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List of place names of Native American origin in the United States facts for kids

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Many places throughout the United States 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

Main article: List of Alabama placenames of Native American origin

Alaska

Main article: List of Alaska placenames of Native American origin

Arizona

Main article: List of Arizona placenames of Native American origin

Arkansas

Main article: List of Arkansas placenames of Native American origin

California

Main article: List of California placenames of Native American origin

Colorado

Main article: List of Colorado placenames of Native American origin

Connecticut

Main article: List of Connecticut placenames of Native American origin

Delaware

Settlements

District of Columbia

Settlements

  • Anacostia – from the Piscataway name Anakwashtank, meaning 'a place of traders'. Originally the name of a village of the Piscataway tribe on the Anacostia River. Also rendered as Nacochtank or Nacostine.
  • Takoma – originally the name of Mount Rainier, from Lushootseed [təqʷúbəʔ] (earlier *təqʷúməʔ), 'snow-covered mountain'. 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'.

Bodies of water

Florida

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

Other

Georgia

Counties

Settlements

  • Cataula – a small community on US 27 in Harris County where 20th century guitar virtuoso Chet Adkins was born
  • Dahlonega
  • Nankipooh – once a whistle stop on the Central of Georgia railroads "R" branch, it is now a suburb of Columbus
  • 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/Muscogee County
  • Toccoa
  • Upatoi – a creek that runs between Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties in west-central Georgia
  • Weracoba – a creek and city park in Columbus

Hawaii

Counties

Idaho

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

Other

Illinois

Main article: List of Illinois placenames of Native American origin

Indiana

Main article: List of Indiana placenames of Native American origin

Iowa

Main article: List of Iowa placenames of Native American origin

Kansas

Counties

Settlements

  • Osawatomie – a compound of two primary Native American Indian tribes from the area, the Osage and Pottawatomie
  • 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
  • Topeka – from Kansa dóppikʔe, "a good place to dig wild potatoes"

Kentucky

Settlements

Other

Louisiana

Parishes

Settlements

Bodies of water

Maine

Main article: List of Maine placenames of Native American origin

Maryland

Main article: List of Maryland placenames of Native American origin

Massachusetts

Main article: List of Massachusetts placenames of Native American origin

Michigan

Main article: List of Michigan placenames of Native American origin

Minnesota

Main article: List of Minnesota placenames of Native American origin

Mississippi

Main article: List of Mississippi placenames of Native American origin

Missouri

Counties

Settlements

Others

Montana

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

  • Arapooish Pond
  • Cherokee Reservoir – named after the Cherokee people.
  • Cheyenne Reservoir
  • Kootenai River
    • Kootenai National Forest
  • Missouri River
  • Navaho Reservoir
  • Navajo Tarn
  • North Chinook Reservoir
  • Sacagawea River
  • Shambow Pond
  • Shonkin Lake
    • Shonkin Sag
  • Shupak Ponds
  • Sioux Reservoir
  • Slag-a-melt Lakes
  • Tahepia Lake
  • Tepee Butte Reservoir
    • Tepee Butte
  • Tobacco River
  • Ute Reservoir
  • Waukena Lake
  • Wichiup Reservoir
  • Wigwam River

Other

Nebraska

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

Counties

Settlements

  • Anoka - A Dakota Indian word meaning "on both sides."
  • Arapahoe
  • Hyannis - Named after Hyannis, Massachusetts, which was named after Iyannough, a sachem of the Cummaquid tribe.
  • Iowa
  • Kenesaw
  • Leshara - Named after Chief Petalesharo.
  • Mankato - Mankota is from the Dakota Indian word Maḳaṭo, meaning "blue earth". Named for Mankato, Minnesota.
  • Minatare - From the Hidatsa word mirita'ri, meaning "crosses the water."
  • Monowi - Meaning "flower", this town was so named because there were so many wild flowers growing in the vicinity.
  • Nehawka - An approximation to the Omaha and Otoe Indian name of a nearby creek meaning "rustling water."
  • Nemaha - Named after the Nemaha River, based on an Otoe word meaning "swampy water."
  • Niobrara - The Omaha and Ponca word for spreading water or spreading river.
  • Oconee - Named for Oconee, Illinois. Oconee was the name of a Creek town.
  • Oconto - A Menominee word meaning the "place of the pickerel." Named for Oconto, Wisconsin.
  • Ogallala - named for the Oglala people.
  • Omaha - Named for the Omaha people who lived nearby
  • Oneida – named after the Oneida people.
  • Osceola
  • Leshara. Named after Petalesharo, a Pawnee chief.
  • Pohocco - A precinct in the northeastern part of Saunders county, the name derives from Pahuk, meaning headland or promontory, the Pawnee name of a prominent hill in the vicinity.
  • Ponca
  • Quinnebaugh
  • Santee
  • Sappa
  • Saratoga
  • Tecumseh
  • Tekamah - Located on the site of a historic Pawnee village, the surrounding hills were used for burying grounds and the highest point was used as a fire signal station. The origin of the name is not definitely known.
  • Unidilla - An Iroquois word meaning "place of meeting." Named after Unadilla, New York.
  • Venango - An eastern Native American name in reference to a figure found on a tree, carved by the Erie.
  • Waco - Named after Waco, Texas, which is the name of one of the divisions of the Tawokoni whose village stood on the site of Waco, Texas.
  • Wahoo
  • Winnebago
  • Wyoming - Derived from a corrupted Delaware word meaning "large plains" or "extensive meadows."
  • Wyoming Township, Holt County, Nebraska
  • Yutan - Named for an Otoe chief.

