From a Choctaw phrase meaning 'plant-cutters' or 'thicket-clearers'

From an Aluet word meaning 'mainland'

From an O'odham phrase meaning 'having a little spring'; adapted by the Spanish

Adapted by French from the Illinois name for the Quawpaw tribe

Likely named for a fictional island in a 16th Century Spanish novel

From the Spanish word for 'red' or 'reddish', referring to the state's eponymous river

From an Algonquian word meaning 'at the long tidal river'

Named for the English Lord de la Warr, whose name derived from Norman French

From a Spanish word meaning 'flowery'

Latinized form of George, named in honor King George II of Great Britain

Derived from the legendary homeland of the Polynesians or a legendary discoverer of the islands

Likely made up by George 'Doc' Willing, who alleged the name came from a Native American language

French adaptation of Algonquian word meaning 'he who speaks normally', referring to the tribe that shares this state's name

Latin for 'Land of the Indians'

French adaptation of the eponymous tribe's name in Dakota

Derived from the name the Kansa or Kaw tribe

From an Iroquoian word meaning 'on the meadow' or 'on the prairie'

Named for King Louis XIV of France

Likely named after a French province

Named for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of England's King Charles I

Plural of Algonquian word meaning 'near the little green mountain' or 'at the great hill'

French adaptation of Ojibwe word meaning 'large water or lake'

From Dakota phrase for 'cloudy water'

French adaptation of Ojibwe word meaning 'great river'

From Illinois word meaning 'dug out canoe'

Spanish word for 'mountain'

From Chiwere word for 'flat water', referring to the Platte River

Spanish for 'snow-covered'

Named after an English county

Named after the largest of the Channel Islands; derived from French and Old Norse

Nahuatl name for the Aztec people; borrowed by the Spanish

Named for the ducal title of England's King James II, rather than the northern English city as is often assumed

From the Latin version of Charles; named for King Charles I of England
Split from its southern neighbor in 1729

From the Souix word meaning 'ally' or 'friend'
Split from its southern neighbor in 1889

French mistranslation of Seneca word meaning 'large creek'

A combination of Choctaw words meaning 'red people', in reference to the state's large Native American population

From an Algonquian word meaning 'beautiful', despite the state's location in the Pacific Northwest

Latin for 'Penn's woods', named after William Penn

Likely named for an island in the Aegean Sea; from Greek

From the Latin version of Charles; named for King Charles I of England
Split from its northern neighbor in 1729

From the Souix word meaning 'ally' or 'friend'
Split from its northern neighbor in 1889

Named after a Cherokee village

From a Caddo word meaning 'friend'; borrowed by the Spanish

From a Western Apache word meaning 'high' or roughly 'people of the mountains'

From French words meaning 'green mountain'

Latin for 'country of the virgin'; named for Queen Elizabeth I of England

Named after the first President of the United States

Named in reference to the western counties which broke with its eastern neighbor during the Civil War

From French corruption of a Miami word meaning 'it lies red' or 'red stone place'

Named after a river valley in western Pennsylvania, whose name means 'at the big river flat' in Delaware