List of U.S. State Name Etymologies - State Names

State Names

State name Date of First Original language Year of First Original language Language of origin Word of origin Meaning and Notes
Alabama
 April 19 1742 Choctaw albah amo "Thicket-clearers" or "plant-cutters", from albah, "(medicinal) plants", and amo, "to clear". The modern Choctaw name for the tribe is Albaamu.
Alaska
 December 2 1897 Aleut via Russian alaxsxaq via Аляска "Mainland" (literally "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed").
Arizona
 February 1 1883 Basque aritz ona "The good oak".
O'odham via Spanish ali ṣona-g via Arizonac "Having a little spring".
Arkansas
 July 20 1796 Kansa, via Illinois and French akaansa Borrowed from a French spelling of an Illinois rendering of the tribal name kką:ze (see Kansas, below), which the Miami and Illinois used to refer to the Quapaw.
California
 May 22 1850 Spanish Unknown Probably named for the fictional Island of California ruled by Queen Calafia in the 16th century novel Las sergas de Esplandián by García Ordóñez de Montalvo.
See also: Origin of the name California
Colorado
 November 8 1858 Spanish "Red" or "reddish", originally referring to the Colorado River.
Connecticut
 April 15 1675 Eastern Algonquian quinnitukqut From some Eastern Algonquian language of southern New England (perhaps Mahican), meaning "at the long tidal river", after the Connecticut River. The name reflects Proto-Eastern-Algonquian *kwən-, "long"; *-əhtəkw, "tidal river"; and *-ənk, the locative suffix).
Delaware
 January 31 1680 French via English de la Warr After the Delaware River, which was named for Lord de la Warr (originally probably Norman French de la guerre or de la werre, "of the war"). Lord de la Warr was the first Governor-General of Jamestown.
Florida
 December 28 1819 Spanish (pascua) florida "Flowery (Easter)" (to distinguish it from Christmastide which was also called Pascua), in honor of its discovery by the Spanish during the Easter season. Compare the state name with the English word "florid".
Georgia
 October 3 1674 Latin via English (ultimately from Greek) Georgos The feminine Latin form of "George", named after King George II of Great Britain. It was also a reference to Saint George, whose name meant in Greek "husbandman" "farmer" from ge "earth" + ergon "work".
Hawaii
 December 29 1879 Hawaiian Hawaiʻi From Hawaiki, legendary homeland of the Polynesians. Hawaiki is believed to mean "place of the gods".
Named for Hawaiʻiloa, legendary discoverer of the Hawaiian islands.
Idaho
 June 6 1864 English I-dah-hoe Probably made up by George M. "Doc" Willing as a practical joke; originally claimed to have been derived from a word in a Native American language that meant "Gem of the Mountains". The name was initially proposed for the state of Colorado until its origins were discovered. Years later it fell into common usage, and was proposed for the state it now names.
Plains Apache ídaahę́ Possibly from the Plains Apache word for "enemy" (ídaahę́), which was used to refer to the Comanches.
Illinois
 March 24 1793 Algonquian via French ilenweewa The state is named for the French adaptation of an Algonquian language (perhaps Miami) word apparently meaning "s/he speaks normally" (cf. Miami ilenweewa, Old Ottawa , Proto-Algonquian *elen-, "ordinary" and -we·, "to speak"), referring to the Illiniwek (Illinois).
Indiana
 December 2 1794 Latin (ultimately from Sanskrit) "Land of the Indians". The names Indians and India originally came from the Indus River i.e. from Sanskrit sindhu "river".
Iowa
 August 31 1818 Dakota via French ayúxba/ayuxwe via Aiouez By way of French Aiouez, and named after the Iowa tribe. The name seems to have no further known etymology, though some give it the meaning "sleepy ones".
Kansas
 May 12 1832 Kansa via French kką:ze via Cansez Named after the Kansas River, which in turn was named after the Kaw or Kansas tribe. The name seems to be connected to the idea of "wind".
Kentucky
 April 28 1728 Iroquoian Originally referring to the Kentucky River. While some sources say the etymology is uncertain, most agree on a meaning of "(on) the meadow" or "(on) the prairie" (cf. Mohawk kenhtà:ke, Seneca gëdá’geh (phonemic /kẽtaʔkeh/), "at the field").
Louisiana
 July 18 1787 French (ultimately from Frankish) Louisiane After King Louis XIV of France. The name Louis came itself from Frankish hluda "heard of, famous" (cf. loud) + wiga "war".
Maine
 October 13 1729 English main A common historical etymology is that the state's name refers to the mainland, as opposed to the coastal islands.
French After the French province of Maine.
English A more recent proposal is that the state was named after the English village of Broadmayne which was the family estate of Sir Ferdinand Gorges, the colony's founder.
Maryland
 January 18 1691 English (ultimately from Hebrew) Miryam After Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I of England. The name Mary originally meant in Hebrew "bitterness" "rebelliousness" "wished for child" or "beloved lady", and could also have come from Egyptian "beloved" or "love".
Massachusetts
 June 4 1665 Algonquian Plural of "Massachusett" meaning "Near the great little-mountain", or "at the great hill", usually identified as Great Blue Hill on the border of Milton and Canton, Massachusetts (cf. the Narragansett name Massachusêuck).
Michigan
 October 28 1811 Ojibwe via French mishigami "Large water" or "large lake" (in Old Algonquin, *meshi-gami).
