How Each State Got Its Name

Kansas gets its name from the Native American Kaws or Kansa people, also a Sioux tribe. They derived the name from the Sioux word for “southwind.” The Kansa people are also referred to as “people of the south wind.”

There are several different theories regarding the name “Kentucky,” though it has a Native American origin. Kentucky comes from the Iroquois word “ken-tah-ten,” which means “land of tomorrow.” The other possible meanings for “Kentucky” that derive from the Iroquois language are: “meadow,” “prairie,” and “the river of blood.”

There is no disputing the origin of Louisiana’s name. The home of Cajun cooking and jazz music was named in honor of King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, by explorer René-Robert Cavelier in the mid-1600s.

Maine’s name might have originated from Royal Navy mariners Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason, who received a charter for what would become Maine and used the name to differentiate the mainland from the islands around it.

The state of Maryland, which as a colony, was founded as a haven for Catholics persecuted in England, was named to honor Queen Henrietta Maria, the Catholic wife of England’s King Charles I.