Talk:List of state and territory name etymologies of the United States

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Featured listList of state and territory name etymologies of the United States is a featured list, which means it has been identified as one of the best lists produced by the Wikipedia community. If you can update or improve it, please do so.
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March 10, 2007Featured list candidatePromoted

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On the etymology for the state of Colorado it states that the meaning of the word is "Colored river, presumably referring to the Colorado River", from my recollection, and the wikipedia article on Colorado, I thought it meant "The Color red" or "reddish in color" etc., can anyone confirm or dispute this? Thunderbolt16 18:30, Apr 12, 2004 (UTC)

Agreed, it means 'red'. Compare e.g. Palo Colorado, the early Spanish name for the Coast redwood. - MPF 21:57, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Idaho: can anyone confirm the double aspiration in "ee-dah-how"? Would not "ee-da-how" be more accurate? - MPF 21:57, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Was there any reason for the page being dark blue? It wasn't very readable so I changed it. If there was a reason for it then please revert. Angela 22:22, Oct 4, 2003 (UTC)

no, there was no reason .. i've got the same claim on the Swedish version. This colour did I found in another article and thought wiki would change it depending on the user theme set in the preferences. // Rogper 23:19, 4 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Thanks, btw, for adding more specific things to it. I read a book that is dated back to 1974 so I clued that there was some more things that have been restored. Anyone knows what Hawaii means, or is it still unknown ? // Rogper 23:21, 4 Oct 2003 (UTC)

According to Terry Crowley (An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. Oxford University Press, 1992, pg. 289), "Māori oral traditions tell of canoe voyages from the distant land of Hawaiki, many many generations ago. The stories record the names of particular canoes which came ashore at different locations along the coastline of the new land that they called Aotearoa, and modern Māori groups speak of their descent from one or another of these founding waka, or canoes. The name Hawaiki has the same origin as the name of the biggest island in Hawaii, which is phonemically /hawaiʔi/, as well as the name of the largest Samoan island, /savaiʔi/. --Whimemsz 22:42, 30 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]


I believe some of these need a little checking, or at least some alternative derivations. See http://www.statehousegirls.net/resources/symbols/names/statenamesorign/ and http://www.rootsweb.com/~neresour/OLLibrary/Montgomery/mahx025.htm for example. It gives different kings that Carolina was named after. Bill Bryson also contends that Idaho is a made-up word. DJ Clayworth 18:29, 16 Oct 2003 (UTC)

For what it's worth, many many of Bryson's claims about languages are wrong. Nonetheless, in this case, he seems to be right. This PDF paper, for example, says that "Idaho" was a word invented by one George M. Willing, which he claimed came from an "Indian" word meaning "gem of the mountains," but which in reality meant nothing at all. --Whimemsz 22:42, 30 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Also, the Arkansas article says the name is derived from a French word. I've not changed either because I don't know which is correct -- sannse 16:30, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)
I think that the Arkansas article is wrong, tho can't check right now. What source do that article have ?

Hmm. This list disagrees with what is at the head of Minnesota, though I don't know Dakota, so I couldn't say what's right —Mulad 02:12, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Shouldn't there be links to the entities that the states were named after, e.g. Missouri after the Missouri River? Chl 04:46, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Is there any cite for the name of Louisiana being from King Louis, or is it just a guess? I ask because there is an area in Denmark named Louisiana, and the state may have drawn it's name from there. Then again, I don't know where the name of that place comes from. --Smári McCarthy 21:55, 17 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Louisiana is named after King Louis, according to the CD-ROM "History" which provides an overview of world history and American history. King Louis was in fact the king of France at the time. Also, it was a French man, La Salle, who first named it.--Beezer137 (talk) 00:11, 10 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

European countries etymological map?[edit]

What about some cool dude making one? Hasbro 21:01, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In several notes, the (commercial) online discussion website Wordreference.com and its forum are quoted as a source. Can a commercial website and a forum open to non-professionals and amateurs be considered an authoritative source? --84.173.52.163 04:27, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see where the forums are cited. Wordreference's dictionary is cited several times, but I wasn't aware that the dictionary itself was not a reliable source; it's served me well so far. But any good Spanish dictionary would have definitions for, say, montaña or colorado, so it strictly isn't necessary to use Wordreference as the source. I just don't have an authoritative print dictionary I can cite--does someone else? --Miskwito 04:42, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Arizona[edit]

I always though "Arizona" was from Spanish, arido zona (arid zone). Seems to make sense, too. 128.138.131.250 22:51, 10 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

that's what i have heard, too —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.164.208.139 (talk) 14:52, 25 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

im pretty sure it is spanish — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.19.170.14 (talk) 08:11, 2 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I still think that it's a portmanteau of two Spanish words and not Basque or some Native name. AmericanLeMans (talk) 19:25, 22 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article is correct. Reasons to accept that Arizona does not come from Spanish árida zona or something similar:

  1. In Spanish the modifier usually follows the noun, so the name should be zona árida. I admit there are exceptions, but they are rare.
  2. If this region had ever been named árida zona by Spanish colonizers, there would be proof in the abundant Spanish colonial records. No such evidence has been discovered.
  3. Those Spanish records do contain an earlier version of the name: Arizonac. The final c was dropped, perhaps in a transcription error, or probably just because dropping the c made it easier to pronounce. The árida zona theory can't account for Arizonac.
  4. There are no other Spanish territories that were labeled a Zona. Zona implies a belt-like area (e.g. zona de guerra, war zone), not a spacious region like Arizona. The word zona (like English zone) comes from Greek ζώνη (zṓnē), meaning a belt or sash -- a fact that was probably more widely known by government officials in the 1600s than it would be today.
  5. As anyone knows who has traveled much in Arizona, the state is not one big "arid zone."
  6. The theory about the O'odham alĭ ṣonak, "(place of) small springs is very plausible. Note the final k which makes for a plausible origin for Arizonac, the earliest written form of the name.

Folk etymology is a popular pastime throughout the world. Often, as in this case, a folk etymology depends on unlikely inferences, or on bending the rules of the supposed source language, e.g. making zona and árida swap places. -- ℜob C. alias ALAROB 19:26, 6 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Oregon (toponym)[edit]

Oregon has a separate article for the discussion of its name that was split out from the Oregon article. Would it make sense to link to it instead of Oregon in the first column of the table? Or else add some sort of "see also" to the Oregon section? Katr67 (talk) 18:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Delaware[edit]

Although De la Warr could have originally been De la guerre I have not seen any proof or mention of this anywhere. Could someone check? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.93.26 (talk) 17:25, 27 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Virginia etymology[edit]

I have removed the new etymology given by DLinth for the state of Virginia, which read, "After a regional Native American "king" named "Wingina," 1584, modified later that year by Elizabeth I of England to "Virginia", perhaps in part noting her status as the "Virgin Queen."". I will explain my reasoning here.

1. To begin with, I'll quote what his source, George Stewart's Names on the Land (1945, pg. 22) has to say:

"When the captains returned, their report went to Sir Walter [Raleigh], and he took it to the Queen. In it they wrote the name of the whole country as Wingandacoa, and of its King, Wingina. Then, it may be, that spelling spurred the Queen's thought, and she remembered her own virgin state, which her poets celebrated. Also, that far-off, sweet-smelling lay untouched and virgin, waiting to be possessed. So while Sir Walter stood by to approve and applaud, the Queen remembered her Latin, and spoke a word of proper form for the name of the province, which was a "virgin-land". Thus when the account of the captains came to be printed, the sentence ran 'The king is called Wingina, the country Wingandacoa'--but also was added, 'and now by her Majesty, Virginia.'"

Now, while this is straying into original research of sorts, I'll note that this is nothing more than a just-so story; Stewart presents no actual evidence that any of these events or decisions took place. It makes for a good story to describe the Queen's emotions and thoughts, but that doesn't make it historical fact. The brief except quoted from the captains' report, to me, doesn't imply that the names "Wingandacoa/Wingina" and "Virginia" are in any way connected. The except simply says that the area surveyed was called (by some) "Wingandacoa", and that the Queen called it "Virginia". No direct mention of her reasons, or any suggestion that she was prompted to name it that by the similarity between "Wingandacoa" and "Virginia". So my first reason for reverting this etymology is that the source in question doesn't actually present evidence for the claim, but rather a story about how things might have happened. This isn't really enough reason to revert, though; so my other reasons shall follow:

2. The source is from 1945. A source being older than others doesn't necessarily disqualify it, of course, but if all more recent--and also apparently 'reliable'--sources give a different etymology (see #3 below), then it would seem that the older source has not been accepted by others. Unless there's good reason, it seems to me that multiple recent sources should overrule a single outdated source.

3. The following are all sources I would consider quite reliable, and all give the etymology originally given on the page:

  1. The source originally given for the original etymology, the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (from 2006)
  2. The American Heritage Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (from 2002)
  3. The Oxford English Dictionary (second ed., 1989)
  4. The Online Etymology Dictionary
  5. The Library of Virginia "FAQ About Virginia" page

These are my reasons for reverting the new etymology. --Miskwito (talk) 21:18, 8 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

States named after monarchs.[edit]

"Five are named after monarchs: three British kings, an English queen, and one French king." Does anyone know what this is referring to?

