| There are many places including towns and | | | | "isolated thing in water" |
| states that were named after Native American | | | | |
| words or names. In fact, about 50% of the | | | | Milwaukee: from Algonquian word meaning "good |
| states were named using Native American | | | | spot or place" |
| words. Many of these places have names that | | | | |
| we almost take for granted these days and | | | | Missouri: from Missouri word meaning "town of |
| most people are unaware of their Native | | | | large canoes" |
| American aboriginal origins. | | | | |
| | | | Nebraska: from Oto word meaning "flat water" |
| A partial list of some well known places in | | | | |
| the United States and their Native American | | | | North/South Dakota: from Sioux word meaning |
| meanings are below. | | | | "allies" |
| | | | |
| Alabama : from Choctaw word meaning "thicket | | | | Ohio: from Algonquian word meaning "great |
| clearers" or "vegetation gatherers" | | | | river" |
| | | | |
| Alaska: from Aleut word meaning "great land" | | | | Oklahoma: from two Choctaw words meaning "red |
| or "that which the sea breaks against" | | | | people" |
| | | | |
| Chicago: from Algonquian word meaning "garlic | | | | Saratoga: from Mohawk word meaning "springs |
| field" | | | | of water from the hillside" |
| | | | |
| Illinois: from Algonquian word meaning "tribe | | | | Tahoe: from Washo word meaning "big water" |
| of superior men" | | | | |
| | | | Utah: from Ute word meaning "people of the |
| Kansas: from Sioux word meaning "people of | | | | mountains" |
| the south wind" | | | | |
| | | | Wyoming: from Delaware word meaning |
| Kentucky: from an Iroquois word meaning "land | | | | "mountains and valleys alternating" |
| of tomorrow" | | | | |
| | | | Of course, there are many other examples. So |
| Massachusetts: from Massachusett word meaning | | | | next time you look at a name of a city, town, |
| "at or about the great hill" | | | | village, state, lake, mountain or region, it |
| | | | just might have come from a Native American |
| Minnesota: from Dakota word meaning "sky | | | | word. More than likely, the place was named |
| tinted water" | | | | with the influence of one of the regional or |
| | | | local Native American Indian tribes. |
| Manhattan: from Algonquian word meaning | | | | |