Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3887

Toponymy

Toponymy as most of you probably know is the study of place names and their origin. In reading Mario Pei’s book, The Story Of Language I learned that about half of the states in the US are derived from Indian names that existed for the area before it became a state. For example:

Mississippi = “the father of waters”
Oklahoma = “the red people”
Kentucky = “the dark and bloody ground”
Michigan = “the great water”
Illinois = “the tribe of perfect men”
Texas = “friends!”
Tennessee = “the vines of the big bend”
Dakota = “allied”
Iowa = “the sleepy ones”
Idaho = “Good morning”
New Jersey – was originally called “Scheyechbi” meaning “the land of the long water” but was
changed to New Jersey before it became a state.

Many cities and natural features are also direct from the local Indian dialect. Such as:

Ossining = “place of stones”
Hoboken = “tobacco pipe”
Katonah = “sickly”
Biloxi = “worthless”
Shenandoah = “daughter of the skies”
Ticonderoga = “fighting water”
Oswego = “place full of flies”
Peoria = “place of fat beasts”
Chicago -- was derived from “chi-kak-quwa” which meant place of skunk odor.

I think some of those are pretty interesting names. How about adding any that occur in your vicinity with the meaning the Indians gave it.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Location Location
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Topeka = a good place to dig potatos.

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Registered: Feb 2004
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I have cousins who live near Lake Chaubunagungamaug in Massachusetts. I don't know what it means, though it's a band of the Nipmuc tribe.

http://www.nativetech.org/Nipmuc/news/nipsplit.html

***chaw-BUH-nuh-GUHNG-guh-mawg

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3887

I would dearly love to be able to translate that Lake name for you NYMPHO but have to admit that I don't have a clue. I wouild agree that it is Indian though.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: A New England
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Peoria = “place of fat beasts”

Tell me this is in the Mid West.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Yeah, I'm there
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There's one in Arizona and, I think, one in Illinois

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
Posts: 10477

Oscoda, where some of my family live in Northern, MI, means pebbly prarie, and is from “ossin” meaning stones or pebbles, and “muskoda” meaning prairie.

Found this on the internet:

quote:

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Michigan Indian Names Of Cities And Towns

Michigan - "Big Sea Water".
Muskegon - Plenty Of Fish In Michigan.
Osceola - Medicine Drink.
Oswego - Flowing Out Lake.
Pontiac - Ottawa Indian Chief Killed At Cahokia, Illinois-1776.
Sheboyan - Start From Springs A Place Of Ore.
Saqwasibi- "Coming Out River-Flowing Into Lake Michigan".
Kalamazoo- "Otter Tail".
Mackinac - "Turtle Island In Michigan".

Indian Name Meanings

Escanaba - Flat Rocks
Sheboyan - Place Of Ore
Winnipeg - Muddy Waters
Spokane - Children Of The Sun
Monon - To Carry, Tote
Salamonie - Blood Root
Cayuga - Starting Place
Metea - Kiss Me
Kankakee - Swampy Land
Waupecony - White Bones
Modoc - Enemy
Willamette - Running Water
Katahdin - Great Mountain
Minnihaha - Curling Waterfall
Tuxedo - Place Of Bears
Kennebec - Long Place Of Water
Aroostook - Good River
Calumet - Pipe Of Peace
Tuskegee - Warriors
Atchafalaya- Long River
Haiti - Mountainous Country
Sheboygan - Stream That Comes From The Ground