Nevada

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

Other

New Hampshire

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

New Jersey

Main article: List of New Jersey placenames of Native American origin

New Mexico

  • Jemez Springs – named for the nearby Pueblo of Jemez
  • Nambe – 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 – Tewa: P'osuwaege Owingeh [p’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè]
  • Taos – The English name Taos derives from the native Taos language meaning "place of red willows"
  • Tesuque – Tewa: Tetsuge Owingeh [tèʔts’úgé ʔówîŋgè])
  • Tucumcari – 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 New York placenames of Native American origin

North Carolina

Main article: List of North Carolina placenames of Native American origin

North Dakota

Counties

Settlements

Ohio

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

Counties

Settlements

  • 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'; 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'.
  • Mingo and Mingo Junction – named after the Mingo people, Iroquoians who moved west to Ohio in the 18th century, largely of the Seneca nation.
  • Ohio River – from Seneca Ohiyo 'the best river' or 'the big river'.
  • 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'.
  • Piqua – Shawnee Pekowi, name of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee.
  • Wapakoneta – from Shawnee Wa·po’kanite 'Place of White Bones' (wa·pa 'white'+(h)o’kani 'bone'+-ite locative suffix).

Oklahoma

Main article: List of Oklahoma placenames of Native American origin

Oregon

Counties

Communities

Pennsylvania

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

Counties

Settlements

  • Aliquippa – Lenape alukwepi 'hat'; after Queen Aliquippa, who was named that because she wore a large hat.
  • Analomink – From "tumbling water."
  • Catasauqua (pronounced "Cat-uh-SAW-kwuh"), from the Lenape language, meaning "dry ground" or "thirsty ground."
  • Catawissa – Lenape, 'growing fat;' a reference to a Delaware Chief in the area, Lapachpeton.
  • Chillisquaque Chillisquaque' comes from the native American term meaning 'song of the wild goose'
  • Conemaugh – Lenape kwənəmuxkw 'otter'.
  • Connoquenessing – Lenape, 'A long way straight'
  • Conshohocken – Lenape kanshihakink 'in elegant land': kanshi 'elegant' + haki 'land' + -nk locative suffix.
  • . Coplay - This name came from "Kolapechka". The son of the Indian chief, Paxanosa, who lived at the head of the creek
  • HOKENDAUQUA (Lehigh County) Both the village and creek are named for a combination of the Lenape words Hackiun and dochwe, which together mean "stream searching for land."
  • Keewaydin Keewaydin is not definite, but may have derived from an Indian word meaning "the north wind" or "home wind," (for when the wind blew from that direction the trail led home).
  • 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' + manitu 'make' ), 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.
  • Kittanning – Lenape kithanink 'on the main river': kit 'great, large, big' + hane 'swift river from the mountains' + -ink locative suffix, "the big river" or "the main river" being an epithet for the Allegheny-cum-Ohio, according to John Heckewelder.
  • Lackawaxen Lenape name Lackawaxen, meaning "swift waters,"
  • 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.
  • Loyalsock – Lenape, 'middle creek.' (It is located halfway between lycoming and muncy creeks.)
  • Macungie is derived from a Native American word meaning bear swamp, or place where bears feed.
  • Manayunk – Lenape məneyunk 'place of drinking': məne 'drink' + yu 'here' + -nk locative suffix.
  • Mauch Chunk – Lenape maxkw-chunk 'bear mountain'.
  • Mehoopany – Lenape, 'where there are wild potatoes."
  • Meshoppen Lenape, 'corals,' or 'beads.'
  • Monongahela – Lenape Mənaonkihəla 'the high riverbanks are washed down; the banks cave in or erode', inanimate plural of mənaonkihəle 'the dirt caves off (such as the bank of a river or creek; or in a landslide)' < mənaonke 'it has a loose bank (where one might fall in)' + -həle (verb of motion).
