Alabama. Creek Indian word alibamo meaning "we stay here."
Alaska. Aleutian word alakshak meaning "great lands."
Arizona. Pima Indian word ali shonak meaning "little spring" or arizuma meaning "silver-bearing"
Arkansas. Coined by the French as a name for the Quapaw Indian tribe
California. Named after a 16th-century novel called Serged de Esplandian Colorado. Spanish for red. The name was coined because of the reddish-tint to the Colorado river.
Connecticut. Mohican word kuenihtekot meaning "long river place".
Delaware. Named after Lord De La Warr, a former Virginian governor.
Florida. Called Pascua Florida meaning "Flowery Easter" because it was named on Easter Sunday, 1513.
Georgia. Named after King George II.
Hawaii. Native word owhyhee meaning "homeland."
Idaho. Taken from the Kiowa Apache word for the Comanche Indians.
Illinois. Algonquin word illini meaning "men."
Indiana. Named by settlers because of all the indians living there.
Iowa. Sioux word for "beautiful land."
Kansas. Sioux word for "south wind people".
Kentucky. Indian word kan-tuk-kee meaning dark and bloody ground.
Louisiana. Named after French King Louis XIV.
Maine. An Olde French word meaning "province."
Maryland. Named after wife of King George I, Henrietta Marie.
Massachusetts. Named after the Massachusetts Indian tribe.
Michigan. Chippewa word micigami meaning "great water".
Minnesota. Sioux word for "tinted sky."
Mississippi. Chippewa words Mici Zibi meaning "great river."
Missouri. Algonquin word for "muddy water."
Montana. Latin for "mountainous."
Nebraska. Otos Indian word for "broad water."
Nevada. Spanish word for "snow-clad."
New Hampshire. Named after the village of a colonist from Hampshire, England.
New Jersey. Named after the English Isle of Jersey.
New Mexico. Spanish name for territory north of Rio Grande.
New York. Named after the Duke of York.
North (South) Carolina. Named in honour of King Charles I of England.
North (South) Dakota. Named after the Sioux word for friend or ally.
Ohio. Iriquois word for "good river."
Oklahoma. The Choctaw word for "red man."
Oregon. French word Ouaricon-sint, the name for the Wisconsin River.
Pennsylvania. Named after the colony's founder, William Penn Sr. Rhode Island. Originally named Roode Eylandt meaning "Red Island" because of its red clay.
Tennessee. Cherokee word Tanasi, what they called their villages
Texas. Caddo Indian word for "friend" or "ally"
Utah. A Navajo Indian word meaning "upper" or "higher"
Vermont. French words vert mont meaning "green mountains."
(West) Virginia. Named after Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen.
Washington. Named in tribute to George Washington.
Wisconsin. Chippewa word for "grassy place."
Wyoming. Algonquin word for "large prairie place."