Indian Names of Places
Allegheny - Fairest River
Savannah - Grassy Plain
Passaic - Peace Valley
Natchez - Hurrying People
Pensacola - Hairy People
Okeechobee - Grassy Lake
Appalachian - Appalachee Indians
Appomattox - Tobacco Country
Alaska - Great Country
Rappahannock - Quick Rising River
Milwaukee - Rich Land
Tippecanoe - Buffalo Fish
Mississinewa - Water On A Slope
Ottawa - Trade Or Exchange
Chattanooga - Eagles Nest
Topeka - Potato Country
Roanoke - Shell Or Shells
Chillicthe - Town Or Village
Toronto - Meeting Place
Chickamauga - River Of Death
Tuscaloosa - Black Warrior
Peoria - Place Of Fat Beats
Kenosha - Long Fish, "Pike"
Chautauqua - Foggy Place
Saginaw - Pouring Out At Mouth
Omaha - Up Stream
Chesapeake - Salty Pond
Cashocton - Habitat Of Owls
Scioto - Hairs In River
Mackinac - Turtle Island
Potomac - Burning Pines
Tacoma - Big Snow Mountain
Canada - Collection Of Wigwams
Saskatchewan - Swift River
Kokomo - Black Walnut
Muncie - Strong Place
Chicago - Wild Onions
Wabash - White, Flat Rocks
Kalamazoo - Otter's Trail
Shawnee - Southerners
Tecumseh - Shooting Star
Oshkosh - Claws Or Scratches
Nantucket - Far Away
Penobscot - Rocky Place
Niagara - Thundering Water
Wasatch - Beautiful
Yosemite - Grizzly Bear
Tucson - Black Base
Schuglkill - Hidden Creek
Mankato - Green Earth
Lycoming - Sandy Stream
Rearearge - High Place
Kaibab - On The Mountain
Winamac - Mudfish, Catfish
Merrimac - Swift Stream
Suwannee - Echo River
Walla Walla - Many Waters
Shenanoah - Hillside Stream
Lackawanna - Streams That Fork
Suequehanna - Pure Water
Muskegon - Plenty Of Fish
Muskingun - Moose-Eye River
Saratoga - Sparkling Place
Tallahassee - Old Town
Keokuk - Watchful Fox
Rearearge - High Place
Kaibab - On The Mountain
Winamac - Mudfish, Catfish
Merrimac - Swift Stream
Suwannee - Echo River
Walla Walla - Many Waters
Shenanoah - Hillside Stream
Lackawanna - Streams That Fork
Suequehanna - Pure Water
Muskegon - Plenty Of Fish
Muskingun - Moose-Eye River
Saratoga - Sparkling Place
Tallahassee - Old Town
Keokuk - Watchful Fox

States with Indian Names
Alaska - Great Land
Alabama - Thicket Clearers
Arizona - Silver Slabs
Arkansas - Down Stream People
Connecticut - Upon The Long River
Idaho - Sunrise, It Is Morning
Illinois - Men Or Great Men
Indiana - Land Of The Indians
Iowa - Drowsy People
Kansas - People Of The South Wind
Kentucky - Hunting Ground
Dakota - Related People
Oregon - Beautiful Water
Massachusetts - Great Hill
Michigan - Great Water
Mississippi - Father Of Water
Missouri - Long Canoe People
Minnesota - Sky Tinted Water
Nebraska - Flat Water
New Mexico - Aztec God Mexitili
Ohio - Beautiful Valley
Oklahoma - Land Of The Red Man
Texas - Tejas Or Allies
Tennessee - From Chief Tannassie
Utah - Those Who Dwell High Up
Wisconsin - Where Waters Gather
Wyoming - Great Plain

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: zanzibar
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They seem to disagree on Chicago, but that site doesn't cite where they got any of that.

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Registered: Oct 2003
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Note the non-distinction between North and South Dakota! HA

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Norfolk, VA
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I was suprised.
I thought "Dakota" would mean something like "Arid wasteland, barren of culture."

Learn something new every day.

Their descriptions of the midwest are wholly appropriate, even to this day.

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Registered: Feb 2004
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lake Chaubunagungamaug (which might actually be a shortened version of the name ... it's definitely shorter than the one I remember from childhood) ... should be the indian name for 'person who drowns while trying to pronounce unpronounceable name in giant lake of death'

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3887

In the field of toponymy the city of Lisbon gets the award for colorful street names. Such as:

Rua de Saudada-------Street of Longing
Rua de Chao Salgado--Street of the Salty Floor
Beco Lava-cabecas------Alley of the head washers
Travessa de Mata Porcos----Hogbutchers Alley
Travessa de Fala So---The alley where you speak to yourself
Rua do Imaginario--Street of the Imaginary
Rua do Benformoso----Handsome man street
Rua da Triste e Feia---Street of the Sad Ugly Woman
Beco Espera-me Rapaz---Wait For Me Boy Alley

Hard to beat those for unusual street names.

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Registered: Apr 2003
Location: . o O
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List of interesting or unusual place names.
On this list California has Rancho Cucamonga (which is given the distinction of being an inherently funny word), Weed (which is cool), and Zzyzx (which has a silly history).

Westward Ho!, England has an exclamation point!

And Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, Massachusetts, ("Englishmen at Manchaug at the Fishing Place at the Boundary", or "You Fish on Your Side, I Fish on My Side, Nobody Fish in the Middle"), Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Wales , and
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu Hill, New Zealand are LONG.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located in Alberta, Canada. In Blackfoot, the name for the site is Estipah-skikikini-kots. According to legend, a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the buffalo plunge off the cliff from below, but was accidentally crushed (i.e., had his "head smashed in") when he wandered too close.

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Last edited by cw on 03-14-2004 at 06:51 PM

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: clinging desperately to my guns and religion gonna kill me some foreigners because i remember 9/11
Posts: 22332

Nebraska - Flat Water

Interesting. Not much water to see out here, really.

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