1885). "Indian Geographical Names". The Magazine of Western History. 2 (1): 53–59. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  138. ^ Alleghany, or as some prefer to write it, Allegheny,—the Algonkin name of the Ohio River, but now restricted to one of its branches,—is probably (Delaware) welhik-hanné or [oo]lik-hanné, 'the best (or, the fairest) river.' Welhik (as Zeisberger wrote it) is the inanimate form of the adjectival, meaning 'best,' 'most beautiful.' In his Vocabulary, Zeisberger gave this synthesis, with slight change of orthography, as "Wulach'neü" [or [oo]lakhanne[oo], as Eliot would have written it,] with the free translation, "a fine River, without Falls." The name was indeed more likely to belong to rivers 'without falls' or other obstruction to the passage of canoes, but its literal meaning is, as its composition shows, "best rapid-stream," or "finest rapid-stream;" "La Belle Riviere" of the French, and the Oue-yo´ or O hee´ yo Gä-hun´-dä, "good river" or "the beautiful river," of the Senecas. For this translation of the name we have very respectable authority,—that of Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian of Pennsylvania, who lived seventeen years with the Muhhekan Indians and was twice married among them, and whose knowledge of the Indian languages enabled him to render important services to the colony, as a negotiator with the Delawares and Shawanese of the Ohio, in the French war. In his "Journal from Philadelphia to the Ohio" in 1758, after mention of the 'Alleghenny' river, he says: "The Ohio, as it is called by the Sennecas. Alleghenny is the name of the same river in the Delaware language. Both words signify the fine or fair river." La Metairie, the notary of La Salle's expedition, "calls the Ohio, the Olighinsipou, or Aleghin; evidently an Algonkin name,"—as Dr. Shea remarks. Heckewelder says that the Delawares "still call the Allegany (Ohio) river, Alligéwi Sipu,"—"the river of the Alligewi" as he chooses to translate it. In one form, we have wulik-hannésipu, 'best rapid-stream long-river;' in the other, wuliké-sipu, 'best long-river.' Heckewelder's derivation of the name, on the authority of a Delaware legend, from the mythic 'Alligewi' or 'Talligewi,'—"a race of Indians said to have once inhabited that country," who, after great battles fought in pre-historic times, were driven from it by the all-conquering Delawares,—is of no value, unless supported by other testimony. Trumbull, J. Hammond (1870). The Composition of Indian Geographical Names. Hartford, Conn. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
  139. ^ "All this land and region, stretching as far as the creeks and waters that flow into the Alleghene the Delawares called Alligewinenk, which means 'a land into which they came from distant parts'. The river itself, however, is called Alligewi Sipo. The whites have made Alleghene out of this, the Six Nations calling the river the Ohio."Zeisberger, David (1999). David Zeisberger's History of the Northern American Indians in 18th Century Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. Wennawoods Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 1-889037-17-6.
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  156. ^ Sipe, Chester Hale (1971). The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania. Amos Press. p. 750.
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  159. ^ "màxkwchunk". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
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  164. ^ Brinton & Anthony, ed. (1889). A Lenâpé-English Dictionary. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. p. 77. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
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  167. ^ "kitahtëne". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2013-12-11. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  168. ^ "ahi". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  169. ^ "òpihële". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
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  171. ^ "pahsayunk". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
  172. ^ "pënëpèkw". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  173. ^ Brinton; Anthony, eds. (1888). A Lenâpé-English Dictionary. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania. p. 118.
  174. ^ "Punkwsutènay". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  175. ^ "pimëwe". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  176. ^ "hatu". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  177. ^ "Kwënamèsink". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  178. ^ "Quittapahilla Creek". Quittapahilla Watershed Association. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  179. ^ "kuwe". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  180. ^ "ktëpehële". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  181. ^ Du Ponceau, Peter S.; Fisher, J. Francis (1836). "A Memoir of the History of the Celebrated Treaty Made by William Penn with the Indians under the Elm Tree at Shackamaxon, in the Year 1682". Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vol. III, part III. Philadelphia. pp. 183–184. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  182. ^ "sakima". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  183. ^ "Shahëmokink". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  184. ^ "shoxamèke". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  185. ^ "ahsën". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
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  187. ^ "siskuwihane". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  188. ^ "mahtanikunk". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  189. ^ "tulpehakink". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  190. ^ "tànkhane". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2013-11-09. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
  191. ^ "òpi". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  192. ^ "halahpis". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  193. ^ "Wiconisco Township". Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  194. ^ "wikin". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  195. ^ "niske". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  196. ^ "wisamèkw". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
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Bibliography[]

  • Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 080613576X.
  • Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195094271
  • O'Brien, Frank Waabu (2010). "Understanding Indian Place Names in Southern New England". Colorado: Bauu Press.
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