Idaho is Indian, meaning “Gem of the Mountains;” Illinois is another mixture of Indian and French, the Indian word “illini” and the French suffix “ois” meaning “tribe of men;” and Indiana and Iowa are both plain Indian, the former standing for “Indians’ land,” and the latter, “beautiful land.”
Kansas and Kentucky are Indian, too, Kansas meaning “smoky water” and Kentucky “at the head of the river,” or “the dark and bloody ground;” and Louisiana is named after Louis XIV of France.
Maine and Maryland each come from abroad, Maine being called after the Province of the same name in France, and Maryland after Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort of Charles I; while Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri are all from the native Indian language, meaning, in the order in which they are given, “place of great hills,” “fish weir,” “sky-tinted water,” “great father of waters” and “muddy;” and Montana traces back to the Latin word “montanus,” meaning “mountainous.”
Nebraska is another Indian name, and means “water valley;” while Nevada is Spanish, meaning “snow covered;” New Hampshire and New Jersey are both from across the water, the former after Hampshire County in England, and New Jersey after the Island of Jersey at the time when Sir George Carteret was its Governor; New York and both North and South Carolina were also named after monarchs abroad, New York after the Duke of York in England, and the Carolinas after Charles IX of France; while North and South Dakota bring us back to the Indian language again, meaning “allies.”
Ohio and Oklahoma are both Indian, too, Ohio meaning “beautiful river,” and the latter, “Home of the red men;” while Oregon is from the Spanish word “oregano,” which stands for the wild marjoram, a plant abundant on the coast; Pennsylvania traces back to the Latin, meaning “Penn’s woody land;” the Philippine Islands come from the Spanish words “Islas Filipinas,” after King Philip; and Porto Rico is also Spanish, from “Puerto Rico,” meaning “rich port.”
Rhode Island is called after the Island of Rhodes; Tennessee, Texas and Utah are all Indian, Tennessee meaning “river with the great bend,” Texas coming from several different forms of very old Indian language, meaning “friends,” and Utah after the tribe by that name, also called the “Utes;” Vermont is from the French, meaning “green mountains,” and Virginia is called after Elizabeth, the “Virgin Queen” of England.
Washington gets its name from a good, straight American source—George Washington; West Virginia is so called because it was formerly the western part of Virginia; and Wisconsin and Wyoming are both Indian, the former meaning “gathering of the waters,” and the latter, “great plains.”