Talk:List of state and territory name etymologies of the United States

message: On the etymology for the state of Colorado it states that the meaning of the word is "Colored river, presumably referring to the Colorado River", from my recollection, and the wikipedia article on Colorado, I thought it meant "The Color red" or "reddish in color" etc., can anyone confirm or dispute this? 
Thunderbolt16 18:30, Apr 12, 2004 (UTC)
:Agreed, it means 'red'. Compare e.g. Palo Colorado, the early Spanish name for the Coast redwood. - MPF 21:57, 15 Apr 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: no, there was no reason .. i've got the same claim on the Swedish version. This colour did I found in another article and thought wiki would change it depending on the user theme set in the preferences. // Rogper 23:19, 4 Oct 2003 (UTC)

text: According to Terry Crowley (An Introduction to Historical Linguistics. Oxford University Press, 1992, pg. 289), "Māori oral traditions tell of canoe voyages from the distant land of Hawaiki, many many generations ago. The stories record the names of particular canoes which came ashore at different locations along the coastline of the new land that they called Aotearoa, and modern Māori groups speak of their descent from one or another of these founding waka, or canoes. The name Hawaiki has the same origin as the name of the biggest island in Hawaii, which is phonemically , as well as the name of the largest Samoan island, . --Whimemsz 22:42, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: For what it's worth, many many of Bryson's claims about languages are wrong. Nonetheless, in this case, he seems to be right. This PDF paper, for example, says that "Idaho" was a word invented by one George M. Willing, which he claimed came from an "Indian" word meaning "gem of the mountains," but which in reality meant nothing at all. --Whimemsz 22:42, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Also, the Arkansas article says the name is derived from a French word.  I've not changed either because I don't know which is correct -- sannse 16:30, 29 Nov 2003 (UTC)
replies: text:  I think that the Arkansas article is wrong, tho can't check right now. What source do that article have ?
----
Hmm.  This list disagrees with what is at the head of Minnesota, though I don't know Dakota, so I couldn't say what's right —Mulad 02:12, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: top

message: What about some cool dude making one?  Hasbro 21:01, 25 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't see where the forums are cited. Wordreference's dictionary is cited several times, but I wasn't aware that the dictionary itself was not a reliable source; it's served me well so far. But any good Spanish dictionary would have definitions for, say, montaña or colorado, so it strictly isn't necessary to use Wordreference as the source. I just don't have an authoritative print dictionary I can cite--does someone else? --Miskwito 04:42, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  European countries etymological map? 

message: I always though "Arizona" was from Spanish, arido zona (arid zone).  Seems to make sense, too.
128.138.131.250 22:51, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: that's what i have heard, too  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.164.208.139 (talk) 14:52, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Arizona 

message: Oregon has a separate article for the discussion of its name that was split out from the Oregon article. Would it make sense to link to it instead of Oregon in the first column of the table? Or else add some sort of "see also" to the Oregon section? Katr67 (talk) 18:05, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Oregon (toponym)]] 

message: Although De la Warr could have originally been De la guerre I have not seen any proof or mention of this anywhere. Could someone check?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.93.26 (talk) 17:25, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Delaware 

message: I have removed the new etymology given by DLinth for the state of Virginia, which read, "After a regional Native American "king" named "Wingina," 1584, modified later that year by Elizabeth I of England to "Virginia", perhaps in part noting her status as the "Virgin Queen."". I will explain my reasoning here. 
1. To begin with, I'll quote what his source, George Stewart's Names on the Land (1945, pg. 22) has to say:
"When the captains returned, their report went to Sir Walter [Raleigh], and he took it to the Queen. In it they wrote the name of the whole country as Wingandacoa, and of its King, Wingina. Then, it may be, that spelling spurred the Queen's thought, and she remembered her own virgin state, which her poets celebrated. Also, that far-off, sweet-smelling lay untouched and virgin, waiting to be possessed. So while Sir Walter stood by to approve and applaud, the Queen remembered her Latin, and spoke a word of proper form for the name of the province, which was a "virgin-land". Thus when the account of the captains came to be printed, the sentence ran 'The king is called Wingina, the country Wingandacoa'--but also was added, 'and now by her Majesty, Virginia.'"
Now, while this is straying into original research of sorts, I'll note that this is nothing more than a just-so story; Stewart presents no actual evidence that any of these events or decisions took place. It makes for a good story to describe the Queen's emotions and thoughts, but that doesn't make it historical fact. The brief except quoted from the captains' report, to me, doesn't imply that the names "Wingandacoa/Wingina" and "Virginia" are in any way connected. The except simply says that the area surveyed was called (by some) "Wingandacoa", and that the Queen called it "Virginia". No direct mention of her reasons, or any suggestion that she was prompted to name it that by the similarity between "Wingandacoa" and "Virginia". So my first reason for reverting this etymology is that the source in question doesn't actually present evidence for the claim, but rather a story about how things might have happened. This isn't really enough reason to revert, though; so my other reasons shall follow:
2. The source is from 1945. A source being older than others doesn't necessarily disqualify it, of course, but if all more recent--and also apparently 'reliable'--sources give a different etymology (see #3 below), then it would seem that the older source has not been accepted by others. Unless there's good reason, it seems to me that multiple recent sources should overrule a single outdated source.
3. The following are all sources I would consider quite reliable, and all give the etymology originally given on the page:
::#The source originally given for the original etymology, the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (from 2006)
::#The American Heritage Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (from 2002)
::#The Oxford English Dictionary (second ed., 1989)
::#The Online Etymology Dictionary
::#The Library of Virginia "FAQ About Virginia" page
These are my reasons for reverting the new etymology. --Miskwito (talk) 21:18, 8 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Virginia etymology 

