ALABAMA

an Indian tribal name - meaning not known. Spelling influenced by the Spaniards.

ALASKA

an Aleutian word for mainland

ARIZONA

Papago - place of the small spring

ARKANSAS

an Indian tribal name - pronounced Arkansaw. The s, was added by the French to make a plural

CALIFORNIA

an invented name for an imaginary island - the explorer Cortes is said to have transferred the name to the state

COLORADO

Spanish - meaning reddish, for the color of the Colorado river

CONNECTICUT

Algonquian - meaning long river. The second c, has never been pronounced.

DELAWARE

For Thomas West, Lord de la Warr. (1577-1618 )

FLORIDA

Spanish - meaning flowered, flowery, but also suggesting Easter, when the name was given.

GEORGIA

For George II

HAWAII

Meaning, place of the gods, with particular reference to the gods.

IDAHO

An Apache name of uncertain meaning

ILLINOIS

Algonquian - meaning men and warriors

INDIANA

Latinised name in honor of Indian tribes

IOWA

An Indian tribal name of uncertain meaning

KANSAS

Based on the name of an Indian tribe

KENTUCKY

Iroquois - meaning meadow land

LOUISIANA

For Louis XIV of France

MAINE

from mainland - changed by the French to correspond to a French province.

MARYLAND

for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.

MASSACHUSETTS

means "at the big hills" in Algonquian

MICHIGAN

another Algonquian word translating to "big lake" or "forest clearing."

MINNESOTA

Sioux word meaning "cloudy water"

MISSISSIPPI

Algonquian for "big river"

MISSOURI

this was the Algonquian word for the river and may mean "muddy river"

MONTANA

Spanish - mountainous

NEBRASKA

Sioux - "flat water", originally referring to the River Platte area.

NEVADA

Spanish - "snowy" - a reference to the Sierra Nevada mountains.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Named by an early settler, John Mason, who came from Hampshire county in England.

NEW JERSEY

Named after the Channel Island, Jersey, by Sir George Carteret, who came from there.

NEW MEXICO

Named in the hope that the area would prove as rich in resources as Mexico.

NEW YORK

Name for the duke of York, the brother of Charles II.

NORTH CAROLINA

Named after Charles IX of France. Carolina, a Latin feminine form of Charles.

NORTH DAKOTA

An Indian tribal name meaning "alliance of friends."

OHIO

An Iroquoian name meaning "beautiful river."

OKLAHOMA

A Choctaw name meaning "red people."

OREGON

Possibly a misreading of the river name in Wisconsin, spelt the Ouaricon-sint on an 18th century map, with the last 4 letters on the next line.

PENNSYLVANIA

From William Penn plus the Latin "sylvan" to mean "woodland."

RHODE ISLAND

From the Greek island of Rhodes

SOUTH CAROLINA

see NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH DAKOTA

see NORTH DAKOTA

TENNESSEE

Derived from an Anglicized spelling of a Cherokee river name.

TEXAS

1) from a Indian tribal name 2) a misunderstanding of a native American greeting meaning "good friend."

UTAH

Indian tribe name

VERMONT

from the French vert+mont meaning "green mountain."

VIRGINIA

For Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen

WASHINGTON

Named after George Washington, first American president.

WEST VIRGINIA

same as VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

An Algonquian word meaning "long river."

WYOMING

Algonquian for "broad plains."