Texas Cities Named After Native American Tribes

Texas has numerous cities bearing Indigenous names—testaments to the peoples who shaped the land long before statehood.

Direct Tribal Names

• Comanche (Comanche County) — Comanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ), Southern Plains.
• Waco (McLennan County) — Waco (Hueco), Wichita-affiliated, Central TX.
• Wichita Falls (Wichita County) — Wichita (Kitikiti'sh), Southern Plains.
• Caddo Mills (Hunt County) — Caddo (Hasinai confederacy), East TX.
• Lipan (Hood County) — Lipan Apache (Ndé), West TX.
• Tonkawa (Tonkawa, OK — but namesake for TX town) — Tonkawa (Tickanwa•tic), Central/North TX.
• Anadarko — Actually in Oklahoma (Caddo County); named for Nadáko (Caddo band). Included here due to regional confusion.

Other Indigenous-Origin Names

• Nacogdoches — Caddo village name.
• Bedias — Bidai tribe.
• Atascosa — Spanish for "boggy," but Atascosa River named for Atakapa? (Debated.)
• TxDOT lists 50+ Texas places with Native etymologies — many Spanish-adapted (e.g., Guadalupe from Nahuatl via Spanish).

Context

Most tribes were forcibly removed (Trail of Tears, Red River War). City names remain—often the only visible acknowledgment. The Alabama-Coushatta (Livingston), Kickapoo (Eagle Pass), and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (El Paso) are Texas's three federally recognized tribes today.