Quizlet What Do The Names Of The States Mean?

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  1. Alabama: Named by French. Means "tribal town."
  2. Alaska: Named by the Aleut, "great land."
  3. Arizona: From the Spanish "arido zona," or "dry place."
  4. Arkansas: Named after a Native American tribe, the Arkansea.
  5. California: Named after a fictional place, Califia, from a Spanish novel
  6. Colorado: Named for the Colorado River, means "ruddy"
  7. Connecticut: Native American, means "at the long estuary"
  8. Delaware: Named for the governor of Virginia, Lord De La Warr
  9. Florida: Spanish for "feast of flowers"
  10. Georgia: Named for King George II.
  11. Hawaii: From "Havaiki," the Polynesian homeland.
  12. Idaho: Shoshonean for "good day."
  13. Illinois: Named by the French after the Iliniouek. Means "man."
  14. Indiana: Named after "Indians." Who'd of thunk it?
  15. Iowa: Native American word for "beautiful land."
  16. Kansas: Named after the Kansa tribe, means "people of the south wind."
  17. Kentucky: From the Iroquois "kenta-ke," or "meadowland."
  18. Louisiana: Named for King Louis XIV.
  19. Maine: Signifies a principal place
  20. Maryland: Named after King Charles I's wife, Henrietta Maria.
  21. Massachusetts: Named for the tribe and village by the same name, means "big hill people."
  22. Michigan: From "michiguma," or "big water."
  23. Minnesota: Sioux, means "cloudy water."
  24. Mississippi: From Algonquin "miss," or "big" and "sipi," or "river."
  25. Missouri: Named for the tribe of that name, means "town of the large canoes."
  26. Montana: Spanish for mountain.
  27. Nebraska: Native American, means "flat water."
  28. Nevada: Spanish for "snowy."
  29. New Hampshire: Named after Hampshire, England.
  30. New Jersey: Named for the British Isle of Jersey
  31. New Mexico: Named after (you guessed it!) Mexico.
  32. New York: Named to honor York, England
  33. North Carolina: Named after the Latin "Carolus," or Charles. Honors King Charles I.
  34. North Dakota: Sioux. Dakota means "allies."
  35. Ohio: Iroquois, "fine river."
  36. Oklahoma: From Choctaw words okla and homa, put together it means "red people."
  37. Oregon: Eight possible meanings. Most likely is that it's Native American for "western river."
  38. Pennsylvania: Named for William Penn. Suffix is Latin for "forest."
  39. Rhode Island: Either for the island of Rhodes or the Dutch roode eyland, or red island.
  40. South Carolina: See North Carolina
  41. South Dakota: See North Dakota
  42. Tennessee: Cherokee, meaning unknown.
  43. Texas: From the Native American "tehias," or friends.
  44. Utah: Named after the Ute tribe, means "people of the mountains."
  45. Vermont: French for "gren mountains."
  46. Virginia: Originally Wingina, changed by Queen Elizabeth I to honor herself
  47. Washington: Named after (guess who!) George Washington.
  48. West Virgnia: See Virginia
  49. Wisconsin: Chippewa, means "grassy place"
  50. Wyoming: From the Delaware "meche-weami-ing" or "at the big flats"