  • Moshnanon The community takes its name from Moshannon Creek, a Native American name purported to mean "moose stream"
  • Muckinipattis – Lenape for 'deep running water', from mexitkwek 'a deep place full of water' or mexakwixen 'high water, freshet'.
  • Muncy–after the Munsee people < Munsee language mənsiw, 'person from Minisink' (minisink meaning 'at the island': mənəs 'island' + -ink locative suffix) + -iw attributive suffix.
  • Nanticoke – From the Nanticoke language, 'Tide water people.' (In reference to themselves)
  • Nemacolin – after the 18th-century Lenape chief Nemacolin.
  • Nescopeck – Shawnee, 'deep and still water.'
  • Nesquehoning — meaning “narrow valley;” others say name comes from stream that runs through the area, which was called Neska-honi, or black lick, or Neskeu-honi, or dirty lick
  • Nittany – 'single mountain', from Lenape nekwti 'single' + ahtəne 'mountain'.
  • Ohiopyle – from the Lenape phrase ahi opihəle, 'it turns very white', referring to the frothy waterfalls.
  • Passyunk – from Lenape pahsayunk 'in the valley', from pahsaek 'valley' (also the name of Passaic, New Jersey).
  • Pennypack–Lenape pənəpekw 'where the water flows downward'.
  • Perkiomen – Lenape, 'where there are cranberries.'
  • Poconos – Lenape pokawaxne 'a creek between two hills'.
  • Punxsutawney – Lenape Punkwsutenay 'town of sandflies or mosquitoes': punkwəs 'sandfly' (<punkw 'dust' + -əs diminutive suffix) + utenay 'town'.
  • Pymatuning – Lenape Pimhatunink 'where there are facilities for sweating' < pim- 'to sweat in a sweat lodge' + hatu 'it is placed' + -n(e) inanimate object marker + -ink locative suffix.
  • Queonemysing – Lenape kwənamesink 'place of long fish': kwəni 'long' + names 'fish' + -ink locative suffix.
  • Quittapahilla Creek – Lenape kuwe ktəpehəle 'it flows out through the pines': kuwe 'pine tree' + ktəpehəle 'it flows out'.
  • Shackamaxon – Lenape sakimaksink 'place of the chiefs': sakima 'chief' + -k plural suffix + -s- (for euphony) -ink locative suffix
  • Shamokin – Lenape Shahəmokink 'place of eels', from shoxamekw 'eel' + -ink locative suffix.
  • Shickshinny – Lenape, 'a fine stream.'
  • Sinnemahoning – Lenape ahsəni mahonink 'stony lick', from ahsən 'stone' and mahonink 'at the salt lick'.
  • Susquehanna – Lenape siskuwihane 'muddy river': sisku 'mud' + -wi- (for euphony) + hane 'swift river from the mountains'.
  • Tamaqua – Lenape, 'running water;' named for a nearby river.
  • Tiadaghton – Seneca, 'pine creek.'
  • Tinicum – Lenape mahtanikunk 'Where they catch up with each other'.
  • Tulpehocken – Lenape tulpehakink 'in the land of turtles': tulpe 'turtle' + haki 'land' + -nk locative suffix.
  • Tionesta – Munsee, 'There it has fine banks.'
  • Tobyhanna is derived from an American Indian word meaning "a stream whose banks are fringed with alder."
  • Towamensing – Lenape, 'pasture land,' (literally 'the place of feeding cattle.')
  • Towanda – Nanticoke, 'where we bury the dead.'
  • Tunkhannock – Lenape tank hane 'narrow stream', from tank 'small' + hane 'stream'.
  • Wapwallopen – Lenape òphalahpink, 'where the white wild hemp grows,' from òp- 'white' + halahpis 'Indian hemp' + -nk locative.
  • Wiconisco – Lenape wikin niskew 'A muddy place to live', from wikin 'to live in a place' + niskew 'to be dirty, muddy'.
  • Wissahickon – contraction of Lenape wisamekwhikan 'catfish creek': wisamekw 'catfish' (literally 'fat fish': <wisam 'fat' + -èkw, bound form of namès 'fish' ) + hikan 'ebb tide, mouth of a creek'.
  • Wyalusing – Lenape, 'the place where the aged man dwells,' a reference to the Moravian missionaries who set up a village in the area.
  • Wyoming Valley – Munsee, xwēwamənk 'at the big river flat': xw- 'big' + ēwam 'river flat' + ənk locative suffix.
  • Wysox – Lenape, 'the place of grapes.'
  • Youghiogheny – Lenape yuxwiakhane 'stream running a contrary or crooked course', according to John Heckewelder.