The state named after a French king must be Louisiana, after Louis XIV.

So that leaves four states to be distributed between "three British kings" and an "English queen". Among the "three British kings", I guess we must include George II (for Georgia) and Charles I (for the two Carolinas). But who is the third king? I wondered if James II was meant but it is stretching things to say that New York was named "after" him (as the list says, it was named after the city of York in honour of him, and he wasn't King at the time). And as George and Charles have taken three states between them, there aren't enough states left for a third king if we are to leave at least one for the "English queen".

And who is the English queen? The one that springs to mind is Elizabeth, for Virginia (and indirectly West Virginia). But Virginia isn't really named "after" her, as opposed to in her honour. And it leaves out Henrietta Maria (for Maryland). On the other hand, if Henrietta Maria is the "English queen", why is she "English" while her husband Charles I is "British"?

I have amended the text accordingly to try to make it clearer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DavidLDN (talk • contribs) 20:44, 11 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Although you're text is correct, the difference between "in honor of" and "after" is rather subtle, and confused readers might take a while before understanding why the Virginia's aren't counted among those named after royalty. I've changed it a little bit to fix this.63.87.189.17 (talk) 00:08, 20 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Book source[edit]

This Featured List uses a self-published book as a source (see User:Kaguy, who created a now-deleted article on it - Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/U.S. State Names: The Stories of How Our States Were Named). Rd232 talk 11:22, 13 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Slightly confusing[edit]

Great article. Unfortunately, though, the table can be a bit confusing when there are multiple possible etymologies for one state (e.g. Arizona). The stacking of rows is a bit disorienting. Is there are a way to maybe put double lines in between each state, or alternate row colors? I just feel like the divisions between states should be more pronounced to help readability. TremorMilo (talk) 08:14, 22 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

New Mexico[edit]

The wording here isnt accurate. The name doesnt derive from the Nahuatl name Mexico because the name Mexico came from the Nahuatl name of the people, the Mexica. Of course it is possible that both the name of the place and the people derive from a common root, such as the name of the god Mexi, but the name of the people definitely came before the naming of the land, so to say the name Mexico comes from the Nahuatl name of the land is incorrect. The line which reads The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihco should be corrected to The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihca, the Aztec people who founded the cities of Tenochtitlan and Teotihuacan. Mdw0 (talk) 07:05, 6 October 2011 (UTC) [reply]

A minor point, but Teotihuacan was built centuries before the Aztecs showed up. 209.159.249.162 (talk) 19:26, 22 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Latin?[edit]

I'm a bit confused by the states whose names are said to be from Latin--is this to suggest that the name was _originally_ Latin? For instance, Georgia. Is "georgia" a Latin word? Was a Latin word ever actually used for the name of Georgia? If it says Latin because the name itself was transmitted through Latin (from Greek as the article states) that seems a bit ambiguous. I think it would make more sense to just state from what language the state's supposed original name was (not going into its deep etymology when the word does not actually refer specifically to the territory of the current state). Theshibboleth (talk) 03:29, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are a lot of problems with the map, including the fact that it doesn't agree with the table. None of the state names are derived directly from Latin. WCCasey (talk) 19:14, 11 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Date of First Original Language[edit]

Hello, I wonder what exactly means "Date of First Original language" and "Year of First Original language". Does it refer to the first usage of the word where the name of the state came from? I think it should be more clearly written.--Arnaugir (talk) 18:09, 17 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, Arnaugit - it doesn't make sense. The columns were added August 2010 by "64.252.202.68", who also gave zero source. I checked the Alabama (and Territory) wikipedia pages but could not find any reference to 1742 whatsoever. We can guess what it means, but we don't want to guess, we want to know. Does anyone have Kathy Guyton's book (from the bibliography)? Maybe they're from there.
Another thing is that it was implemented very clunkily. I guess they wanted it sortable by date, but they should have just entered dates as e.g. "1742-04-19" to do that (or "1742, April 19"). Surely they didn't actually think it's important to have month and day in its own column, per se, but it hogs space (and disbelief).
I guess we have to say that if 64.252.202.68 or someone else doesn't speak up within, say, a month, the date columns are subject to renaming, consolidation, or just plain deletion. It's a shame, but really, a date is pretty meaningless if you don't know just what it's for. It simply doesn't make sense as it is now and there's no way to ask the contributor, and it otherwise clogs up the table with what would be a minor thing at best even if we did have a good definition.
At the very least, someone is welcome to combine it into one column, put it on the far right of the table, just called it Date, and have a footnote pointing to this section and/or explaining that the meaning of this date is unclear until someone figures it out.
- RedKnight7 (talk) 00:24, 7 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The undetermined origins[edit]

There are a few problems with the undetermined origins 1. Utah's etymology seems to have been settled.So why does the map disagree? 2. Oregon's etymology is not settled. Why is only one etymology there?

