# List of place names in Nebraska of Native American origin

This is a list of Native American place names in the U.S. state of Nebraska. These include state, county, townships, cities, towns, and villages.

## State

* Nebraska - The name of the state is derived from an Omaha name meaning "flat water." In the Omaha language the name is Nibthaska; ni, water, and bthaska, flat.

## Counties

* Red Willow - From the Dakota name "Caŋṡaṡa Wakpala", which literally means Red Osier Dogwood Creek; this shrub being abundant along its banks.
* Cheyenne
* Dakota
* Keya Paha County, Nebraska
* Loup - Named for the Skidi Pawnee, whose name means "wolf", which in French is loup.
* Nemaha
* Otoe
* Pawnee
* Sioux
* Keya Paha - Means "turtle hill", is descriptive of the small hills in its vicinity.

## Villages, towns and cities

* Anoka - A Dakota Indian word meaning "on both sides."
* Arapahoe
* Birdwood - A translation of the Dakota name Ziŋtka-c̣aŋ Wakpala (False Indigo Creek). False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), commonly grows along the stream and in Dakota is literally called "birdwood."
* Battle Creek - Named after a nearby stream where Nebraska volunteer militiamen were prepared to fight a battle against the Pawnee Indians that never happened.
* Barada - Named after Antoine Barada, a French-Omaha settler on the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation.
* Blackbird - Blackbird is the English translation of the name Wash-ing-guhsah-ba, or Chief Blackbird of the Omahas who lived and died in the vicinity.
* Bone Creek Township, Butler County, Nebraska
* Brule - Named after the Brule tribe of the Teton Sioux.
* Council Creek Township, Nance County, Nebraska
* Elkhorn Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
* Fontenelle - Named after Omaha chief Logan Fontenelle.
* Hyannis - Named after Hyannis, Massachusetts, which was named after Iyannough, a sachem of the Cummaquid tribe.
* Iowa Township, Holt County, Nebraska
* Kenesaw Township, Adams County, Nebraska
* Leshara - Named after Chief Petalesharo.
* Lodgepole - Named after a nearby creek that is named after a literal translation of the Dakota name, Tushu Wakpala.
* Logan Township, Adams County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Antelope County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Burt County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Clay County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Cuming County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Dixon County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Gage County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Kearney County, Nebraska
* Logan Township, Knox County, Nebraska
* Loup Ferry Township, Nance County, Nebraska
* Loup Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
* Loup Township, Custer County, Nebraska
* Loup Township, Merrick County, Nebraska
* Loup Township, Platte County, Nebraska
* Mankota - Mankota is from the Dakota Indian word Maḳaṭo, meaning "blue earth". Named for Mankato, Minnesota.
* Minatare - From the Hidatsa word mirita'ri, meaning "crosses the water."
* Monowi - Meaning "flower", this town was so named because there were so many wild flowers growing in the vicinity.
* Nehawka - An approximation to the Omaha and Otoe Indian name of a nearby creek meaning "rustling water."
* Nemaha - Named after the Nemaha River, based on an Otoe word meaning "swampy water."
* Niobrara - The Omaha and Ponca word for spreading water or spreading river.
* Oconee - Named for Oconee, Illinois. Oconee was the name of a Creek town.
* Oconto - A Menominee word meaning the "place of the pickerel." Named for Oconto, Wisconsin.
* Ogallala - named for the Oglala people.
* Omaha - Named for the Omaha people who lived nearby
* Oneida Township, Kearney County, Nebraska
* Osceola
* Ottercreek Township, Dixon County, Nebraska
* Leshara. Named after Petalesharo, a Pawnee chief.
* Platte Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska
* Platte Township, Butler County, Nebraska
* Platte Township, Dodge County, Nebraska
* Pohocco - A precinct in the northeastern part of Saunders county, the name derives from Pahuk, meaning headland or promontory, the Pawnee name of a prominent hill in the vicinity.
* Ponca
* Quinnebaugh Township, Burt County, Nebraska
* Red Cloud
* Rosalie - Named for Rosalie La Flesche, a daughter of Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche.
* Santee
* Sappa Township, Harlan County, Nebraska
* Saratoga Township, Holt County, Nebraska
* Sioux
* Skull Creek Township, Butler County, Nebraska
* St. Deroin - A ghost town on the former Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation founded by a French-Omaha settler who was killed near his trading post along the Missouri River.
* Tecumseh
* Tekamah - Located on the site of a historic Pawnee village, the surrounding hills were used for burying grounds and the highest point was used as a fire signal station. The origin of the name is not definitely known.
* Tonawanda - Named for Tonawanda, New York.
* Unidilla - An Iroquois word meaning "place of meeting." Named after Unadilla, New York.
* Venango - An eastern Native American name in reference to a figure found on a tree, carved by the Erie.
* Waco - Named after Waco, Texas, which is the name of one of the divisions of the Tawokoni whose village stood on the site of Waco, Texas.
* Wahoo
* Weeping Water is a translation of the French "L'Eau qui Pleure", and has an interesting Native American legend connected with its name.
* Winnebago
* Wyoming - Derived from a corrupted Delaware word meaning "large plains" or "extensive meadows."
* Wyoming Township, Holt County, Nebraska
* Yutan - Named for an Otoe chief.

### Natural features

* Arikaree River
* Big Blue River
* Big Horn Mountain
* Dakota Formation
* Elkhorn River
* Fontenelle Forest
* Guide Rock
* Keya Paha River
* Lake Wanahoo
* Little Blue River
* Lodgepole Creek
* Medicine Creek
* Missouri River
* Missouri River Valley
* Niobrara National Scenic River
* Niobrara River
* Nishnabotna River
* North Platte River
* Ogallala Aquifer
* Oglala National Grassland
* Pahuk
* Platte River
* Red Willow Creek
* South Platte River
* Standing Bear Lake

### Other places

* Fontenelle Boulevard
* Fontenelle's Post
* Hotel Fontenelle
* Logan Fontenelle Housing Project