Does your town's name have Native American roots? The answer might surprise you

One of the many ways Native American influence shines through the United States is in our place names. In more cases than one may think, geographic names were derived from a Native American word or honored a celebrated chief.

Read on to find 75 examples of U.S. cities that bear indigenous names.

Atoka, Oklahoma

The city was founded by people of the Choctaw Nation and named after a local Choctaw chief and warrior, Captain Atoka.

One thing Atoka is known for is being host to St. Patrick's Church, which is the oldest Catholic parish on Native American territory.

Awendaw, South Carolina

Near Charleston, Awendaw was named by the Sewee Tribe, who lived in the area for generations. The town's official history says it was originally named “Wappetaw” by people from Salem, Massachusetts who left after the Salem Witch trials.

Awendaw is also home to the Awendaw Sewee Shell Mound, a significant pre-Columbian Native American site. Many archaeologists believe that the ring was a central gathering place for ceremonies.

Biloxi, Mississippi

The city located on the Mississippi Sound shares its name with the Biloxi Tribe present on the state’s coastline. Many historians believe French settlers named the city after the tribe, spelling it “Bilocci.”

The Biloxi Tribe eventually migrated westward towards Louisiana, merging with the Tunica Tribe. The Tunica Biloxi Tribe is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes in Louisiana.

Blackfoot, Idaho

The city gets its name from the Blackfoot Tribe who lived in the area when Europeans took over. The Kainaiwa, Siksika, Peigan–Piikani and Aamskapi Pikuni are the four tribes that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy, according to the confederacy's website.

The Blackfoot custom of using ash to blacken their moccasins, called “siksika,” is the origin of the English language name for the tribe.

Caddo, Oklahoma

Caddo, Oklahoma was named after the nearby Caddo Hills, the site of a battle between the Caddo and Choctaw tribes in 1808.

Caddo is a French abbreviation for the Caddoan word “Kadohadacho,” which means “the real chiefs.”

Camas, Washington

The city gets its name from the camas lily; the bulbs of camas lily were a consistent part of Indigenous people's diet.

Cayuga, New York

Cayuga, a town off of Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes), references the Cayuga Nation, one of the five original members of the Iroquois Confederacy.

The name means the “people of the great swamp.”

Chattanooga, Tennessee

The name of Chattanooga, the fourth most populous city in Tennessee, has several possible roots. Many believe the word to be of Muscogee/Creek origin, meaning “rock coming to a point.”

The “rock” in reference most likely refers to Lookout Mountain, a top tourist attraction near the city and a mountain ridge that stretches throughout the southeast border of Tennessee, the northeast corner of Alabama and the northwest corner of Georgia.

Chesapeake, Virginia

Sharing a name with the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, Chesapeake is a city on the east coast of Virginia. Chesapeake comes from the Algonquin language and means “big river” or “great water."

Cheyenne, Wyoming

The town was named for the Cheyenne Tribe who lived in the region. The name “Cheyenne” comes from the Sioux word “Shyenne,” which means “people of foreign language.”

Chicago, Illinois

The “Windy City” was originally home to the Algonquian people, which included Miami and Mascouten Native Americans.

While there are multiple theories about the origin of the word “Chicago,” the most widely accepted theory is that it stems from the word “Shikaakwa,” which means “smelly onion” in the Miami-Illinois Native American language.

Chickasha, Oklahoma

The town in Oklahoma is named after the Chickasaw Nation. According to the Chickasaw Cultural Center, some historians believe that the Chickasaw Tribe's victory over the French in battles in the 1730s in the reason the United States is an English-speaking country today.

Coos Bay, Oregon

Multiple tribes lived in the area before Europeans came to the region, including the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.

The word “Coos” is derived from words that mean “south” in Miluk and Hanis, two tribal languages of the area.

Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey

A borough in Bergen County, there are as many as 16 different definitions of Ho-Ho-Kus. The most widely accepted theory is that the word stems from the Delaware Tribe term “Mehokhokus” or “Mah-Ho-Ho-Kus,” meaning “the red cedar.”

Kennebunk, Maine

English fishermen arrived in the area in the 15th century, and English people established the town of Kennebunk in 1621. The town lies in the southeast corner of the state, near the border of New Hampshire.

The original meaning of Kennebunk stems from an Abenaki word meaning “long-cut bank."

Kingsessing, Pennsylvania

A neighborhood in Philadelphia, Kingsessing comes from a Lenape word meaning “a place where there is a meadow.”

Klamath Falls, Oregon

Native Americans, including members from the Klamath Tribes, which was made up of the Klamath, the Yahooskin-Paiute and the Modoc people, inhabited the region initially. In 1893, the town was renamed after the Klamath Tribes, almost 30 years after they signed a treaty giving the U.S. government over 23 million acres of tribal land.

Malibu, California

Malibu, California was originally inhabited by Chumash Native Americans, who also lived throughout central and Southern California. The name Malibu comes from the word “Humaliwo,” which was a Chumash village across from what is now Malibu Lagoon State Beach.

The word “Humaliwo” means “where the surf sounds loudly,” which aptly describes the sandy shores of Malibu.

Manhattan, New York

Originally, Manhattan was a territory of the Lenape Tribe before the Dutch occupied the island in the early 17th century.

The name Manhattan is derived from the Lenape word “Mannahatta” with has been translated in various ways over the years, including “where one gathers bows” and “hilly island.”

Manteo, North Carolina

Manteo is a town on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. The name refers to a Croatan chief who resided in coastal North Carolina and made contact with the first Europeans on Roanoke Island.

The Croatan chief was one of the first Native Americans to be on English record after making trips to England, mentioned in texts from explorers as early as 1584.

Massapequa, New York

Like many places on Long Island, this hamlet in Nassau County gets its name from the Algonquin language. The name refers to the Marsapeague Tribe, one of the 13 tribes that lived on Long Island.

Mendota, Minnesota

Mendota comes from the Dakota language word “Bdote,” which means “where the two waters come together.” This refers to the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers meeting at the city of Mendota.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When Europeans came to Wisconsin, there were multiple Native American villages and tribes in the area, including the Menominee, Potawatomi, Ojibwe and the Ho-Chunk people. Some Native American tribes used what would become Milwaukee as a place for council meetings and celebrations.

There are many theories about where Milwaukee’s name comes from. Some historians believe that it comes from the language Anishinaabemowin, which the Odawa, Potawatomi and Ojibwe tribes all spoke. The Anishinaabemowin word “minowakiing” means “good earth.”

However, there is also a Meskwaki word, “mahnawaukke,” which means “the gathering place” and could have inspired the name Milwaukee.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota derives its name from two different words: the Sioux word “minne,” which means “water,” and the Greek word “polis,” meaning “city.”

Charles Hoag, the city’s first schoolmaster, can be credited with this combination. Sioux and Ojibwa peoples originally lived in the area.

Minnetonka, Minnesota

A suburb west of downtown Minneapolis, Minnetonka meant “big water” to the Dakota people.

The city’s location was a crucial travel point for the Dakota and Ojibwe peoples.

Missoula, Montana

The city of Missoula sits on the Clark Fork of the Columbia River. The name Missoula either stems from the Salish word “Nmesuletkw,” which means “extremely cool water,” or “Nemissoolatakoo” which roughly translates to “river of ambush/surprise.”

Either way, the name is derived from the Salish Tribe’s way of referencing the river that runs through Missoula.

Napa, California

Historians aren't sure what Napa originally meant, but they can agree the name stems from a Native American word that was translated incorrectly over time. Many believe that it comes from a Patwin or Wappo word, but the word itself is up for debate. Theories range from Napa meaning “grizzly bear” to “fish” to “motherland” to “village” to “house.”

Narragansett, Rhode Island

A coastal town in Rhode Island, Narragansett gets its name from the Narragansett people who have inhabited Rhode Island for 30,000 years.

A federally recognized tribe, the Narragansett’s reservation is largely in the southern part of the state. They officially became a recognized tribe in April 1983.

Nashua, New Hampshire

The city of Nashua got its name from the Nashua River, which runs through the city and south through Worcester County, Massachusetts.

The river name refers to the tribe of Native Americans (called the Nashua or Nashaway Tribe), an Abenaki tribe that inhabited the lands in Worcester County. Various translations of the word relate to the river itself, such as “river with pebbled bottom” or “beautiful stream.”

Natchitoches, Louisiana

This city is named for the Natchitoches Tribe, which today is a group of 1,600 recorded members, many of whom still live in the ancestral lands of the tribe in the Natchitoches Parish.

The name is thought to be derived from the native word “nashitosh,” meaning either "the paw paw people," referring to a native fruit, or “a place where the soil is the color of red ochre.”

Natick, Massachusetts

A town west of Boston, Natick was founded in 1651 by a Puritan missionary and three Indigenous leaders, Custshamekin and Waban of the Massachusett people and John Speen, or Qualalanset, of the Nipmuc tribe.

While the word’s true meaning is disputed, many scholars believe the term means “my land.” The town was originally established on the Charles River as a town for Christian Native Americans.

Norwalk, Connecticut

There are two possible origins for the name of the coastal town on the north shore of Long Island Sound.

One possibility is that Norwalk is from the Algonquin name Noyank meaning “point of land.” The other possible origin is that it was named for the Native American town called “Naramauke.”

Ogallala, Nebraska

Ogallala is named after the Oglala Sioux tribe.

The name is a Lakota word meaning “scatter” or “to scatter one’s own.”

Ojai, California

The Chumash people once lived on the land northwest of what's currently Los Angeles, and considered the region to be sacred territory. They called it “A’hwai,” which translates to either “nest” or “moon.” Over time, through pronunciation changes “‘A’hwai” evolved into the name “Ojai.”

Okanogan, Washington

The area that became Okanogan, Washington was inhabited by several tribes, including the Southern Okanogan Tribe (also known as the Uknaqinx or the Sinkaietk). When English settlers came to the land, they shuffled through a myriad of names, but eventually landed on Okanogan after the local tribe.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples inhabited the region before the official town of Oklahoma City and state of Oklahoma were formed.

“Oklahoma” means “red people” in the Choctaw language.

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska pulls its name from the Omaha people, now the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, whose name translates to “upstream people” or "people who go against the current."

The Omaha people lived in the territory before Europeans arrived.

Osage Beach, Missouri

The name comes from the Osage Nation, who initially lived on the land.

Osage was a French version of the tribe's name, which roughly translates to "calm water."

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Menominee Native Americans inhibited the land that became Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Once European colonists established a few small villages, they merged together to form Oshkosh, named after Chief Oskosh (also spelled Oshkosh) of the Menominee tribe. Chief Oshkosh, whose name means "claw," played a pivotal role in securing a reservation for his people on their ancestral lands.

Ottumwa, Iowa

People of the Ioway Tribe, also known as the Iowa Tribe, were the original inhabitants of southeast Iowa. The city of Ottumwa, located on the Des Moines River, is thought to be named for the Algonquin word for "rippling water."

Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah is a small city in western Kentucky. It is believed to be named after Chief Paduke, a leader in the Chickasaw Tribe, who lived in the area around the city until the Jackson Purchase of 1818.

Patchogue, New York

The name of this village on Long Island was derived from the Algonquin word “Pochaug,” meaning “a turning place,” or “where two streams seperate.”

Pachaug State Forest in Connecticut takes its name from the same word.

Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Pawtucket is a city in northern Rhode Island. In some Algonquin translations, “Pawtucket” means “great falls” or “river falls.”

The Pawtucket people inhabited eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, migrating seasonally. Today, some members of the Wampanoag, Nipmuck and Massachusett tribes have Pawtucket ancestry.

Peoria, Illinois

The name for Peoria, a city in central Illinois, comes from the Peoria Tribe who inhabited the region. The name roughly translates to “comes carrying a pack on his back.”

