Can you name the US states by their name origins?

created by Booger
  • Enter a state in the box below
  • Correctly named states will show up below
  • Click any empty Named After ... or State to answer for that location
  • Note: The origin of certain state names is disputed, alternate possible origins are included where possible.
  • Also try: 'A'-Less States
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Named After ... State
Island in the English Channel
Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of England's King Charles I
Dakota Sioux for 'sky-tinted water' or 'cloudy water' referring to a river of the same name
Cherokee village called Tanasi and corresponding river
Queen Elizabeth I, the 'Virgin Queen'
Sioux for 'south wind people' and a river of the same name
Spanish for 'mountain' or 'mountainous'
Similiarity of a state island to the Isle of Rhodes or Dutch for 'red island'
Likely corruption of Miami for 'river running through a red place' or Chippewa for 'gathering of waters'
Aztec for 'silver-bearing', Pima for 'little spring place' or Basque for 'good oak'
The woods of William Penn
Spanish for 'colored red'
Probably refers to the 'mainland' as opposed to coastal islands
Probably Iroquois river name meaning 'meadowland', 'dark and bloody ground' or 'land of tomorrow'
Probably Choctaw for 'thicket-clearers' or 'we stay here' or Creek for 'tribal town'
King Louis XIV of France
Sioux for 'friend' or 'ally'; Northern region
French for 'green mountain'
Probably for fictional island in 16th century novel 'Las Sergas de Esplandián'
Probably Polynesian for 'homeland' or for the traditional discoverer of the islands
Lenape for 'at the big plains' or 'at the big river flat'
River and bay named for Sir Thomas West, the 12th Baron De La Warr
Algonquian for 'at or about the great hill'
Ojibwe for 'big lake'
King Charles I of England; Southern Region
Named After ... State
New name for land conquered in war 1846-48
Choctaw for 'red people'
The Duke of York of England
Probably engraver's error in naming the 'Ouisiconsink' river or Algonquian 'wauregan' and 'olighin' meaning 'good' and 'beautiful'
Sioux for 'friend' or 'ally'; Southern Region
Algonquian for 'big river'
Western counties that refused to follow rest of state in seceding from the Union
Otos name meaning 'flat water' for Platte river
Dakota Sioux tribe called “Ayouos” (French), “Ajoues” (Spanish) or “Ioways' (English), possibly meaning 'beautiful land'
King George II of England
First President of the United States
Spanish for 'snow covered'
Spanish for 'flowery' as in 'flowery Easter'
Probably Iroquois for 'great river' or 'big river'
French version of Algonquin for 'warriors' or 'tribe of superior men'
Caddo for 'friend' or 'friends'
'Land of the Indians'
Coastal county in southern England
Aleut for 'mainland' or 'land facing the sea'
Southern Sioux tribe and river name meaning 'large canoes'
King Charles I of England; Northern Region
French version of Algonquian name for Quapaw tribe meaning 'wind people'
From the Native American 'Ute' tribe and means 'people of the mountains.'
Either an invented word or an English corruption of Kiowa-Apache for 'enemy'
Algonquian for 'beside the long tidal river'
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US State Name Origins Quiz

  1. by Booger
  • Created Mar 4, 2009 in History
  • Featured Mar 4, 2009
  • Game Plays 111,789
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