From Alabama River by early European explorers and named "Alibamu" after the local Indian tribe

Corruption of Aleut word meaning “great land” or “that which the sea breaks against”

Uncertain. Perhaps from the O'odham Indian word for “little spring”

From the Quapaw Indians

From a book, Las Sergas de Esplandián, by Garcia Ordóñez de Montalvo, c. 1500

From the Spanish, “ruddy” or “red”

From an Indian word (Quinnehtukqut) meaning “beside the long tidal river”

From Delaware River and Bay; named in turn for Sir Thomas West, Baron De La Warr

From the Spanish Pascua Florida, meaning “feast of flowers” (Easter)

In honor of George II of England

Uncertain. The islands may have been named by Hawaii Loa, their traditional discoverer. Or they may have been named after Hawaii or Hawaiki, the traditional home of the Polynesians.

An invented name whose meaning is unknown.

Algonquin for “tribe of superior men”

Meaning “land of Indians”

From the Iowa River which was named after the Ioway Indian tribe

From a Sioux word meaning “people of the south wind”

From an Iroquoian word “Ken-tah-ten” meaning “land of tomorrow”

In honor of Louis XIV of France

First used to distinguish the mainland from the offshore islands. It has been considered a compliment to Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I of England. She was said to have owned the province of Mayne in France.

In honor of Henrietta Maria (queen of Charles I of England)

From Massachusett tribe of Native Americans, meaning “at or about the great hill”

From Indian word “Michigana” meaning “great or large lake”

From a Dakota Indian word meaning “sky-tinted water”

From an Indian word meaning “Father of Waters”

Named after the Missouri Indian tribe. “Missouri” means “town of the large canoes.”

From the Spanish word meaning “mountain.”

From an Oto Indian word meaning “flat water”

Spanish: “snowcapped”

From the English county of Hampshire

From the Channel Isle of Jersey

From Mexico, “place of Mexitli,” an Aztec god or leader

In honor of the Duke of York

In honor of Charles I of England

From the Sioux tribe, meaning “allies”

From an Iroquoian word meaning “great river”

From two Choctaw Indian words meaning “red people”

Unknown. However, it is generally accepted that the name, first used by Jonathan Carver in 1778, was taken from the writings of Maj. Robert Rogers, an English army officer.

In honor of Adm. Sir William Penn, father of William Penn. It means “Penn's Woodland.”

From the Greek Island of Rhodes

In honor of Charles I of England

From the Sioux tribe, meaning “allies”

Of Cherokee origin; the exact meaning is unknown

From an Indian word meaning “friends”

From the Ute tribe, meaning “people of the mountains”

From the French “vert mont,” meaning “green mountain”

In honor of Elizabeth “Virgin Queen” of England

In honor of George Washington

In honor of Elizabeth, “Virgin Queen” of England

French corruption of an Indian word whose meaning is disputed

From the Delaware Indian word, meaning “mountains and valleys alternating”; the same as the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania