List of U.S. county name etymologies (A–D)
This is a list of U.S. county name etymologies, covering the letters A to D.
A
County name | State | Name origin |
---|---|---|
Abbeville County | South Carolina | The French town of Abbeville |
Acadia Parish | Louisiana | The French colonial region of Acadia |
Accomack County | Virginia | From accawmacke, a Native American word meaning across the water place, describing the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Accawmack people who lived there. |
Ada County | Idaho | Ada Riggs, the first pioneer child born in the area and the daughter of H.C. Riggs, a cofounder of Boise |
Adair County | Iowa | John Adair, a general in the War of 1812 and the eighth governor of Kentucky |
Adair County | Kentucky | |
Adair County | Missouri | |
Adair County | Oklahoma | The Adair family of the Cherokee tribe |
Adams County | Colorado | governor of Colorado
|
Adams County | Idaho | John Adams, the second president of the United States |
Adams County | Iowa | |
Adams County | Mississippi | |
Adams County | Nebraska | |
Adams County | Ohio | |
Adams County | Pennsylvania | |
Adams County | Washington | |
Adams County | Illinois | John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States |
Adams County | Indiana | |
Adams County | Wisconsin | |
Adams County | North Dakota | Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway be built through North Dakota
|
Addison County | Vermont | Joseph Addison, the English writer and politician |
Aiken County | South Carolina | South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company
|
Aitkin County | Minnesota | William Alexander Aitken, a fur trader in the region |
Alachua County | Florida | Muskogee or Timucua languages
|
Alamance County | North Carolina | The Big Alamance Creek , which was named for a local Native American word for the blue mud found in the creek
|
Alameda County | California | cottonwood grove
|
Alamosa County | Colorado | cottonwood
|
Albany County | New York | King James II, who was Duke of Albany before his accession |
Albany County | Wyoming | The city of Albany, New York |
Albemarle County | Virginia | Willem Anne van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle, a British nobleman
|
Alcona County | Michigan | A word invented by , and na for excellent |
Alcorn County | Mississippi | governor of Mississippi
|
Aleutians East Borough | Alaska | Eastern part of the Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") |
Aleutians West Census Area | Alaska | Western part of the Aleutian Islands (possibly from Chukchi aliat, "island") |
Alexander County | Illinois | William M. Alexander , a pioneer in the county
|
Alexander County | North Carolina | The Alexander family, of whom several members were leaders in colonial North Carolina |
Alexandria | Virginia | John Alexander, the original owner of the land that the town is located on, and his family |
Alfalfa County | Oklahoma | governor of Oklahoma
|
Alger County | Michigan | governor of Michigan
|
Allamakee County | Iowa | Either Allan Makee, a trapper and trader, or an uncertain Native American origin |
Allegan County | Michigan | Probably a word invented by or fair river. |
Allegany County | Maryland | From oolikhanna, a Lenape word meaning "beautiful stream". The word is the origin of the name of the Allegheny River .
|
Allegany County | New York | |
Alleghany County | North Carolina | |
Alleghany County | Virginia | The Allegheny Mountains |
Allegheny County | Pennsylvania | From oolikhanna, a Lenape Native American word meaning beautiful stream. The word is the origin of the name of the Allegheny River. |
Allen County | Indiana | John Allen, a lawyer, legislator, and lieutenant colonel killed in the Battle of River Raisin in the War of 1812 |
Allen County | Kentucky | |
Allen County | Ohio | |
Allen County | Kansas | William Allen, a United States senator from Ohio |
Allen Parish | Louisiana | governor of Louisiana
|
Allendale County | South Carolina | The Allens family of the area, of which one member, Paul H. Allens, was the county seat's first postmaster |
Alpena County | Michigan | A word invented by |
Alpine County | California | Its location high in the Sierra Nevada mountains
|
Amador County | California | Jose Maria Amador, a soldier, rancher and miner, who in 1848 established a successful gold mining camp near the present town of Amador City, California. In Spanish , the word amador means one who loves.