Rhode Island

Main article: List of place names in New England of aboriginal origin
  • Apponaug: (Narragansett) "where oysters/shellfish are roasted" or "waiting place"
  • Aquidneck Island: (Narragansett) "at the island"
  • Canonchet: a 17th-century Narragansett chief
  • Chepachet: (Narragansett) "boundary/separation place"
  • Conanicut Island: (Narragansett) named for a 17th-century chief Canonicus
  • Conimicut: (Narragansett) thought to be named for granddaughter of Canonicus (see above)
  • Mount Hope: (from Narragansett Montop or Montaup) "look-out place" or "well-fortified island"
  • Narragansett Bay (and town): tribe: "at the narrow point"
  • Natick: tribe; "the place I seek" or "home"
  • Pascoag (and river): (Nipmuck) "the dividing place" (of river)
  • Pawtucket: (Narragansett) "at the falls in the river (tidal stream)"
  • Pettaquamscutt Rock (and river): Narragansett) "at the round rock"
  • Pontiac: famous mid-18th century Ottawa chief
  • Quonochontaug: (Narragansett) "home of the blackfish"
  • Sakonnet River (and point): (Narragansett) "home of the black goose"
  • Scituate Reservoir: (Wampanoag) "at the cold spring/brook"
  • Shawomet: (Narragansett) "at the peninsula/neck" (canoe-landing place)
  • Usquepaugh: (Narragansett) "at the end of the pond"
  • Weekapaug: (Narragansett) "at the end of the pond"
  • Woonsocket: (Nipmuck) "place of steep descent"
  • Wyoming: (Delaware) "large prairie"

South Carolina

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

Islands

South Dakota

Counties

* Brule County - from the Sičangu or Brule from French meaning “burnt” .

Settlements

  • Canistota – from the New York Native American word canistoe, meaning "board on the water".
  • Capa – from the Sioux for "beaver".
  • Kadoka – Lakota for "hole in the wall".
  • Kampeska – Sioux for "bright and shining", "like a shell or glass".
  • Lower Brule - from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe .
  • Oacoma
  • Oglala – Lakota for "to scatter one's own".
  • 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".
  • 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".
  • Seneca – from Algonquian sinnekaas, which referred to the Seneca people.
  • Teton – from Dakota tinton or tinta, meaning "prairie".
  • Wanblee – from Lakota Waŋblí Hoȟpi, meaning "golden eagle nest".
  • Wasta – from Dakota wašté, meaning "good".
  • Wakonda – from Sioux wakor or waukon, meaning "wonder, marvel, mystery, sacred".
  • Wakpala
  • Wecota – from Lakota wicota, meaning "a crowd".
  • Wetonka from Dakota wi-tȟáŋka, meaning "big sun".
  • Yankton – corruption of Sioux Ihanktonwan, meaning "the end village".

Tennessee

Counties

Settlements

Bodies of water

Texas

Utah

  • Juab County – from Paiute word for "flat plain"
  • Kanab – from Paiute word for willow tree
  • Kamas – from indigenous word for an edible, wild bulb
  • Moab – from Paiute "moapa," meaning "mosquitoes", though possibly named after the biblical Moab
  • Oquirrh Mountains – from Goshute for "glowing, or wooded mountain"
  • Mount Timpanogos – from Paiute for "rocks and runny water"
  • Sanpete County - Chief Sanpitch
  • Uintah County – from Ute for "pine land"
  • 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".
  • Wasatch (Wasatch Range, Wasatch County, Wasatch Plateau, Wahsatch, etc.) – from "wasatch," a Ute word for "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range"
  • 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").

Vermont

Main article: List of place names of Native American origin in New England § Vermont

Settlements

Bodies of Water

Islands

  • Popasquash Island
  • Queneska Island: (Abnaki) "elbow" or "long joint"

Other

  • Hoosac Mountains: (Mahican) "stone place"
  • Monadnock Mountain: (Abnaki) "at the mountain which sticks up like an island" (see New Hampshire)
  • Moosalamoo Mountain: (Abnaki) "moose trail"
  • Netop Mountain: (Natick) "my friend"
  • Nickwaket Mountain: (Abnaki) "at the fork" or "home of squirrels"
  • Pico Peak: (possibly Abnaki) "the pass/opening"

Virginia

Main article: List of Virginia placenames of Native American origin

Washington

West Virginia

Main article: List of West Virginia placenames of Native American origin

Wisconsin

Main article: List of Wisconsin placenames of Native American origin

Wyoming

  • Cheyenne – From Dakota Šahíyena, the diminutive of Šahíya, "Cree".
  • 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.
  • 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.

See also

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List of place names of Native American origin in the United States Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.