Wanderlust World Wanderlust World
Alabama: Native American for “tribal town” or “clearing”.
Alaska: Originates from Aleut “Alyeska” for “great land”.
Arizona: Derived from O’odham “alĭ ṣonak”, meaning “arida zona place for springs”
Arkansas: Comes from the Quapaw tribe and can be translated as “downstream people” or “land downstream”
California: Possibly comes from a 16th century Spanish novel “Las Sergas de Esplandian” where the name “California” is used for an “earthly paradise”
Colorado: Comes from the Spanish word for "ruddy," after the reddish-orange color of the Colorado River.
Connecticut: Originated as a Native American word meaning “on the long tidal river”
Delaware: Named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman.
Florida: Named by the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who landed in the region on Easter, known in Spanish as “Pascua Florida” or “Flowery Easter”.
Georgia: In honor of King George II of Great Britain.
Hawaii: Believed to origination from Hawaiian “Hawaiki”, which was later borrowed by Tahitians.
Idaho: Potentially derived from the Shoshone word “ídaahó”, meaning “enemy” or “Indian enemy”
Illinois: Native American word for “manly men”.
Indiana: Formed from “Indian” to create “Indian land”.
Iowa: Based on the Siouan tribe called the Ioway.
Kansas: Comes from the Kansas or Kansa Native American tribe, meaning “people of the south wind”
Kentucky: Originates from the Iroquois word “ken-tah-ten” which means “land of tomorrow”
Louisiana: Named after King Louis XIV of France.
Maine: Abbreviation of “The Province of Maine”, which came from the French “main” for “mainland”
Maryland: In tribute to Queen Henrietta Maria of England, wife of King Charles I.
Massachusetts: Algonquian word meaning “at the large hill” or “near the great hill”.
Michigan: Derived from the Ojibwe word “mishigamaa” meaning “great water” or “large lake”
Minnesota: Believed to originate from a Dakota-Siouan words “mini” for “water” and “sota” for “cloudy” or “sky-tinted water”.
Mississippi: Based on the Ojibwe name “misi-ziibi” which means “great river”
Missouri: Believed to come from the Illinois Confederation Native American word “wimihsoori” which means “Big Muddy” or “People of the Big Muddy”.
Montana: Derived from the Spanish word for “mountain”
Nebraska: Comes from the Omaha Native American word “Ñí Brásge” which means “flat water” or “broad water”.
Nevada: Latin word for “snow-covered”
New Hampshire: Named for the English county of Hampshire.
New Jersey: Originated from the Jersey Island group, which was held by the British
New York: Named in honor of the Duke of York and Albany, who later became King James II.
North Carolina: Named from Carolina and the word North to distinguish it from South Carolina.
North Dakota: Added the word North to Dakota to distinguish it from South Dakota
Ohio: Possibly derived from the Iroquois word “ohi-yo” which means “beautiful river”.
Oklahoma: Believed to come from the Choctaw word “okla” which means “people” and "humma" meaning "red".
Oregon: Possibly comes from the Spanish “orejón” which means “big-eared people”.
Pennsylvania: Created from “Penn” from the land owner William Penn and “sylvania” from “silva” which is Latin for “woods”
Rhode Island: Named after the Dutch colony of “Roodt Eylandt” which means “red island”.
Texas: Possibly derived from the Caddo word “táyshaʔ” meaning “friends”.
Utah: Spanish word for “people living in the high country”
Vermont: Derived from the French “vert mont” which means “green mountain”
Virginia: In tribute to Queen Elizabeth I of England
Washington: In tribute to George Washington
West Virginia: Named after the English explorer Walter Raleigh who attempted settlement of Virginia in the late 1580s.
Wisconsin: Potentially derived from the French “ovisconsin” which means “prairie” or “gathering of the waters”.
Wyoming: Formed by combining the Muncee and Delaware Native American words “mecheweamiing” for “at the big plains”.