|
Amelia County | Virginia | Princess Amelia of Great Britain, a daughter of George II |
Amherst County | Virginia | Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, a colonial governor of Virginia and general in the French and Indian War
|
Amite County | Mississippi | The Amite River, which is located in the county |
Anchorage | Alaska | Named for the fact that Cook Inlet, which Anchorage is located on, once was a popular anchorage for ships |
Anderson County | Kansas | Joseph C. Anderson, a Kansas territorial legislator |
Anderson County | Kentucky | Richard Clough Anderson, Jr., a Kentucky legislator and congressman who was the first ambassador from the United States to Colombia
|
Anderson County | South Carolina | Robert Anderson, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War
|
Anderson County | Tennessee | Joseph Anderson, a U.S. senator from Tennessee |
Anderson County | Texas | Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas |
Andrew County | Missouri | St. Louis and Savannah, Missouri
|
Andrew County | Texas | Richard Andrews, the first Texan soldier to die in the Texas Revolution |
Androscoggin County | Maine | The Androscoggin Native American tribe
|
Angelina County | Texas | A Hainai Native American woman who assisted early Spanish missionaries and was named Angelina by them |
Anne Arundel County | Maryland | Anne Arundell, the wife of Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore and daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour |
Anoka County | Minnesota | A Dakota word meaning on both sides |
Anson County | North Carolina | pirates
|
Antelope County | Nebraska | The pronghorn antelope in the area |
Antrim County | Michigan | County Antrim in Ireland |
Apache County | Arizona | The Apache Native American tribe |
Appanoose County | Iowa | Fox Native American tribes who headed the peace party during the Black Hawk War
|
Appling County | Georgia | Daniel Appling, a soldier in the War of 1812 |
Appomattox County | Virginia | The Appamatucks Native American tribe
|
Aransas County | Texas | The Rio Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu, a Spanish outpost in early Texas |
Arapahoe County | Colorado | The Arapaho Native American tribe |
Archer County | Texas | Branch Tanner Archer, a commissioner for the Republic of Texas
|
Archuleta County | Colorado | Antonio D. Archuleta, a Colorado state senator and his father, José Manuel Archuleta |
Arenac County | Michigan | A word invented by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft meaning sandy earth with arena from Latin for sandy and ac from a Native American language for earth |
Arkansas County | Arkansas | The Arkansa Native American tribe |
Arlington County | Virginia | The Arlington estate associated with the Washington, Custis, and Lee families. The estate, in turn, was named for the original Arlington estate in Northampton County, Virginia, established sometime before 1680, which was, in turn again, named for Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. |
Armstrong County | Pennsylvania | John Armstrong, a general in the American Revolutionary War and delegate to the Continental Congress from Pennsylvania
|
Armstrong County | Texas | Any one of several Texas pioneer families |
Aroostook County | Maine | A Miꞌkmaq word meaning beautiful river
|
Arthur County | Nebraska | Chester A. Arthur, the twenty-first president of the United States |
Ascension Parish | Louisiana | A colonial ecclesiastical district in the area |
Ashe County | North Carolina | Samuel Ashe, the ninth governor of North Carolina
|
Ashland County | Ohio | Ashland, the farm and mansion of Henry Clay at Lexington, Kentucky
|
Ashland County | Wisconsin | |
Ashley County | Arkansas | Chester Ashley, a U.S. Senator from Arkansas |
Ashtabula County | Ohio | Either the Ashtabula River, or an Algonquian Native American word meaning variously fish, fish river, river of many fish, there are always enough moving, or half-way place |
Asotin County | Washington | The Nez Percé Native American name for Eel Creek
|
Assumption Parish | Louisiana | A colonial ecclesiastical district in the area |
Atascosa County | Texas | The Spanish word for boggy |
Atchison County | Kansas | David Rice Atchison, a U.S. senator from Missouri |
Atchison County | Missouri | |
Athens County | Ohio | Athens, Greece, as the county was the location of the state university |
Atkinson County | Georgia | William Yates Atkinson, the fifty-eighth governor of Georgia
|
Atlantic County | New Jersey | The Atlantic Ocean, on the shores of which the county is located |
Atoka County | Oklahoma | Its county seat of Atoka, named in turn for Atoka, a Choctaw leader |
Attala County | Mississippi | Attala, a fictional Native American heroine |
Audrain County | Missouri | James H. Audrain , a Missouri state legislator
|
Audubon County | Iowa | John James Audubon, the famous naturalist and painter |
Auglaize County | Ohio | The Auglaize River, from French rivière à la Grande Glaize ("river of Great Clay") |
Augusta County | Virginia | King George III
|
Aurora County | South Dakota | Ancient Roman goddess of the dawn .