message: "Five are named after monarchs: three British kings, an English queen, and one French king." Does anyone know what this is referring to?
The state named after a French king must be Louisiana, after Louis XIV. 
So that leaves four states to be distributed between "three British kings" and an "English queen". Among the "three British kings", I guess we must include George II (for Georgia) and Charles I (for the two Carolinas). But who is the third king? I wondered if James II was meant but it is stretching things to say that New York was named "after" him (as the list says, it was named after the city of York in honour of him, and he wasn't King at the time). And as George and Charles have taken three states between them, there aren't enough states left for a third king if we are to leave at least one for the "English queen".
And who is the English queen? The one that springs to mind is Elizabeth, for Virginia (and indirectly West Virginia). But Virginia isn't really named "after" her, as opposed to in her honour. And it leaves out Henrietta Maria (for Maryland). On the other hand, if Henrietta Maria is the "English queen", why is she "English" while her husband Charles I is "British"?  
I have amended the text accordingly to try to make it clearer.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by DavidLDN (talk • contribs) 20:44, 11 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Although you're text is correct, the difference between "in honor of" and "after" is rather subtle, and confused readers might take a while before understanding why the Virginia's aren't counted among those named after royalty. I've changed it a little bit to fix this.63.87.189.17 (talk) 00:08, 20 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  States named after monarchs. 

message: This Featured List uses a self-published book as a source (see User:Kaguy, who created a now-deleted article on it - Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/U.S. State Names: The Stories of How Our States Were Named). Rd232 talk 11:22, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Book source

message: Great article.  Unfortunately, though, the table can be a bit confusing when there are multiple possible etymologies for one state (e.g. Arizona).  The stacking of rows is a bit disorienting.  Is there are a way to maybe put double lines in between each state, or alternate row colors?  I just feel like the divisions between states should be more pronounced to help readability. TremorMilo (talk) 08:14, 22 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Slightly confusing 

message: The wording here isnt accurate. The name doesnt derive from the Nahuatl name Mexico because the name Mexico came from the Nahuatl name of the people, the Mexica. Of course it is possible that both the name of the place and the people derive from a common root, such as the name of the god Mexi, but the name of the people definitely came before the naming of the land, so to say the name Mexico comes from the Nahuatl name of the land is incorrect. The line which reads The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihco should be corrected to  The name Mexico comes from Nahuatl Mēxihca, the Aztec people who founded the cities of Tenochtitlan and Teotihuacan. Mdw0 (talk) 07:05, 6 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: A minor point, but Teotihuacan was built centuries before the Aztecs showed up. 209.159.249.162 (talk) 19:26, 22 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: New Mexico

message: I'm a bit confused by the states whose names are said to be from Latin--is this to suggest that the name was _originally_ Latin? For instance, Georgia. Is "georgia" a Latin word? Was a Latin word ever actually used for the name of Georgia? If it says Latin because the name itself was transmitted through Latin (from Greek as the article states) that seems a bit ambiguous. I think it would make more sense to just state from what language the state's supposed original name was (not going into its deep etymology when the word does not actually refer specifically to the territory of the current state). Theshibboleth (talk) 03:29, 2 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: There are a lot of problems with the map, including the fact that it doesn't agree with the table. None of the state names are derived directly from Latin. WCCasey (talk) 19:14, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Latin? 

message: There are a few problems with the undetermined origins
1. Utah's etymology seems to have been settled.So why does the map disagree?
2. Oregon's etymology is not settled. Why is only one etymology there?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexschmidt711 (talk • contribs) 15:44, 31 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  The undetermined origins 

message: The name "Maine" comes from French, called after a namesake region in the Loire country (Pays de la Loire) in western France.
The name was likely given by early French settlers, or the later Acadians.
Le Anh-Huy (talk) 04:54, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Maine

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message: In both the map and the article's prose, why is Uzo-Aztecan a separate category consisting of just one state (New Mexico), and not within the category "other Native American"?
Besides, the prose says that there are five states in the "other Native American" category (without naming them), while in the map just four states are colored as such: Alabama, Alaska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Also, I think that, at first sight, Hawaii is barely noticeable in the map due to its pale color, the white background, and the much darker colors of the other states. --Theurgist (talk) 18:10, 1 June 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Groupings and colorings of the states 

message: Could you please explain why do think, there is no place for the link Columbia (personification) in the table for DC? Though the name is based on  Christopher Columbus, the name is not "District of Columbus" but Columbia! In the protected article of Columbus there is no hint, no link how his name went to be the personification of "America", so it is necessary to explain here the Columbus—Columbia forms of names. 2001:4C4C:20A1:C400:0:0:0:1000 (talk) 10:44, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  District of Columbia 

message: I suggest that we state in the etymology section that the language of its etymology is 'Arabic via Spanish,' rather than 'Spanish,' since it ultimately and fundamentally derives from the Arabic word caliph, as should be explained in the note box. Ramanujaner (talk) 20:55, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  California's etymology and Arabic