Minnesota
 April 21 1821 Dakota mnisota "Cloudy water", referring to the Minnesota River.
Mississippi
 March 9 1800 Ojibwe via French misi-ziibi "Great river", after the Mississippi River.
Missouri
 September 7 1805 Illinois mihsoori "Dugout canoe". The Missouri tribe was noteworthy among the Illinois for their dugout canoes, and so was referred to as the wimihsoorita, "one who has a wood boat ".
Montana
 November 1 1860 Spanish montaña "Mountain".
Nebraska
 June 22 1847 Chiwere ñįbraske "flattened water", after the Platte River, which used to be known as the Nebraska River, due to the flatness of the plains, when the river would flood, it would blanket the region.
Nevada
 February 9 1845 Spanish "Snow-covered", after the Sierra Nevada ("snow-covered mountains").
New Hampshire
 August 27 1692 English After the county of Hampshire in England.
New Jersey
 April 2 1669 French (ultimately from Old Norse) After Jersey (the largest of the British Channel Islands), birthplace of one of the colony's two co-founders, Sir George de Carteret. The state was established under the name of New Caeserea or New Jersey because the Roman name of the island was thought to have been Caesarea. The name "Jersey" most likely comes from the Norse name Geirrs ey meaning "Geirr's Island".
New Mexico
 November 1 1859 Nahuatl via Spanish Mēxihco via Nuevo México A calque of Spanish Nuevo México. The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihca, the Aztec people who founded the cities of Tenochtitlan and Teotihuacan . Its literal meaning is unknown, though many possibilities have been proposed such as that the name comes from the God Mextli, or that it means "navel of the moon".
New York
 October 15 1680 English After the then Duke of York (later King James II of England). Named by then King Charles II of England, James II's brother. The name "York" is derived from its Latin name Eboracum (via Old English Eoforwic and then Old Norse Jórvík), apparently borrowed from Brythonic Celtic *eborakon, which probably meant "Yew-Tree Estate". See also York#Toponymy for more information.
North Carolina
 June 30 1686 Latin via English (ultimately from Frankish) Carolus via Carolana After King Charles I of England. The name Charles came itself from Frankish karl "man, husband".
North Dakota
 November 2 1867 Sioux dakhóta "Ally" or "friend", after the Dakota tribe.
Ohio
 April 19 1785 Seneca via French ohi:yo’ "Large creek", originally the name of both the Ohio River and Allegheny River. Often incorrectly translated as "beautiful river", due to a French mistranslation.
Oklahoma
 September 5 1842 Choctaw okla + homa Devised as a rough translation of "Indian Territory"; in Choctaw, okla means "people", "tribe", or "nation", and homa- means "red", thus: "Red people".
Oregon
 July 20 1860 Connecticut Pidgin Algonquian wauregan "Beautiful". First named by Major Robert Rogers in a petition to King George III.
See also: Oregon (toponym)
Pennsylvania
 March 8 1650 Welsh and Latin Penn + silvania "Penn's woods", after Admiral William Penn. The name "Penn" comes from Pennaeth which is the Welsh word for "head".
Rhode Island
 February 3 1680 Dutch roodt eylandt "Red island", referring to Aquidneck Island. The Modern Dutch form of the phrase is "rood eiland".
Greek ῾Ρόδος For a resemblance to the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.
South Carolina
 November 12 1687 Latin via English (ultimately from Frankish) Carolus via Carolana After King Charles I of England. The name Charles came itself from Frankish karl "man, husband".
South Dakota
 November 2 1867 Sioux dakhóta "Ally" or "friend". See North Dakota, above.
Tennessee
 May 24 1747 Cherokee ᏔᎾᏏ tanasi Tanasi (in Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ) was the name of a Cherokee village; the meaning is unknown.
Texas
 June 30 1827 Caddo via Spanish táyshaʔ via Tejas "Friend", used by the Caddo to refer the larger Caddo nation (in opposition to enemy tribes). The name was borrowed into Spanish as texa, plural texas, and used to refer to the Caddo Nation.
Utah
 December 20 1877 Western Apache via Spanish yúdah via yuta From the Spanish designation for the Ute people, yuta, in turn perhaps a borrowing from Western Apache yúdah meaning "high" (not, as is commonly stated, "people of the mountains" and not from the Ute's own self-designation (plural ), as suggested by J. P. Harrington).
Vermont
 September 27 1721 French vert + mont "Green mount" or "Green mountain"; vert in French means "green", and mont means "mount" or "mountain".
Virginia
 March 21 1652 Latin "Country of the Virgin", after Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married.
Washington
 February 22 1872 English After George Washington.
West Virginia
 September 1 1831 Latin The western, transmontane, counties of Virginia; separated from Virginia during Civil War; see Virginia, above.
Wisconsin
 February 5 1822 Miami via French Wishkonsing Originally spelled Mescousing by the French, and later corrupted to Ouisconsin. Likely it derives from a Miami word Meskonsing meaning "it lies red" It may also come from the Ojibwe term miskwasiniing, "red-stone place".
Wyoming
 August 14 1877 Munsee Delaware xwé:wamənk "At the big river flat"; the name was transplanted westward from the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.

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