|
Austin County | Texas | Stephen Fuller Austin, the person who facilitated the Anglo American colonization of Texas and is known as the Father of Texas |
Autauga County | Alabama | The Atauga village of Atagi ("pure water"), which was located at the confluence of Autauga Creek and the Alabama River |
Avery County | North Carolina | Waightstill Avery, a Revolutionary War colonel and attorney general of the state of North Carolina |
Avoyelles Parish | Louisiana | The Avoyel Native American tribe |
B
County name | State | Name origin |
---|---|---|
Baca County | Colorado | The prominent Baca family of Trinidad, Colorado, a member of which had settled early in the area |
Bacon County | Georgia | Augustus Octavius Bacon , a U.S. senator from Georgia
|
Bailey County | Texas | Alamo
|
Baker County | Florida | James McNair Baker, a Confederate senator |
Baker County | Georgia | Colonel John Baker, a hero of the American Revolutionary War |
Baker County | Oregon | Edward Dickinson Baker, a U.S. Representative from Illinois, senator from Oregon, and close friend of Abraham Lincoln |
Baldwin County | Alabama | United States Constitution and U.S. congressman from Georgia
|
Baldwin County | Georgia | |
Ballard County | Kentucky | Bland W. Ballard, a long time frontier spy and scout for George Rogers Clark and as a brevet major of the Kentucky Militia led the initial attack at the battle of River Raisin in the War of 1812. He suffered from a wound from the battle until his death in 1854. |
City of Baltimore | Maryland | Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, the founder of the Colony of Maryland. |
Baltimore County | Maryland | The City of Baltimore, which was detached from Baltimore County in 1851 |
Bamberg County | South Carolina | Either Francis Marion Bamberg, a soldier in the American Civil War; or William Seaborn Bamberg, a local resident along with other members of his family |
Bandera County | Texas | Bandera Pass, named in turn for the Spanish word for flag |
Banks County | Georgia | Richard Banks, a prominent physician |
Banner County | Nebraska | The hope of the early settlers to make the county the "banner county" of the state |
Bannock County | Idaho | The Bannock Native American tribe
|
Baraga County | Michigan | Frederic Baraga, a missionary who worked with local Native Americans |
Barber County | Kansas | Bloody Kansas
|
Barbour County | Alabama | governor of Virginia
|
Barbour County | West Virginia | Philip P. Barbour, a Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia |
Barnes County | North Dakota | Alanson Hamilton Barnes , a justice of the Dakota territorial supreme court
|
Barnstable County | Massachusetts | For its county seat of Barnstable, Massachusetts, which was named for the town of Barnstaple in Devon, England |
Barnwell County | South Carolina | A Barnwell family |
Barren County | Kentucky | Large treeless expanses found by early explorers caused by Native Americans burning tracts of forest |
Barron County | Wisconsin | Henry D. Barron, a Wisconsin state legislator and judge |
Barrow County | Georgia | David Crenshaw Barrow, an official of the University of Georgia
|
Barry County | Michigan | William Taylor Barry, a United States Postmaster General |
Barry County | Missouri | |
Bartholomew County | Indiana | Joseph Bartholomew, a hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe and U.S. senator. He was an Indiana state senator at the time of Bartholomew County's formation. |
Barton County | Kansas | Red Cross
|
Barton County | Missouri | David Barton, a U.S. senator from Missouri |
Bartow County | Georgia | Francis S. Bartow, a Civil War general killed at the First Battle of Bull Run |
Bastrop County | Texas | Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, an early Dutch settler in Texas |
Bates County | Missouri | governor of Missouri
|
Bath County | Kentucky | Springs in the area thought to have medicinal value
