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