The undetermined origins[edit]

There are a few problems with the undetermined origins 1. Utah's etymology seems to have been settled.So why does the map disagree? 2. Oregon's etymology is not settled. Why is only one etymology there?

The undetermined origins[edit]

There are a few problems with the undetermined origins 1. Utah's etymology seems to have been settled.So why does the map disagree? 2. Oregon's etymology is not settled. Why is only one etymology there? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexschmidt711 (talk • contribs) 15:44, 31 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Maine[edit]

The name "Maine" comes from French, called after a namesake region in the Loire country (Pays de la Loire) in western France. The name was likely given by early French settlers, or the later Acadians. Le Anh-Huy (talk) 04:54, 27 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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Groupings and colorings of the states[edit]

In both the map and the article's prose, why is Uzo-Aztecan a separate category consisting of just one state (New Mexico), and not within the category "other Native American"?

Besides, the prose says that there are five states in the "other Native American" category (without naming them), while in the map just four states are colored as such: Alabama, Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas.

Also, I think that, at first sight, Hawaii is barely noticeable in the map due to its pale color, the white background, and the much darker colors of the other states. --Theurgist (talk) 18:10, 1 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

District of Columbia[edit]

@BilCat: Could you please explain why do think, there is no place for the link Columbia (personification) in the table for DC? Though the name is based on Christopher Columbus, the name is not "District of Columbus" but Columbia! In the protected article of Columbus there is no hint, no link how his name went to be the personification of "America", so it is necessary to explain here the Columbus—Columbia forms of names. 2001:4C4C:20A1:C400:0:0:0:1000 (talk) 10:44, 24 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology? or Toponymy? Isn't the use of the term Etymology incorrect for this article?[edit]

Osomite 🐻 (hablemos) 22:41, 18 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Osomite 🐻 (hablemos) 22:44, 18 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The title of this article utilizes the word "‎Etymology". The article concerns how the names of states originated. The use of the word "Etymology" is incorrect.
The term for the study of place names (like the name for a state) is "Toponymy". By definition, toponymy involves the study of place names.
Whereas, etymology is the study of the origin and evolution of a word's semantic meaning across time. It is the science involved in studying the history of a word or phrase shown by tracing its development and relationships. To claim that etymology involves the naming of a place is not correct.
Toponymy and etymology are related. Toponymy is the study of place names, their origins, meanings, usage, and types. Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words. Toponymy is a branch of onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds. Etymology is one of the aspects of toponymy, as it deals with the linguistic evolution of place names.
Clearly "Toponymy" is the appropriate word to use in the title for this article.
"The title of this article needs to be changed From
"List of state and territory name etymologies of the United States"
to
"Toponymy of the names of United States states and territories"
Having said that, I propose making this change.
Osomite 🐻 (hablemos) 22:56, 18 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose This article provides the origins of the words used as state names, showing the linguistic origin and meaning of the words, so etymology is an appropriate discription of the article. Reywas92Talk 02:04, 19 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Reywas92 you are poorly informed. You have an opinion, but you have no facts to provide any support.
Can you get someone to agree with you.
I will look for someone to agree with me.
I don't understand how you can not understand what the definition of toponymy means and what the definition of etymology means. They are related but they are definitely different. Osomite 🐻 (hablemos) 21:33, 19 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose @Osomite: You're tilting at windmills here (and at Talk:Indiana, where I first encountered your argument), and your argument is largely pedantic. Are you right? Probably. Does anyone care? Absolutely not. Most readers of Wikipedia will understand the heading "Etymology" to mean "where did this place name come from?" Most readers of Wikipedia seeing a heading called "Toponymy" will scratch their head and say "huh?" Heck, my browser doesn't even recognize the word and marks it as a spelling error. I seriously doubt you're going to find a lot of support for this proposal. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WikiDan61 (talk • contribs)

California's etymology and Arabic[edit]

I suggest that we state in the etymology section that the language of its etymology is 'Arabic via Spanish,' rather than 'Spanish,' since it ultimately and fundamentally derives from the Arabic word caliph, as should be explained in the note box. Ramanujaner (talk) 20:55, 13 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

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