|
Bath County | Virginia | Either for the many warm springs within its borders or the city of Bath in England
|
Baxter County | Arkansas | governor of Arkansas
|
Bay County | Florida | St. Andrews Bay, which the county is located on |
Bay County | Michigan | Saginaw Bay, which the county is located on |
Bayfield County | Wisconsin | Henry Bayfield, a British naval officer who performed the first survey of the Great Lakes region
|
Baylor County | Texas | Henry Weidner Baylor, a surgeon in the Texas Rangers during the Mexican–American War |
Beadle County | South Dakota | William Henry Harrison Beadle, a leading figure and surveyor-general of the Dakota Territory |
Bear Lake County | Idaho | Bear Lake, which lies partly within the county and partly within Utah
|
Beaufort County | North Carolina | Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, a Lord Proprietor of Carolina |
Beaufort County | South Carolina | |
Beauregard Parish | Louisiana | Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard, the Civil War Confederate general
|
Beaver County | Oklahoma | Its county seat of Beaver, Oklahoma and the Beaver River, which flows through the county |
Beaver County | Pennsylvania | The Beaver River of Pennsylvania |
Beaver County | Utah | The area's many beavers
|
Beaverhead County | Montana | A rock in the beaver 's head
|
Becker County | Minnesota | George Loomis Becker, a Minnesota state legislator and mayor of St. Paul |
Beckham County | Oklahoma | governor of Kentucky
|
City of Bedford | Virginia | John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, a Secretary of State for the Southern Department of Great Britain |
Bedford County | Virginia | |
Bedford County | Pennsylvania | Fort Bedford, which was in turn named for the aforementioned 4th Duke of Bedford |
Bedford County | Tennessee | Thomas Bedford, a soldier in the Revolutionary War |
Bee County | Texas | Barnard Elliott Bee, Sr., a secretary of state of the Republic of Texas
|
Belknap County | New Hampshire | Jeremy Belknap, an early New Hampshire historian |
Bell County | Kentucky | Joshua Fry Bell, a lawyer and Kentucky state legislator |
Bell County | Texas | governor of Texas
|
Belmont County | Ohio | The French word for beautiful mountain or fine mountain, describing the scenery in the area |
Beltrami County | Minnesota | Giacomo Costantino Beltrami, an Italian who explored the northern reaches of the Mississippi River |
Ben Hill County | Georgia | Benjamin Harvey Hill, a Georgia state, Confederate, and U.S. congressman |
Benewah County | Idaho | Coeur d'Alene leader
|
Bennett County | South Dakota | Either Granville G. Bennett, a prominent South Dakota politician; or John E. Bennett, a judge of the South Dakota Supreme Court |
Bennington County | Vermont | The city of Bennington, Vermont, named in turn for Benning Wentworth, governor of the New Hampshire Grants in modern-day Vermont |
Benson County | North Dakota | Bertil W. Benson, a North Dakota state senator |
Bent County | Colorado | Bent's Fort which was located on the north bank of the Arkansas River, near present-day La Junta , and the Bent brothers who founded the fort
|
Benton County | Arkansas | Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator from Missouri who pushed for westward expansion of the United States
|
Benton County | Indiana | |
Benton County | Iowa | |
Benton County | Minnesota | |
Benton County | Missouri | |
Benton County | Oregon | |
Benton County | Washington | |
Benton County | Mississippi | Confederate Brigadier General Samuel Benton from Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator from Missouri who pushed for westward expansion of the United States , but the county was actually named for the Confederate general.
|
Benton County | Tennessee | Either Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator from Missouri who pushed for westward expansion of the United States .
