How New York Got Its Name: The Duke of York

New York is named after James Stuart, Duke of York and Albany (later King James II & VII).

The Naming

• 1664: English fleet seizes New Netherland from the Dutch.
• King Charles II grants the territory to his brother, James, Duke of York.
• New Amsterdam (city) → New York (city & colony).
• Fort Orange (upstream) → Albany (James's Scottish title).

Before the English

• Lenape name: Mannahatta ("island of many hills").
• Dutch: Nieuw Nederland (colony), Nieuw Amsterdam (main settlement).

The Duke never visited his namesake colony. He became King in 1685, was deposed in the Glorious Revolution (1688), and died in exile in France (1701). But his title lives on in one of the world's most famous place names.