Can you name the US states that are named after individuals? by Randy59

State	Person Named After
	Elizabeth of England
	Charles I
	Sir William Penn
	George Washington
	Charles I
	Louis XIV
	Henrietta Maria
	Elizabeth of England
	Henrietta Maria
	George II
	Sir Thomas West
	Duke of York

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(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

US States Named After Individuals Quiz

by Randy59

Created Oct 15, 2010 in Geography
Game Plays 6,242

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	chriskotx:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 04:10 GMT		26 points
	Wikipedia says that Maine is named for the French province of Maine - which is what I've always thought. Also, the title actually should be "states named for individuals"...some states are named for groups of people ex. Oklahoma, Kansas.

	shakescene:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 05:03 GMT		1 point
	In school I was taught that New Jersey was named for Sir Edward Carteret.

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	masaeaida:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 06:15 GMT		8 points
	California is named after a person too, though it's a fictional character.

	sporcloid:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 06:51 GMT		19 points
	Alphabetizing the answers is fine, but then New York should come before North Carolina.

	MikeN:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 07:15 GMT		0 points
	North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, et al, are named after people.

	MikeN:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 07:15 GMT		64 points
	You also forgot the fine ladies Miss Issippi and Miss Ouri, and the not so fine I Da Ho

	skittles:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 07:35 GMT		26 points
	@) peterpan55 - Delaware doesn't sound anything like "Thomas West", but he was the 3rd Baron De La Warr. Virginia doesn't sound anything like "Elizabeth" but Elizabeth I was known as the Virgin Queen. Doesn't have to sound like someone's name to be named after them. On the New Jersey front, it appears that the colony of New Jersey was named after the Channel Island of Jersey, then granted to Cartaret, who was born in Jersey. Possibly just a coincidence, really.

	NorwegianSalmon:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 09:42 GMT		3 points
	California could be a bonus answer, as the origins of the name are disputed, and so some extent, unknown.

	Randy59:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 14:16 GMT		0 points
	@MikeN, who is named after North Dakota, South Dakota, and Illinois? If you tell me, I'll add it on the quiz.

	Imon:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 14:18 GMT		2 points
	I agree that some states are named after groups of people (usually Native American tribes). So, this quiz could say "individual people, not groups" or we could have a new quiz made up of states named after groups (Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Utah..........)

	ballabosh:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 14:31 GMT		3 points
	Many states are named after indian tribes (people), thus Illinois, Iowa, the Dakotas, Alabama, Idaho, Arkansas, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma. And the Mexico in New Mexico is named after an Aztec god. I'd change the title of the game to states named after individuals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_name_etymologies

	Illini13:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 15:58 GMT		27 points
	New York is actually named after the English city 'York', not the person the Duke of York

	WyvernSabres:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 16:46 GMT		6 points
	I agree with skittles: I can't see that NJ was named after Carteret (or anyone else). It was named after Jersey CI, because Carteret was its proprietor and he came from there. But it was not his own name or nickname.

	chriskotx:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 17:17 GMT		1 point
	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_name_California

	CarlG:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 17:28 GMT		25 points
	I don't think West Virginia should count because it got its name from being the western counties of Virginia. They were not once again naming themselves for the Virgin Queen.

	SuIly2:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 17:41 GMT		21 points
	As per New Jersey's website, the state is named after the island of Jersey. Maine's state legislature adopted a resolution saying the state was named after the French Province of Maine.

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	neight:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 18:56 GMT		1 point
	here, this should give you a better source than Yahoo Answers, and clear up some of the disputes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_name_etymologies

	Randy59:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 19:23 GMT		5 points
	I took New Jersey off. @SuIly2, you were right. New Jersey was named after an island called Jersey. Sir George Carteret was the governer of Jersey.

	rje_dobbin:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 19:25 GMT		0 points
	but New Jersey is still there!

	Burtdoggy:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 19:45 GMT		3 points
	Only 12 states show up, but if New Jersey is not entered, we finish with 12/13.

	cricket0414:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 21:01 GMT		10 points
	too much time - you can name all the states in that much time

	Ned:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 21:36 GMT		31 points
	Isn't Florida named after a rapper?

	healy34:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 21:46 GMT		2 points
	Had no idea about Maine, that was pretty cool. By the logic of pulling off New Jersey as named after a place wouldn't that be the same for New York and West Virginia. The places they were named after may have been named for people (Virginia and York in England) but they were named after those cities/states.

	LinuxLinus:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 22:07 GMT		5 points
	New York is named after both the city of York, and James, Duke of York, later King James II of England and VII of Scotland. It was a clever bit of tribute paid by Whiggish politicians trying to find favor with their future king, who was Catholic and, they feared, an ardent Tory.

	Randy59:	Oct 16th, 2010 at 22:27 GMT		2 points
	I tried the quiz myself, and I didn't have to type in New Jersey.

	y2jdilemma:	Oct 17th, 2010 at 13:56 GMT		7 points
	So its not named after Joe Montana, huh?

	hawksdd:	Oct 17th, 2010 at 23:55 GMT		3 points
	@y2jdilemma, if only.... However, there is a city in Montana that officially renamed itself Joe, ergo becoming Joe, Montana.

	hawksdd:	Oct 17th, 2010 at 23:56 GMT		6 points
	And I would like to know who got one of the carolinas but didn't think of the other....

	dancastro:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 02:27 GMT		2 points
	As for California, I remember having read that the name comes from a fictional country (not a person) that appeared in a Spanish novel about knights-errant (like those that Don Quixote used to read). Off the top of my head, the novel's title was "Las Sergas (deeds) de Esplandián".

	cocky:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 03:25 GMT		3 points
	I thought Maryland was named for Queen Mary (William's wife).

	demonstah:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 03:31 GMT		6 points
	New York was named after the Duke of York, James II. But Maine was not named after Henrietta Maria - it was not her title the way it was with James or De La Warr. It should be removed.

	dancastro:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 03:48 GMT		2 points
	@cocky: But didn't William and Mary reign about the year 1700? I think Maryland existed before that.

	geowiz85:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 05:06 GMT		4 points
	way too much time, and putting it in alphabetical order makes it way too easy

	sobdennis:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 06:28 GMT		1 point
	I would like to know how Maine was named after Henrietta Maria.

	cathcart8487:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 14:37 GMT		3 points
	Massachusetts was named after Massasoit the Chief of the Wampanoag tribe who welcomed the Pilgrims in 1620 Plymouth

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	RealityChuck:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 19:07 GMT		2 points
	While Maine is in dispute by some, the OED (the definitive work on etymology) says it comes from "Main," meaning "Mainland."

	Randy59:	Oct 18th, 2010 at 20:23 GMT		1 point
	The order is random now for all you who complained about it being in alphabetical order.