|
Benzie County | Michigan | An Anglicization of the French name, Riviere Aux-Bec-Scies ("river of sawbill bucks"), for the Betsie River |
Bergen County | New Jersey | From the original New Netherland settlement of Bergen, which means hills |
Berkeley County | South Carolina | Lords Proprietor of Carolina
|
Berkeley County | West Virginia | Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, a colonial governor of Virginia |
Berks County | Pennsylvania | The English county of Berkshire |
Berkshire County | Massachusetts | |
Bernalillo County | New Mexico | Either the nearby settlement of Bernalillo, New Mexico or the Gonzales-Bernal family |
Berrien County | Georgia | John MacPherson Berrien, the tenth United States Attorney General |
Berrien County | Michigan | |
Bertie County | North Carolina | Either Lords Proprietor of Carolina
|
Bethel Census Area | Alaska | The town of Bethel, Alaska which is located in the census area, named in turn for the Biblical Bethel ("House of God") |
Bexar County | Texas | Presidio San Antonio de Béxar, the capital of Mexican Texas; Béjar is present-day San Antonio |
Bibb County | Alabama | governor of Alabama who was a native of Georgia
|
Bibb County | Georgia | |
Bienville Parish | Louisiana | Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, a French colonial governor of Louisiana
|
Big Horn County | Montana | The bighorn sheep in the area
|
Big Horn County | Wyoming | |
Big Stone County | Minnesota | Big Stone Lake |
Billings County | North Dakota | Northern Pacific Railroad when the county was formed
|
Bingham County | Idaho | Henry Harrison Bingham, a U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania
|
Black Hawk County | Iowa | Fox Native American chief who led a revolt against resettlement of his tribe in the Black Hawk War
|
Blackford County | Indiana | Isaac Newton Blackford, a speaker of the first Indiana General Assembly and judge on the Indiana Supreme Court
|
Bladen County | North Carolina | Martin Bladen, a British politician and Commissioner of Trade and Plantations |
Blaine County | Idaho | secretary of state , U.S. senator, and presidential candidate
|
Blaine County | Montana | |
Blaine County | Nebraska | |
Blaine County | Oklahoma | |
Blair County | Pennsylvania | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from Pennsylvania
|
Blanco County | Texas | The Blanco River, from the Spanish word for "white" |
Bland County | Virginia | Richard Bland, a colonial delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia |
Bleckley County | Georgia | Logan Edwin Bleckley, a soldier and judge on the South Carolina Supreme Court |
Bledsoe County | Tennessee | Anthony Bledsoe, a soldier in the Revolutionary War and an early settler in the area |
Blount County | Alabama | William Blount, the only governor of the Southwest Territory (modern-day Tennessee) |
Blount County | Tennessee | |
Blue Earth County | Minnesota | The Blue Earth River, named in turn for blue-green earth found near its mouth and used by Dakota Native Americans as a pigment |
Boise County | Idaho | The Boise River, from the French boisé, "wooded" |
Bolivar County | Mississippi | Simón Bolívar, the great South American revolutionary and general |
Bollinger County | Missouri | George Frederick Bollinger, a pioneer and Missouri state legislator |
Bon Homme County | South Dakota | An unknown man whose grave was found on an island in the Missouri River located in the county. A wooden cross marked the grave simply "Bon Homme," the French words for "good man." |
Bond County | Illinois | governor of Illinois
|
Bonner County | Idaho | Edwin L. Bonner, a pioneer ferry operator in the area |
Bonneville County | Idaho | Established in 1911 and named after American West.[1]
|
Boone County | Arkansas | Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman |
Boone County | Illinois | |
Boone County | Indiana | |
Boone County | Kentucky | |
Boone County | Missouri | |
Boone County | Nebraska | |
Boone County | West Virginia | |
Boone County | Iowa | Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman, and his son, Nathan Boone, a colonel in the U. S. Dragoons |
