Idaho name history a mystery
If History Channel is accurate, "Memphis," long before it hit Tennessee, was the name of the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch (Lower Egypt), meaning "good place to live." Which got me thinking about other American place names ... Michigan, for example, is the French twist on the Chippewa "meicigama" (great lake).
What about the other states' names?
Idaho's is a mystery. Its origin is disputed, with most sources describing the word as entirely fabricated. A common story describes mining lobbyist George M. Willing who suggested the name "Idaho" to Congress for a new territory around Pike's Peak (later, Colorado) and claimed it was a Shoshone Indian word meaning "gem of the mountains." His deception was later discovered, but by then the word was either too common or too favored to change. Another source claims "idaahe" is Comanche for "enemy," in reference to Apaches in Colorado territory.
Most state names derive from Indian languages, with a smattering of Latin and a dash of Europe in the melting pot.
Alabama: Either Choctaw "albah amo" (thicket-clearers) or Creek Indian for "tribal town"
Alaska: Aleut "alaxsxaq," or the Russian pronunciation of it, meaning peninsula
Arizona: Spanish version of Aztec "arizuma" (silver-bearing), and Pima Indian "arizonac" (little spring place or good oaks)
Arkansas: French pronunciation of Algonquin "akansa" (name for the Quapaw people), or of the Sioux kka'ze (downstream place or people)
California Imaginary realm from a Spanish novel of 1510, Las sergas de Esplandin, by Garci Ordnez de Montalvo
Colorado: Spanish for "colored red," as in the river
Connecticut: Eastern Algonquin, possibly Mohican, "quinnitukqut" (beside the long tidal river)
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Delaware: Delaware Bay was named for Baron De la Warr, a.k.a. Virginia Colony's Governor Thomas West
Florida: Spanish "Pascua florida" (flowering Easter), named by Ponce de Leon on Palm Sunday; the Latin "floridus" means strikingly beautiful
Georgia: Britain's King George II; also Latin "georgius" and Greek "georgos" (farmer)
Hawaii: Native "hawai'i" and Proto-Polynesian "hawaiki"(place of the Gods); or "owyhee" (note: same name as Idaho's Owyhee County), meaning "homeland." Originally named the Sandwich Islands, for the English Earl of Sandwich.
Illinois: French version of "ilinwe," Algonquian for "warriors;" or Old Ottowan "ilinouek" (ordinary speaker)
Indiana: Rather obvious; the English word (Indian) plus Latin sufix ( -ana) equals land of the Indians.
Iowa: Iowa Indians, possibly of the Aiouan family; Dakota word "ayuxba" (sleepy ones)
Kansas Sioux kkze people of the south wind
Kentucky: Attributed to several Native American languages, including Shawnee (on the meadow), Seneca (at the field), and Iroquois "ken-tah-ten" (land of tomorrow)
Louisiana: Louis XIV of France (land of Louis); Latin "ludovicus" (famous in war)
Maine: Could be nautical (main land), or French province of Maine
Maryland: King Charles I's wife, Henrietta Maria; Mary derives (in part) from the Hebrew Miryam, Moses' sister
Massachusetts: Algonquian "massachusett" or "messotossec" (at the large hill), or "massawachusett" (great mountain place)
Minnesota: Dakota Sioux "mnisota" (sky-tinted or cloudy water)
Mississippi: French "Messipi" pronunciation of the Ojibwe or Algonquin "Misi-ziibi" (great river)
Missouri: Chiwere (Sioux), possibly "wimihsoorita" (people or town of the large canoes)
Montana: Spanish "montana," similar to French "montagnes" (mountains)
Nebraska: Otos Indian "ni brathge" or Omaha "ni braska" (flat water)
Nevada: Spanish "sierra nevada" (snow-covered mountains)
New Hampshire (England), New Jersey (Channel Island), New Mexico (Aztec capital), New York (England): Named for homelands of their discoverers and proprietors
North and South Carolinas: King Charles II, whose name in Latin is Carolus
North and South Dakotas: Natives of the Plains states, "dakhota" (friendly; allies)
Ohio: Seneca-Iroquois "ohi-yo" (good river)
Oklahoma: Choctaw "okla humma" (red people)
Oregon: Possibly from a French map calling the Wisconsin River "ouaricon-sint," or an English officer's reference to "the River called by the Indians 'Ourago'"
Pennsylvania: Penn's (Quaker William Penn's father) sylvania (from Latin for woodland), given in payment of a debt by King Charles I.
Rhode Island: Italian "isola (island) di Rhode (red)," named for the Mediterranean island.
Tennessee: a Cherokee village named "ta'nasi" (river)
Texas: Spanish "Tejas," from the Caddo "teyshas" (friends)
Utah: Spanish "yuta," indigenous Uto-Aztecan people; or Apache "yuttahih" or "yuddah" (one higher up, living in mountains)
Vermont: French "vert" (green) and "mont" (mountain)
Virginia: Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
Washington: President George Washington; Old English "estate of a man named Wassa"
Wisconsin: Possibly Chippewa "ouisconsin" (grassy place), or Miami "meskonsing" (it lies red - dirt)
Wyoming: Munsee Delaware (Algonquin) "chwewamink" (large prairie or big river flat)
The plethora of Indian origins for state names are a stark reminder of how deeply connected are our roots to the native peoples who cared for these lands long before Europeans crossed the ocean. Not all properly attributed. As Idaho State University's Professor Merle Wells put it, "Idaho is one of the many Indian 'words' supplied by the White man."
For more about Idaho's origins, see Professor Merle's research essay, "Origins of the Name 'Idaho' and How Idaho Became a Territory in 1863" at ISU.edu.
Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.