Piscataway, New Jersey

The township in New Jersey was named by European colonists who moved south from the Piscataqua River region in New Hampshire. The name is believed to be of Lenni-Lenape origin for “great deer river” or “dark.”

Pocatello, Idaho

City lore says it was named after a Shoshone-Bannock chief.

The chief’s name, however, is up for dispute. Many refer to him as Chief Pocatello, however, historians debate over what his true name was and how much was lost in translation. Many historians believe the chief's actual Shoshone name was Tonaioza (or Tondzaosha) and it was mistranslated by English colonists.

Pontiac, Illinois

Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa people was famous for leading a joint tribal resistance effort against the British Empire, known as Pontiac's War.

The city that lays on the outskirts of Chicago bears his name.

Poughkeepsie, New York

Located in the Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie’s name comes from the Wappinger Tribe, an Algonquin-speaking Native American tribe that inhabited the Hudson River’s east bank.

The word stems from “uppiqui” meaning “reed-covered lodge,” “ipis” meaning “little water” and “ing” meaning “place.” The three phrases come together as uppiqui-ipis-ing, meaning “the reed-covered lodge by the little water place.” Eventually that evolved into “Poughkeepsie.”

Puyallup, Washington

The town in western Washington state shares the name of the Puyallup Tribe who lived in the area. The name in the Lushootseed language translates to “people from the bend at the bottom of the river.” Over time, it also came to mean “generous people” because of the tribe’s welcoming nature.

Punxsutawney, Pennslyvania

A borough in western Pennsylvania, the town was originally settled by Lenni-Lenape Native Americans who noted a plethora of little bugs. The name comes from its original name Ponsutenink, meaning place of the sand flies or mosquitos.

Quapaw, Oklahoma

This town serves as the capital for the Quapaw Nation, a federally recognized tribe in Oklahoma. The name translates to “downstream people” which refers to the Quapaw’s movement downstream on the Mississippi River while other tribes went upstream.

Ramapo, New Jersey

Ramapo’s name stems from the Ramapough Mountain people. Some historians believe the name means “sweet water” while others say it comes from two Lenni-Lenape words that mean slanting rock or clear running water.  The Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation is a state-recognized tribe that resides at the foot of the Ramapo Mountains today.

Roanoke, Virginia

The city is in Virginia below the Blue Ridge Mountain range on the Roanoke River. The name comes from the word “rawrenock,” the Algonquin word referring to white shell beads.

Ronkonkoma, New York

An important station stop on the main line of the Long Island Railroad, Ronkonkoma is a hamlet located in the middle of Long Island.

The name Ronkonkoma means “boundary-fishing lake” in Algonquin dialect, referring to nearby Lake Ronkonkoma, the largest lake on Long Island.

Sandusky, Ohio

On the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky's name comes from a Wyandot word having to do with water.

The Wyandotte Nation is a federally recognized nation with headquarters is Wyandotte, Oklahoma.

Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington was named after Chief Seattle (also known as Chief Si'ahl), whose mother was Duwamish and father was a Suquamish chief. Chief Seattle earned respect from both tribes. English speakers had trouble pronouncing his name, which sounded like “See-ahlsh,” and today’s pronunciation of Seattle was born instead.

Chief Seattle was the first Native American leader to sign the Point Elliot Treaty, which was an agreement between the U.S. government and the Native Americans to give the U.S. government land, while providing Native Americans reservations, fishing rights, education and health care.

Secaucus, New Jersey

The name Secaucus comes from the Algonquin language and translates roughly to “place of snakes,” possibly because of the presence of snakes in marshlands nearby. The area was originally inhabited by Lenape Native Americans on the Hackensack River. The name Hackensack derives from an Achkinheshcky tribe word meaning “mouth of a river.”

Seminole, Florida

Seminole today refers to three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Florida, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.

The city in the Tampa Bay area takes its name from the Seminole people.

Shakopee, Minnesota

The name of this city in Minnesota comes from the Dakota word "sakpe," meaning "six," which was a name passed down among generations of the Dakota people. The first Chief “Sakpe” was honored with a statue in the city of Shakopee in 2017.

