"Miami" in Algonquin: "Big Water" – The Name's Indigenous Roots

Miami derives from the Algonquian (specifically Miami-Illinois) word Myaamia, meaning "big water" or "great water."

Context

• The Miami people (Myaamiaki) are a Native American nation originally from the Great Lakes region (Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin).
• They named the Miami River (Florida) and Miami Valley (Ohio) after themselves—or Europeans applied their name to these waters.
• The city of Miami, Florida (incorporated 1896) takes its name from the Miami River, which was named for the tribe (via Lake Mayaimi → "big water" in Calusa/Taíno?—etymology debated).

Today, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (federally recognized) leads language revitalization (Myaamia Project at Miami University, Ohio).