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NEW MEXICO: Called "New Mexico" when the Mexicans referred to the territory north and west of the Rio Grande in the 16th century. May have been derived from the name of the Aztec war god, "Mexitli" still another interpretation is that it means "habitation of the god of war.”
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MARYLAND: Named for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I...
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New Mexico got its state name from the Aztec Valley of Mexico. Spanish explorers, including Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, journeyed through the region in the 16th century in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Gold.
You’d be surprised to learn that New Mexico was settled long before the country of Mexico was even named. In the 1500s, Spanish settlers referred to the upper area of the Rio Grande as Nuevo México , after the Aztec Valley of Mexico.
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Before Europeans landed on American shores, the upper stretches of the Alabama River in present-day Alabama used to be the home lands of a Native American tribe called – drum roll, please – the Alabama (Albaamaha in their own tribal language). The river and the state both take their names from the tribe, that's clear enough, but the meaning of the ...
Like Alabama (and, as we'll see, plenty of other state names), the name Alaska comes from the language of the area's indigenous people. The Aleuts (a name given to them by Russian fur traders in the mid 18th century; they used to, and sometimes still do, call themselves the Unangan), natives of the Aleutian Islands, referred to the Alaskan Peninsul...
There are two sides in the argument over the origin of Arizona's name. One side says that the name comes from the Basquearitz onak (“good oak”) and was applied to the territory because the oak trees reminded the Basque settlers in the area of their homeland. The other side says that the name comes from the Spanish Arizonac, which was derived from t...
The first Europeans to arrive in the area of present-day Arkansas were French explorers accompanied by Illinois Indian guides. The Illinois referred to the Ugakhpa people native to the region as the Akansa (“wind people” or “people of the south wind”), which the French adopted and pronounced with an r. They added an s to the end for pluralization, ...
California existed in European literature way before Europeans settled the Western U.S. It wasn't a state filled with vineyards and movie stars, but an island in the West Indies filled with gold and women. The fictional paradise, first mentioned in the early 1500s by Spanish author Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo in his novel Las Sergas de Esplandián, is...
Colorado is a Spanish adjective that means “red.” The early Spanish explorers in the Rocky Mountain region named a river they found the Rio Colorado for the reddish silt that the water carried down from the mountains. When Colorado became a territory in 1861, the Spanish word was used as a name because it was commonly thought that the Rio Colorado ...
The state is named after the Connecticut River, which was named quinnitukqutby the Mohegans who lived in the eastern upper Thames valley. In their Algonquian language, the word means “long river place” or “beside the long tidal river.”
Delaware is named for the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. These, in turn, were named for Sir Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, the first colonial governor of Virginia, who traveled the river in 1610. The title is likely ultimately derived from the Old French de la werre(“of the war” or a warrior).
Six days after Easter in 1513, the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed near what is now the city of Saint Augustine. In honor of the holiday and the area's plant life, he named the land Florida for the Spanish phrase for the Easter season, pascua florida(“feast of flowers”). The name is the oldest surviving European place-name in the U.S...
In the early 18thcentury, the British Parliament assigned a committee to investigate the conditions of the country's debtor prisons and didn't like what they found. A group of philanthropists concerned with the plight of debtors proposed the creation of a colony in North America where the “worthy poor” could get back on their feet and be productive...
- Alabama: The Heart of Dixie. Although Alabama doesn’t have an official nickname, the nickname that’s most commonly used is “The Heart of Dixie,” according to the Alabama state archives.
- Alaska: The Last Frontier. Because of its great abundance of unsettled land, Alaska earned the nickname “The Last Frontier.” Its official motto, according to Alaska’s official website is “North to the Future,” while the name “Alaska,” itself derives the Aleut word “aleyska,” meaning “great land.”
- Arizona: The Grand Canyon State. There’s no explanation needed as to how Arizona got its nickname; it’s proud—and rightly so—of being the home of most of the Grand Canyon, according to Arizona’s state library.
- Arkansas: The Natural State. “The Natural State,” was officially adopted as the state’s nickname by the Arkansas state legislature in 1995 after lobbying by the Arkansas parks system (which consists of three national forests, five national parks, and 52 state parks).
May 25, 2018 · The Spanish settlers named the lands Nuevo México (New Mexico) after the Aztec Valley of the Rio Grande River in Mexico. Contrary to popular belief, New Mexico is not part of Mexico. In fact, New Mexico was established and named 223 years before the naming of Mexico in 1821.
Jun 29, 2020 · About half of America’s states owe their names to Native American origin. Names with Spanish origins can be found in the West, including Colorado, New Mexico, and California.
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