State Name Origins
1. Alabama: originally the name for “tribal town,” the territory of Alabama was later the home of the Alabama, or
Alibamon, Indians of the Creek Confederacy. (N)
2. Alaska: The Russians adopted the word meaning “great lands” or “land that is not an island” from the Aleutian
work alakshak. (N)
3. Arizona: The Spanish coined the name either from the Pima Indian word meaning “little spring place” or from the
Aztec arizuma, meaning “silver-bearing.” (N)
4. Arkansas: Once the territory of the Siouan Quapaw (downstream people), Arkansas is the French derivative of this
Indian name. (N)
5. California: The name of a fictitious earthly paradise in Las Serged de Espladian, a sixteen-century Spanish romance.
It is believed that Spanish conquistadors named the state. (S)
6. Colorado: A Spanish word for “red”. The name Colorado first referred to the Colorado River. (S)
7. Connecticut: The Algonquin and Mahican Indian word for “long river place.” (N)
8. Delaware: This version of the name Lord De La Warr, a governor of Virginia, was first used to name the Delaware
River and later adopted by the Europeans to name the local Indians, originally called the Lenni-Lenape (O).
9. Florida: In his search for the fountain of youth, Ponce de Leon named this region “flowery Easter” or feast of
flowers on Easter Sunday, 1513. (S)
10. Georgia: Named for King George II of England, who granted James Olglethorpe a charter to found the colony of
Georgia in 1732. (B)
11. Hawaii: Commonly believed to be an English adaptation of the native word for “homeland,” hawaiki or owhyhee.
(N)
12. Idaho: A name coined by the state meaning “gem of the mountains” or “light of the mountains.” Originally the
name Idaho was to be used for the Pike’s Peak mining territory of the Pacific Northwest. Others believe the name
derives from the Kiowa Apache word for the Comanche. (N)
13. Illinois: From the French version of the Algonquin word meaning “men” or “soldiers,” Illini. (N)
14. Indiana: English-speaking settlers named the territory to mean “land of the Indians.” (B)
15. Iowa: From the Siouan Ouaouia, meaning “one who puts to sleep.” (N)
16. Kansas: Derived from the Siouan Kansa or Kaw, meaning “people of the South wind,” who lived south of the
settlements of the Northern Great Plains. (N)
17. Kentucky: Originally the term for the Kentucky Plains in Clark County. Kentucky is believed to derive from the
Indian word meaning “dark and bloody ground,” “meadow land,” or “land of tomorrow.” (N)
18. Louisiana: Present-day Louisiana is just a fraction of the territory that was named from the French king Louis XIV
by Sieur de La Salle. (F)
19. Maine: Originally a French territory, Maine was the ancient French word for “province.” It is also believed that it
refers to the mainland, as distinct from the many islands off the state’s coast. (F)
20. Maryland: Named for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I of England. (B)
21. Massachusetts: The name of the Indian tribe that lived near Milton, MA, meaning “large hill place.” (N)
22. Michigan: Believed to be from the Chippewa word micigama, meaning “great water,” after lake Michigan,
although Alouet defined it in 1672 as designating a clearing. (N)
23. Minnesota: Named from the Sioux description of the Minnesota River, “sky-tinted water,” or “muddy water.” (N)
24. Mississippi: Most likely derived from the Chippewa words mici (great) and zibi (river), it was first written as “Michi
sepe.” (N)
25. Missouri: The Siouan word meaning “muddy water.” (N)
26. Montana: Derived from the Latin word meaning “mountainous.” (O)
27. Nebraska: From the Omaha or Oto word for “flat water” or “spreading water,” describing the Platte and Nebraska
Rivers. (N)
28. Nevada: Spanish word meaning “snow-clad.” (S)
29. New Hampshire: Captain John Mason named this colony for is home county in England in 1629. (B)
30. New Jersey: Named after the Isle of Jersey in England by John Berkley and Sir George Carteret. (B)
31. New Mexico: Named by the Spanish for the territory north and west of the Rio Grande. (S)
32. New York: Originally named New Netherlands, New York was later named for the Duke of York and Albany, who
received a patent to the region from his brother Charles II of England and captured it from the Dutch in 1644. (B)
33. North Carolina: From the Latin word meaning Carolus, meaning “Charles.” The colony was originally given to Sir
Robert Heath by Charles I and was to be called Province of Carolina. Carolina was divided into North and South
Carolina in 1712. (B)
34. North Dakota: From the Sioux word meaning “friend” or “ally”. (N)
35. Ohio: From an Iroquois Indian word variously meaning “great,” “fine,” or “good river.” (N)
36. Oklahoma: The Choctaw Indian word meaning “red man,” which was coined by the Reverend Allen Wright, a
Choctaw speaking Indian. (N)
37. Oregon: Although unclear, one theory maintains that it may have been a variation on the name of the Wisconsin
River, which was called Ouaricon-Sint on a French map dated 1715. Later, English explorer Robert Rogers named a
rover “called by the Indians Ouragon” in his request to seek a Northwest Passage from the Great Lakes. Another
theory derives the word from the Algonquin wauregan meaning “beautiful water.” (N)
38. Pennsylvania: named after the colony’s founder: William Penn. The literal translation is “Penn’s Woods.” (B)
39. Rhode Island: Possibly named by Giovanni de Verrazano, who charted an island that was similar to another island
he named in the Mediterranean. Another theory suggests RI was named by Roodye Eylandt by Dutch explorer
Adrian Block because of its red clay. (O)
40. South Caroline: See North Carolina
41. South Dakota: See North Dakota
42. Tennessee: The state of Franklin, or Frankland, from 1784 to 1788, it was finally named after the Cherokee villages
called tanasi on the Little Tennessee River. (N)
43. Texas: Also written texias, tejas, and teysas, Texas is a variation on the Caddo Indian word for “friend” or “ally.”
(N)
44. Utah: Meaning “upper” or “higher,” Utah is derived from a name used by the Navajo to designate a Shoshone
tribe. (N)
45. Vermont: It is believed that Samuel de Champlain couned the name from the French word vert (green) and mont
(mountain). Later Dr. Thomas Young proposed the name when the state was formed in 1777. (F)
46. Virginia: Named for the Virgin Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I, by Sir Walter Raleigh, who first visited its
shores in 1584. (B)
47. Washington: Originally named the Territory of Columbia, it was changed to Washington in honor of the first U.S.
President because of the already existing District of Columbia. (B)
48. West Virginia: Named when this area refused to secede from the Union in 1863. (B)
49. Wisconsin: A Chippewa word that was spelled Ouisconsin and Mesconsing by early explorers. Wisconsin was
formally named by Congress when it became a state. (N)
50. Wyoming: The Algonquin word meaning “large prairie place,” the name was adopted from Wyoming Valley,
Pennsylvania, the site of an Indian massacre. It was widely known from Thomas Campbell’s poem “Gertrude of
Wyoming.” (N)