The bridge is named (using an anglicized form) in honor of Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746–1817), the preeminent national figure in Poland's fight for independence. Kościuszko arrived in Colonial America a month after the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence and remained a notable military leader throughout the Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of general as well as honorary American citizenship. He returned to Poland in July 1784.