Borden County | Texas | Gail Borden, Jr., a businessman, publisher, and surveyor in Texas who invented condensed milk
|
Bosque County | Texas | The Bosque River |
Bossier Parish | Louisiana | Presumably for Pierre Bossier, a U.S. representative from Louisiana |
Botetourt County | Virginia | Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, a colonial governor of Virginia |
Bottineau County | North Dakota | Métis guide and frontiersman in the area
|
Boulder County | Colorado | The abundance of boulders in the area |
Boundary County | Idaho | The fact that it borders Washington on the west, Montana on the east, and Canada (British Columbia) on the north |
Bourbon County | Kansas | Bourbon County, Kentucky |
Bourbon County | Kentucky | The French House of Bourbon |
Bowie County | Texas | James Bowie, the legendary knife fighter who died at the Battle of the Alamo |
Bowman County | North Dakota | Edward M. Bowman, a Dakota Territory territorial legislator |
Box Butte County | Nebraska | A large box-shaped butte located in the county |
Box Elder County | Utah | The area's many box elder trees
|
Boyd County | Kentucky | Linn Boyd, a U. S. congressman and Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives from Kentucky |
Boyd County | Nebraska | governor of Nebraska
|
Boyle County | Kentucky | John Boyle, a U. S. congressman and district judge from Kentucky |
Bracken County | Kentucky | Bracken Creek and Little Bracken Creek, two streams located in the county |
Bradford County | Florida | Richard Bradford, a soldier in the Civil War who was killed in the Battle of Santa Rosa Island |
Bradford County | Pennsylvania | William Bradford, the second United States Attorney General
|
Bradley County | Arkansas | Hugh Bradley, a soldier in the War of 1812 |
Bradley County | Tennessee | Edward Bradley, a Tennessee militia officer in the War of 1812 |
Branch County | Michigan | John Branch, the eighth United States Secretary of the Navy |
Brantley County | Georgia | Benjamin D. Brantley, a member of a prominent local family; or William Goodman Brantley, a Georgia state senator |
Braxton County | West Virginia | Carter Braxton, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence from Virginia |
Brazoria County | Texas | The Brazos River |
Brazos County | Texas | |
Breathitt County | Kentucky | John Breathitt, the eleventh governor of Kentucky |
Breckinridge County | Kentucky | John Breckinridge, the fifth United States Attorney General and a U. S. senator from Kentucky
|
Bremer County | Iowa | Fredricka Bremer, a Swedish novelist |
Brevard County | Florida | Theodore Washington Brevard, a Florida State Controller in the 1850s; it was originally named St. Lucia County[2]
|
Brewster County | Texas | Henry Percy Brewster, a secretary of war for the Republic of Texas and soldier in the American Civil War |
Briscoe County | Texas | Andrew Briscoe, a soldier during the Texas Revolution |
City of Bristol | Virginia | The city of Bristol, England |
Bristol County | Massachusetts | |
Bristol County | Rhode Island | |
Bristol Bay Borough | Alaska | Bristol Bay, which is located in the borough and was named for Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol by Captain James Cook |
Broadwater County | Montana | Charles A. Broadwater, a pioneer in the area and soldier in the United States Army
|
Bronx County | New York | Jonas Bronck, an early settler in the region |
Brooke County | West Virginia | governor of Virginia
|
Brookings County | South Dakota | Wilmot W. Brookings, a pioneer who was one of the first settlers in the Dakota Territory
|
Brooks County | Georgia | Preston Smith Brooks, a U. S. congressman from South Carolina who famously attacked Charles Sumner, a fellow senator, with a cane |
Brooks County | Texas | John Abijah Brooks, a Texas Ranger and Texas state legislator |
Broome County | New York | John Broome, a lieutenant governor of New York |
City and County of Broomfield | Colorado | The quantity of broom corn grown in the area. The city was incorporated in 1961, and obtained county status in 2001.
