List of U.S. Place Names of French Origin - Michigan

Michigan

  • Allouez (named after missionary Claude-Jean Allouez)
  • Au Sable River
  • Belleville ("Beautiful City;" named for a Paris district)
  • Benzie County
  • Berrien County
  • Bete Grise ("Gray Beast")
  • Bois Blanc Island ("White Wood")
  • Cadillac (named after explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac)
  • Charlevoix (named for Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix (1682–1761), a French Jesuit in New France)
  • Decatur
  • Detroit ("Strait")
  • Eau Claire
  • Ecorse (from Rivière aux Écorces, "Bark River")
  • Frenchtown Charter Township
  • Grand Blanc ("Great/Large White")
  • Grand Marais ("Large Marsh")
  • Grand Traverse County
  • Gratiot County
  • Grosse Ile ("Big Island")
  • Grosse Pointe ("Big Point")
  • Hamtramck (named for the French-Canadian soldier Jean François Hamtramck from Québec, became a decorated officer in the American Revolutionary War)
  • Isle Royale National Park ("Royal Island")
  • Lac La Belle ("Beautiful Lake")
  • L'Anse ("The Cove")
  • Lapeer County
  • Lasalle
  • LeRoy ("The King")
  • Les Cheneaux Islands ("The Channels")
  • Marquette (named after explorer Jacques Marquette)
  • Marquette County
  • Montcalm County (named for Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander in the French and Indian War).
  • Montmorency County (named for the Montmorency family, a noble family influential in the administration of New France)
  • Napoleon (for Napoleon Bonaparte)
  • Pere Marquette River (for Father (père) Jacques Marquette)
  • Pere Marquette Township
  • Pointe Mouillee State Game Area
  • Portage
  • Presque Isle (from presqu'île, "peninsula")
  • Presque Isle County
  • Sault Ste. Marie ("St. Mary's Rapids")
  • St. Clair County
  • St. Clair Shores
  • St. Ignace (French rendition of St. Ignatius)
  • St. Joseph
  • Traverse City
  • Vermontville

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