Search results
The United States of America is a federal republic [1] consisting of 50 states, a federal district ( Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and various minor islands. [2] [3] Both the states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions. [4]
- The 50 States' Name Origins
- List of Terms You Should Know First
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
Most state names have Native American roots, along with some French and Spanish origins. Below are more explanations behind each state and their names.
1. Algonquian
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups. Historically, the peoples were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and into the interior along the Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes.
2. Siouan
Siouan languages, also called Siouan-Catawban and Catawba-Siouan, are a family of languages in North America spread primarily across the Great Plains. The Sioux is a large group of Native American tribes that traditionally lived in the Great Plains. Many Sioux tribes were nomadic people who moved from place to place following bison (buffalo) herds.
3. Uto-Aztecan
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. It is one of the oldest and largest family of American Indian languages both in terms of extent of distribution (Oregon to Panama) and number of languages and speakers.
Capital: Montgomery Alabama is from the Choctaw word albah amo meaning"thicket-clearers" or "plant-cutters. The Choctaw were a tribe of Native American Indians who originated from modern Mexico and the American Southwest to settle in the Mississippi River Valley for about 1800 years. Known for their head-flattening and Green Corn Festival, these pe...
Capital: Juneau Alaska is from the Aleut word alaxsxaq andfrom Russian Аляска, meaning"the object toward which the action of the sea is directed." The Aleuts, who are usually known in the Aleut language, are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands. Both the Aleut people and the islands are divided between the U.S. state of Alaska and the Russ...
Capital: Pheonix Arizona is from the O'odham (an Uto-Aztecan language) word ali sona-g via Spanish Arizonacmeaning "good oaks." The O'odham are an indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and northern Sonora. Sonora, the second largest state in Mexico, is sparsely populated. Mountainous and arid, the regi...
Capital: Little Rock Arkansas (pronounced as ar-kan-saw) came from the French pronunciation of an Algonquin name for the Quapaw people: akansa. This word, meaning either "downriver people" or “people of the south wind," comes from the Algonquin prefix-a plus the Siouan word kká:ze for a group of tribes including the Quapaw. The Quapaw people are a ...
Capital: Sacramento In his popular novel "Las sergas de Esplandián" (The Adventures of Esplandián) is the fifth book in a series of Spanish chivalric romance novels published in 1510, writer Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo named an imaginary realm California. Las Sergasmentions a fictional island named California inhabited only by black women and ruled b...
Capital: Denver Coloradois named from the Rio Colorado (Colorado River), which in Spanish means "ruddy" or "reddish." The has been inhabited by Native Americans for more than 13,000 years.
Capital: Hartford Connecticut is named after the Connecticut River, which stems from Eastern Algonquian, possibly Mohican, quinnitukqut, meaning "at the long tidal river." Originally the Mohicans lived along the banks of the Hudson River, in modern-day New York state. The Connecticut region was inhabited by multiple Indian tribes before European se...
Capital: Dover Delaware is named after the Delaware Bay that is also named after Baron De la Warr (Thomas West, 1577 – 1618), the first English governor of Virginia. His surname ultimately comes from de la werre, meaning "of the war" in Old French. There have been two creations of Baron De La Warr, and West came from the second. He was the son of T...
Jun 26, 2023 · The United States of America is composed of 50 states, each with its own unique history, culture, and geography. The states are located across different regions, from the East Coast to the West Coast, and from the Midwest to the South.
People also ask
What are the names of the 50 states in the US?
What is the full list of US states?
What is the longest state name in the US?
What is the only letter not to appear in the name of a state?
While some namesakes may be more obvious like that of the state of Washington, the backstory behind state names like Kentucky is steeped in uncertainty. From Alabama to Wyoming, here are 50 eye-opening tales about how each U.S. state earned its name.
Apr 2, 2019 · The history of the United States is one of mixed heritage, manifest destiny and a melting pot patchwork of different identities and languages from around the world. It’s no surprise, then, that the state names of the 50 American states don’t all come from a single source; the contexts of their geography and time shaped what the earliest settlers called the territories they lived in.
All 50 States Listed in Alphabetical Order. Below is a list of all 50 state names listed alphabetically in a column: Copy List. Alabama. Alaska. Arizona. Arkansas. California. Colorado. Connecticut. Delaware. Florida. Georgia. Hawaii. Idaho. Illinois. Indiana. Iowa. Kansas. Kentucky. Louisiana. Maine. Maryland. Massachusetts. Michigan. Minnesota.
Jun 21, 2017 · Max Whittaker/Reuters. The INSIDER Summary: Advertisement. Every one of the 50 US state names has a meaning behind it. The map below shows the literal translation for each state name. For...