|
Broward County | Florida | governor of Florida
|
Brown County | Illinois | Jacob Jennings Brown, a general in the War of 1812 |
Brown County | Indiana | |
Brown County | Ohio | |
Brown County | Wisconsin | |
Brown County | Kansas | governor of Mississippi and a U.S. senator from Mississippi
|
Brown County | Minnesota | Joseph Renshaw Brown , a prominent pioneer, newspaperman, and Minnesota territorial legislator
|
Brown County | Nebraska | Any two of five members of the Nebraska state legislature named Brown at the time of the county's formation |
Brown County | South Dakota | Alfred Brown, a Dakota territorial legislator |
Brown County | Texas | Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco prior to the Texas Revolution |
Brule County | South Dakota | Probably the Brulé, a branch of the Sioux Native American tribe |
Brunswick County | North Carolina | King George I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg |
Brunswick County | Virginia | The region of Brunswick in present-day Germany |
Bryan County | Georgia | Jonathan Bryan, a Georgia colonial legislator in the 17th century |
Bryan County | Oklahoma | William Jennings Bryan, the lawyer, forty-first United States Secretary of State, and thrice-time presidential candidate |
Buchanan County | Iowa | James Buchanan, the fifteenth president of the United States |
Buchanan County | Missouri | |
Buchanan County | Virginia | |
Buckingham County | Virginia | Either the English county of Buckinghamshire; or an unknown Duke of Buckingham (extinct at the time of the county's formation) |
Bucks County | Pennsylvania | The English county of Buckinghamshire |
City of Buena Vista | Virginia | The Buena Vista Company, which raised the money for the city's founding |
Buena Vista County | Iowa | The Battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican–American War |
Buffalo County | Nebraska | The American Bison which once roamed the present county
|
Buffalo County | South Dakota | Probably the American Bison
|
Buffalo County | Wisconsin | The Buffalo River |
Bullitt County | Kentucky | Alexander Scott Bullitt, a co-author of the Kentucky state constitution and the first lieutenant governor of Kentucky |
Bulloch County | Georgia | Archibald Bulloch, the second governor of Georgia |
Bullock County | Alabama | Edward C. Bullock, a soldier in the Confederate States Army |
Buncombe County | North Carolina | Edward Buncombe, a soldier in the Revolutionary War |
Bureau County | Illinois | Pierre de Bureo, a French trader with Native American in the area |
Burke County | Georgia | Stamp Act in the 1760s and reconciliation with the American colonies
|
Burke County | North Carolina | Thomas Burke, the third governor of North Carolina
|
Burke County | North Dakota | governor of North Dakota
|
Burleigh County | North Dakota | Walter Atwood Burleigh, a U.S. representative from the Dakota Territory |
Burleson County | Texas | Edward Burleson, a general and statesman of the Texas Revolution |
Burlington County | New Jersey | A corruption of the name of Bridlington, England |
Burnet County | Texas | president of the Republic of Texas
|
Burnett County | Wisconsin | Thomas P. Burnett, a Wisconsin state legislator |
Burt County | Nebraska | Francis Burt, the first governor of the Nebraska Territory |
Butler County | Alabama | William Butler, a soldier who fought in the Creek War |
Butler County | Iowa | William Orlando Butler, a Kentucky statesman, U.S. representative, vice presidential candidate, and general in the Mexican–American War
|
Butler County | Missouri | |
Butler County | Kansas | Andrew Pickens Butler, a U.S. senator from South Carolina
|
Butler County | Kentucky | Battle of the Wabash
|
Butler County | Ohio | |
Butler County | Pennsylvania | |
Butler County | Nebraska | Either William Orlando Butler, a Kentucky statesman, U.S. representative, vice presidential candidate, and general in the Mexican–American War who also declined an appointment to become the first governor of the Nebraska Territory
|
Butte County | California | Either the Marysville Buttes or Sutter Buttes
|
Butte County | Idaho | The buttes scattered throughout the county |
Butte County | South Dakota | One or more unknown buttes. |
Butts County | Georgia | Sam Butts, a soldier killed in the War of 1812
|
C
D
County name | State | Name origin |
---|---|---|
Dade County | Florida | Former name of Miami-Dade County, Florida, from Major Francis L. Dade, who was killed in 1835 during the Second Seminole War |
Dade County | Georgia | Major Francis L. Dade, who was killed in 1835 during the Second Seminole War |
Dade County | Missouri | |
Daggett County | Utah | Ellsworth Daggett (1810–1880), the first Utah Surveyor General |
Dakota County | Minnesota | Dakota language word meaning "Allies", after the Dakota branch of the Sioux Native American tribe |
Dakota County | Nebraska | |
