U.S. States with Native American

Names

By: Adam WebbMr. Lidington

9/6/2013English 11 DC

States in blue have Native American decent.

Out of our 50 states 26 of the names come from native

American decent.

The other 24 of our states are named after places in

Europe, European or American people, or words

European languages since we were founded by

Europeans.

Other states such as Idaho and California have names

with no meaning at all.

How Many

Alabama - named for the native Indian tribe to the state. This name may have come from the word “albina,” which means “campsite,” or from the words “alba amo,” which mean “clearing brush.”

Alaska – named from the native word “Alaxsxix,” from the Aleut tribe in the tundra in the north. This word means “place the sea crashes against.”

Arizona – named from the native word “Arizonac,”which is a Spanish derived word possible from the Tohono O'odham’s word “alishonag,” which means "little spring."

Arkansas – derived from the native word “Acansa,” which was the name of a Quapaw Indian village and it means “southern place.”

The A’s

This State comes from the Native American word Quinnitukqut, which is a Mohegan Indian name for the Connecticut River. Which translates to "long river."

Connecticut

Illinois – This state gets its name from the Indian word Illiniwek, which is from Illini tribe, and literally translated it means "best people."

Iowa – it gets its name from the word Ayuhwa, which a word of the Ioway Indian tribe. Literally translated it means "sleepy ones."

The I’s

Kansas – this state is derived from the word Kansa, which is the name of an Indian tribe in the south east. The name means "south." The people of this tribe used a shortened form of their own name and called themselves, People of the South Wind.

Kentucky – this state got its name from the word Kentake from the Iroquois people meaning "meadow land."

The K’s

Massachusetts – got its name from the Native American word Massachuset. Thempanoag Indian name meaning "by the range of hills."

Michigan - got its name from the words Mshigem or Misigami, which are the names given to Lake Michigan in the Potawatomi and Ojibwe languages. Both of the names mean "great lake."

Minnesota – got its name from the Dakota Sioux Indians. They gave it the name Minnesota which is the native name of the Minnesota River, a and it means "cloudy water."

Mississippi – got its name from the Ojibwe language . The name they called this area was Misiziibi which is the Native American name for the Mississippi River. The name means "great river."

Missouri – got its name from a tribe native to the state. Missouria was given to the state by the native Indian tribe and it was their tribe’s name. Their tribal name means "big canoe people."

The M’s

Nebraska – gets its name from two words from the Nibthaska or Nibrathka, which are the native names for the Platte River in the Omaha-Ponca and Otoe languages. Both names mean "flat river."

New Mexico - was named after the country of Mexico, but Mexico is named after an American Indian word. Mexico is a name from the Aztec language Nahuatl. Mexico means "city of the Aztecs."

The N’s

Ohio – got its name from the native word Ohiyo. Which the Seneca Indians call the Ohio River. When Ohiyo is translated it means "it is beautiful."

Oklahoma – got its name from the Choctaw Indians. They called this area Okla Homma, which means “Red People,” when translated.

The O’s

These two states get their name from the Dakota Sioux tribe which lives in the Dakotas. The name means "the allies."

The Dakotas

Tennessee – gets it name from the Cherokee Indians in that region. The name Tanasi, which doesn’t mean anything but it may have come from a shortened form of a longer Cherokee word or phrase, or it may have been named after a Cherokee person.

Texas – got its name from the word Taysha which comes from the Cabbo Indians, and it means “friend.”

The T’s

Utah’s name is derived from the word Ute which was the name of the tribe native to the state of Utah. Ute may have come from the word nuutsiu, which means "the people" in their language.

Utah

Wisconsin – got its name from the native word Wishkonsing which does not have a specific meaning. But does come from the Ojibwe name for the Wisconsin River.

Wyoming – got its name from the native word Chwewamink, which means “by the big river flat.” The name comes from the Lenape Indians, but hey never lived in Wyoming. However the name also comes from a town in Pennsylvania, and when white settlers came west they brought the name with them.

The W’s

Almost every Native American state name as a similar resemblance or sound to what we call it today.

The States

http://www.native-languages.org/state-names.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0854966.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31100/how-all-50-states-got-their-names

Sources