Snohomish, Washington

Snohomish, Washington derives its name from the Snohomish Tribe that originally lived in the area.

The Snohomish River nearby is also named after the tribe.

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Tahlequah is home to the headquarters of two Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Native Americans. The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the United States, with over 450,000 members worldwide.

Bill John Baker, who served as the primary chief of the Cherokee Nation, stated that Tahlequah means “the open place where the grass grows.”

Ticonderoga, New York

The word stems from an Iroquoian word meaning “a place between two waters."

The village in the northern part of Lake George contains Fort Ticonderoga, an important historic battle place in both the French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary war. It's also the name of a famous pencil brand!

Toppenish, Washington

The Indigenous Peoples of the Plateau, including Yakama Nation members, lived in the area for centuries. In 1884, a depot for the Northern Pacific Railway was built on the territory called Toppenish after the Sahaptin-Yakama word “T-hoppenish” that roughly translates to mean land "sloping downward and spreading.”

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona derives its name from the Tohono O’odham word “Ts-iuk-shan” which means “black base,” referring to Sentinel Mountain which has a base darker than its summit.

Spanish pronunciation sounded like “tuqui son” which evolved to Tucson today.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Creek Native Americans were driven out of their homes in Georgia and Alabama, leading them to seek a new place to call home. The Lower Creek settled in what would become Tulsa, naming it after their former home in Alabama.

In the Muscogee language, Tulsa comes from the Creek word “Tallasi” or “Tvlvhasse” which means “old town.”

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Home to the University of Alabama, this city is named after Chief Tuskaloosa (also spelled Tuskalusa, Tuskaluza), the leader of a tribe native to what is now Alabama.

Tuscaloosa itself translates to “black warrior” in the Choctaw language.

Wahpeton, North Dakota

Wahpeton has gone through a flurry of names. Initially English settlers called the town Richville. Then, its name was changed to Chahinkapa, which came from a Lakota Sioux word for “the end of the woods.” Eventually, it was renamed Wahpeton, which is the Dakota Tribe’s word for “leaf dwellers.”

Wakonda, South Dakota

Wakonda, which has alternative spellings depending on the tribe, is a legendary figure in the stories of multiple tribes like the Omaha, Ponca and Osage people. In those legends, Wakonda is a high god who is the great creator.

In the Sioux tribe, Wakonda, known as Wakan-Tanka, is the source of wisdom and power.

Wakonda is also the name of a small town in South Dakota.

Walla Walla, Washington

The name “Walla Walla” comes from the Nez Perce Tribe. It means “running waters,” indicative of the streams and rivers that flow through what is now the Walla Walla valley.

Wasilla, Alaska

Wasilla, Alaska was named after Chief Wasilla, who was a Dena’ina Athabascan Indian Chief. The meaning of “Wasilla” is up for debate. Some believe it comes from an Athabascan word that means “breath of air,” while others think the name is a variation of the Russian name “Vasili.”

Wichita, Kansas

When the city of Wichita was officially founded in 1864, it was on the land of the Wichita Tribe.

Winnemucca, Nevada

Winnemucca was initially called French Ford by French settlers. Officials renamed the town in 1868 to honor the leader of a local Paiute Tribe, Chief Winnemucca.

Winooski, Vermont

Named identically with the Winooski River, a tributary of Lake Champlain, the name derives from an Abenaki word meaning “wild onions.” This is because of the onions harvested at the delta of the river.

Yakima, Washington

Yakima, Washington is named after the Native Americans who lived in the area in a tribe now called the Yakama Nation. There are many ideas on what exactly the name Yakama means; in the Sahaptin language, yákama means “black bear” and ya-ki-ná means “runaway,” which could refer to the rushing Yakima River.

Yemassee, South Carolina

Yemassee is named after the tribe that resided in South Carolina.

The Yemassee Tribe lived in South Carolina until 1717, when the tribe fought in a coalition with other Native Americans against the British in the Yemassee War. Some of the tribe migrated to Florida after the war.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com