| ALABAMA |
an Indian tribal name - meaning not known.
Spelling influenced by the Spaniards. |
| ALASKA |
an Aleutian word for mainland |
| ARIZONA |
Papago - place of the small spring |
| ARKANSAS |
an Indian tribal name - pronounced Arkansaw. The
s, was added by the French to make a plural |
| CALIFORNIA |
an invented name for an imaginary island - the
explorer Cortes is said to have transferred the name to the state |
| COLORADO |
Spanish - meaning reddish, for the color of the
Colorado river |
| CONNECTICUT |
Algonquian - meaning long river. The second c,
has never been pronounced. |
| DELAWARE |
For Thomas West, Lord de la Warr. (1577-1618 ) |
| FLORIDA |
Spanish - meaning flowered, flowery, but also
suggesting Easter, when the name was given. |
| GEORGIA |
For George II |
| HAWAII |
Meaning, place of the gods, with particular
reference to the gods. |
| IDAHO |
An Apache name of uncertain meaning |
| ILLINOIS |
Algonquian - meaning men and warriors |
| INDIANA |
Latinised name in honor of Indian tribes |
| IOWA |
An Indian tribal name of uncertain meaning |
| KANSAS |
Based on the name of an Indian tribe |
| KENTUCKY |
Iroquois - meaning meadow land |
| LOUISIANA |
For Louis XIV of France |
| MAINE |
from mainland - changed by the French to
correspond to a French province. |
| MARYLAND |
for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. |
| MASSACHUSETTS |
means "at the big hills" in Algonquian |
| MICHIGAN |
another Algonquian word translating to "big
lake" or "forest clearing." |
| MINNESOTA |
Sioux word meaning "cloudy water" |
| MISSISSIPPI |
Algonquian for "big river" |
| MISSOURI |
this was the Algonquian word for the river and
may mean "muddy river" |
| MONTANA |
Spanish - mountainous |
| NEBRASKA |
Sioux - "flat water", originally referring to
the River Platte area. |
| NEVADA |
Spanish - "snowy" - a reference to the Sierra
Nevada mountains. |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE |
Named by an early settler, John Mason, who came
from Hampshire county in England. |
| NEW JERSEY |
Named after the Channel Island, Jersey, by Sir
George Carteret, who came from there. |
| NEW MEXICO |
Named in the hope that the area would prove as
rich in resources as Mexico. |
| NEW YORK |
Name for the duke of York, the brother of
Charles II. |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
Named after Charles IX of France. Carolina, a
Latin feminine form of Charles. |
| NORTH DAKOTA |
An Indian tribal name meaning "alliance of
friends." |
| OHIO |
An Iroquoian name meaning "beautiful river." |
| OKLAHOMA |
A Choctaw name meaning "red people." |
| OREGON |
Possibly a misreading of the river name in
Wisconsin, spelt the Ouaricon-sint on an 18th century map, with the last 4
letters on the next line. |
| PENNSYLVANIA |
From William Penn plus the Latin "sylvan" to
mean "woodland." |
| RHODE ISLAND |
From the Greek island of Rhodes |
| SOUTH CAROLINA |
see NORTH CAROLINA |
| SOUTH DAKOTA |
see NORTH DAKOTA |
| TENNESSEE |
Derived from an Anglicized spelling of a
Cherokee river name. |
| TEXAS |
1) from a Indian tribal name 2) a
misunderstanding of a native American greeting meaning "good friend." |
| UTAH |
Indian tribe name |
| VERMONT |
from the French vert+mont meaning "green
mountain." |
| VIRGINIA |
For Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen |
| WASHINGTON |
Named after George Washington, first American
president. |
| WEST VIRGINIA |
same as VIRGINIA |
| WISCONSIN |
An Algonquian word meaning "long river." |
| WYOMING |
Algonquian for "broad plains." |