The Literal Translation of U.S. Cities and States

From the River of Ambush to Breast-like Hill, America is built on its stories — and many of these stories are embedded in the place names of our cities and states.

To know the meaning of the place names around us is to learn how the land, the history and the culture of a locality have developed over the centuries. And if it boosts your vocabulary, aids you in solving Words with Friends, Wordle and Connections, or provides the occasional crossword answer, too, we at WordTips are even more in favor.

The names above are the literal translations of Missoula (River of Ambush) in Montana and Manchester (Breast-like Hill) in New Hampshire. The first recalls a history of inter-tribal fighting, while Breast-like Hill can trace its name to the building of a Roman fort on a voluptuous mound in Manchester, UK, around 79 CE. Centuries later, one Samuel Blodget — who had seen the barge canals in the British Manchester — decided his New Hampshire town would benefit from similar waterways; he built them and suggested the area adopt the name of the city that inspired him.

But how about the rest of the U.S.? We put on our etymology hats and set off into dictionary country to find out.

Researchers at WordTips trawled a variety of sources, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Online Etymology Dictionary, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the American Library Association and regional news reports to uncover the literal meaning behind the name of each U.S. state, each U.S. state's capital city and 178 of America’s biggest cities.

Etymologies can be difficult to pin down. That is why we looked for a minimum of two sources for each ‘literal translation’ you will find in our maps. However, many of these places have multiple possible etymology stories behind them, so we have added a table with exceptions to the bottom of this page that we will continue to update.

Read on to find out more about the origin of the names of places across America.

The Literal Translation of Every U.S. State Name and Each State’s Capital City

Some names cross borders. The state of Kansas and Kansas City, MO, are both named after the Kansas River. The river is, in turn, named after the Kanza tribe, and Kanza translates as “People of the Southwind.”

There’s also a lesser-known Kansas City that is actually in the state of Kansas and which copied its name from the KC in Missouri in the hope of capitalizing on the Missouri town’s fame. “KCK wanted to piggyback on the success of KCMO and essentially confuse visitors into thinking they were the real Kansas City,” according to area history teacher Matt Beat.

While many state names derive from Native history and/or the features of the land, some bear the marks of colonialism. The Carolinas get their name from King Charles II and his father, Charles I. It was Charles II who first granted a charter for eight English noblemen to establish the territory, and he named it after his father. The capitals of both Carolinas are named after European explorers Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Columbus.

The Literal Translation of Major City Names in the Northwestern U.S.

In addition to the plain English ‘Anchorage’ (Place Suitable for Anchoring) and ‘Portland’ (Land Surrounding a Harbor), the Northwest is home to some less familiar etymologies, both Native and settler-derived.

Honolulu comes from the Hawaiian language hono (port) and lulu (calm). However, the name derives via the British Captain William Brown, who named the port Fair Haven when he was the first foreigner to arrive in 1794. Presumptuous! Previously, Hawaiians had known the area as Ke ʻAwa O Kou or “the harbor of Kou.”

Boise, Idaho, comes from the French word for “wooded area.” However, this name, too, arrives via the English: fur traders passing through the area referred to it as the Wooded River, which French trappers later translated when mentioning the location. It could have gone either way — French or English — but it seems that the French United States Army officer B.L.E. Bonneville had the final say when surveying the area in the 1830s.

The Literal Translation of Major City Names in the Southwestern U.S.

Many major cities in the Southwestern U.S. are named for persons of interest. Reno is named in honor of Jesse Lee Reno of Virginia, a Union general who was shot dead during the battle of Fox's Gap. Or, as the official announcement had it:

“The name of the new town on the C.P.R.R. at the junction of the contemplated branch road to Virginia City in Nevada, is Reno, in honor of General Reno, who fell gloriously fighting in defense of the flag against the assault of traitors in rebellion.”

Orem, Utah, is named after Walter Orem, the mining and railroad man who built the state’s first electric railroad. However, it was named less in thanks to the wealthy man than as an attempt at flattery. In 1919, the town was at a make-or-break moment of expansion and required investment as it sought incorporation and a networked water system. Prior to that, the area had been known as Provo Bench.

The Literal Translation of Major City Names in the Midwestern U.S.

“We arrived at the said place called Chicagou which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region,” wrote Henri Joutel in September 1687.

Others have it that it was actually an Algonquian word, sheka:ko:heki, meaning “place of the wild onion,” that gave Chicago its name; still others argue that it is the Ojibwa word for skunk. Whatever way you sniff it, it seems that odor was the area’s chief distinguishing feature before the town of Chicago was founded in 1833.

Topeka is “A Good Place to Dig Potatoes” when translated from the Kansa (Siouan) language. The founders chose the name in 1855 with originality in mind. Banker and city founder Fry W. Giles wrote that Topeka was “a name not found in the list of post offices of the United States, nor in any lexicon of the English language. It was novel, of Indian origin and euphonious of sound.”

The Literal Translation of Major City Names in the Southeastern U.S.

You don’t need to be fluent in French to figure out that Baton Rouge means “red stick.” But why name Louisiana “red stick”? Well, in 1699, the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville happened upon the area and saw a reddened pole to which Natives had attached sacrificial fish and bear heads. That’s how d'Iberville referred to the area, and he gave it the name Baton Rouge when the French colonized it.

Perhaps the most exotic place name in our study is Memphis. The city was named after the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, meaning “enduring and beautiful” or “Place of Good Abode,” depending on who you ask. Its founders, John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson, were not so concerned with etymology; they named the American city after the Egyptian one because both sit beside enormous rivers.

The Literal Translation of Major City Names in the Northeastern U.S.

Some of the Northeast’s city name translations are famous or intuitive: think Philadelphia (from the Greek for “brotherly love”) or Portland (the land around a port). Others take a bit more work.

Would you know which city name means Botolph's Stone if it wasn’t marked on our map? Boston was named after a town in Lincolnshire, England, which was, in turn, named after Botolph, the patron saint of travelers. The second part of the name could be from “stone” or perhaps from “tun,” the Old English word for village.

The Dutch colonized what would become New York City and parts of Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey and called it New Netherland, with today’s Manhattan being New Amsterdam. But in 1664, James II of England, the Duke of York, captured the island, and that’s where the city got its eventual name.

If that makes it sound eccentric and European, bear in mind that the city was briefly called New Orange when the Dutch temporarily won it back in 1673.

Etymology on Mars

The age of naming new cities and states may be more or less over, but as history shows, the renaming of cities is just as important in tracing our past, be it through land disputes or reappraisal of the politics behind the choice.

So, you might think the next job is to start naming colonies on Mars — but Martian regions are already being named and renamed. And yes, just as many American place names are named after the hometowns of their European colonizers, famous people and places with similar geography, so they are on Mars. 

Some also have nicknames given by NASA’s observers, such as “Yogi Rock,” “Casper” and “Scooby-Doo.” But we’ll leave it to the Martians to trace the etymology on those. 

Methodology & Sources

We collated research from a variety of sources, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Online Etymology Dictionary, the Encyclopedia Britannica, the American Library Association, historical records and regional news reports to uncover the literal meaning behind the name of each U.S. state, each U.S. state's capital city and 178 of the most populated cities distributed throughout each U.S. state.

We considered the etymology where a state or city was named after a person or event; where the word/s in a location's name has evolved in meaning from an earlier version of English or another language; or according to the meaning behind another location that a U.S. state or city has been named after.

The research for this project was completed in January 2024.