State Names

Why don't you already know the origin of your state name? If you ever need to in the future I have provided you with a map.



Red = Spanish
Yellow = French
Blue = English
Green = Native

Miscellaneous facts: "Arizona" might be derived from a native word but I would prefer to think that it is from Spanish "arida zona". Likewise "Oregon" might be French but probably not?

"Pennsylvania" is in some weird Latin pidgin but it was named by an Englishman so it goes in the English column.

"Idaho" is actually a nonsense word but made up by an English speaker so it also counts as English.

Rhode Island was named after Rhodes by a European, but that doesn't involve any particular language, so we will go with the English origin of "Island" as a tiebreaker.

I am not sure who named Indiana. It refers to Indians -- but in what language? The internet is silent. It sounds like weird 18th century English though.

The shorter a state name is the harder you have to work to find out where it is from. I guess they think people will be more interested in "Pennsylvania" than "Iowa".