Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Not exactly. The name "Chicago" derives from the Miami-Illinois word šikaakwa (or shikaakwa), referring to wild garlic/leek (Allium tricoccum)—commonly called "ramps" today—not onion. The area's riverbanks were dense with this pungent plant.
French explorers (late 1600s) recorded variants: Checagou, Chicagou, Chicagoua. Early translations included "strong," "skunk," "smelly place," or "wild onion/garlic." The "wild onion" simplification persists, but botanically and linguistically, it's wild leek/garlic.
The site was a portage between the Great Lakes and Mississippi watersheds—strategic for trade. The name stuck to the river, then the settlement (1830s), then the metropolis.