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The Names Of The States


Alabama--Indian; meaning Here we rest.



Arkansas--Kansas, the Indian name for smoky water, with the French

prefix arc, bow or bend in the principal river.



California--Caliente Fornala, Spanish for hot furnace, in allusion to

the climate.



Colorado--Spanish; meaning colored, from the red color of the Colorado

river.



Connecticut--Indian; meaning long rive
.



Delaware--Named in honor of Lord De La Ware.



Florida--Named by Ponce de Leon, who discovered it in 1512, on Easter

Day, the Spanish Pascua de Flores, or Feast of Flowers.



Georgia--In honor of George II. of England.



Illinois--From the Indian illini, men, and the French suffix ois,

together signifying tribe of men.



Indiana--Indian land. Iowa--Indian; meaning beautiful land.'



Kansas--Indian; meaning smoky water.



Kentucky--Indian for at the head of the river, or the dark and bloody

ground.



Louisiana--In honor of Louis XIV. of France.



Maine--From the province of Maine, in France.



Maryland--In honor of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I. of England.



Massachusetts--The place of the great hills (the blue hills southwest of

Boston).



Michigan--The Indian name for a fish weir. The lake was so called from

the fancied resemblance of the lake to a fish trap.



Minnesota--Indian; meaning sky-tinted water.



Mississippi--Indian; meaning great father of waters. Missouri--Indian;

meaning muddy.



Nebraska--Indian; meaning water valley.



Nevada--Spanish; meaning snow-covered, alluding to the mountains.



New Hampshire--From Hampshire county, England.



New Jersey--In honor of Sir George Carteret, one of the original

grantees, who had previously been governor of Jersey Island.



New York--In honor of the Duke of York.



North and South Carolina--Originally called Carolina, in honor of

Charles IX. of France.



Ohio--Indian; meaning beautiful river.



Oregon--From the Spanish oregano, wild marjoram, which grows

abundantly on the coast.



Pennsylvania--Latin; meaning Penn's woody land.



Rhode Island--From a fancied resemblance to the island of Rhodes in the

Mediterranean.



Tennessee--Indian; meaning river with the great bend.



Texas--Origin of this name is unknown.



Vermont--French; meaning green mountain.



Virginia--In honor of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen.



Wisconsin--Indian; meaning gathering of the waters, or wild rushing

channel.



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