Dale County | Alabama | Samuel Dale (1772–1841), brigadier general and state legislator |
Dallam County | Texas | James Wilmer Dallam, a lawyer and newspaper publisher |
Dallas County | Alabama | U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
|
Dallas County | Arkansas | vice president of the United States
|
Dallas County | Iowa | |
Dallas County | Missouri | |
Dallas County | Texas | |
Dane County | Wisconsin | Nathan Dane (1752–1835), delegate to the First Continental Congress, 1785–1788 |
Daniels County | Montana | Mansfield A. Daniels, an early rancher and storekeeper |
City of Danville | Virginia | The Dan River, which flows through the city |
Dare County | North Carolina | Virginia Dare (b. 1587), the first child born of English parents in America |
Darke County | Ohio | General William Darke (1736–1801), Revolutionary War officer |
Darlington County | South Carolina | The town of Darlington in England |
Dauphin County | Pennsylvania | Louis XVI
|
Davidson County | North Carolina | William Lee Davidson (1746–1781), a Revolutionary War brigadier general who died at the Battle of Cowan's Ford |
Davidson County | Tennessee | |
Davie County | North Carolina | Revolutionary War cavalry leader and North Carolina statesman William Richardson Davie |
Daviess County | Indiana | Military man Joseph Hamilton Daveiss (1774–1811), killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe |
Daviess County | Kentucky | |
Daviess County | Missouri | |
Davis County | Iowa | Garrett Davis (1801–1872), congressman |
Davis County | Utah | Daniel C. Davis (1804–1850), Mormon Battalion captain |
Davison County | South Dakota | Henry C. Davison, early resident of county |
Dawes County | Nebraska | James W. Dawes, the sixth governor of Nebraska |
Dawson County | Georgia | Jurist and politician William Crosby Dawson
|
Dawson County | Montana | trapping official and major in the United States Army
|
Dawson County | Nebraska | Jacob Dawson, the first postmaster in the settlement of Lancaster (present-day Lincoln, the state capital) |
Dawson County | Texas | Dawson Massacre
|
Day County | South Dakota | Merritt H. Day, territorial legislator |
De Baca County | New Mexico | Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca, the second governor of New Mexico |
De Soto Parish |
Louisiana | Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer and conquistador |
Deaf Smith County | Texas | Erastus Deaf Smith (1787–1837), a scout during the Texas Revolution |
Dearborn County | Indiana | U.S. Secretary of War Henry Dearborn
|
Decatur County | Georgia | Commodore Barbary Coast pirates at Tripoli in 1815
|
Decatur County | Indiana | |
Decatur County | Iowa | |
Decatur County | Kansas | |
Decatur County | Tennessee | |
Deer Lodge County | Montana | Deer Lodge Valley, which in turn was either named for the Native American name "Lodge of the salt lick where deer came in droves
|
Defiance County | Ohio | The city of "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the late 18th century
|
DeKalb County | Alabama | Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), a German soldier who fought on the side of the Americans in the Revolutionary War |
DeKalb County | Georgia | |
DeKalb County | Illinois | |
DeKalb County | Indiana | |
DeKalb County | Missouri | |
DeKalb County | Tennessee | |
Del Norte County | California | From the Spanish word for "northern", because Del Norte County is the northwesternmost county in the state |
Delaware County | Indiana | The Lenape (or "Delaware") Native American people |
Delaware County | Ohio | |
Delaware County | Iowa | The state of Delaware, or for Delaware County, New York |
Delaware County | New York | Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), an early colonial leader in Virginia |
Delaware County | Oklahoma | The Delaware District of the old Cherokee Nation |
Delaware County | Pennsylvania | The Delaware River, in turn named for Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr (1577–1618), an early colonial leader in Virginia |
Delta County | Colorado | The town of Delta, Colorado, which itself is named for its location on the broad river delta formed by the Gunnison River and the Uncompahgre River |
Delta County | Michigan | The Greek letter Delta (Δ), referring to the triangular shape of the original county which included segments of Menominee, Dickinson, Iron and Marquette counties |
Delta County | Texas | The Greek letter Delta (Δ), referring to the triangular shape of the county |
Denali Borough | Alaska | Mount McKinley ), the tallest North American mountain, from Dena'ina for "great one"
|
Dent County | Missouri | James Dent, settler |
Denton County | Texas | John B. Denton, a preacher, lawyer, and soldier |
City and County of Denver | Colorado | James W. Denver, a former governor of the Kansas Territory which the place was part of at the time |
Des Moines County | Iowa | The Des Moines River |
Deschutes County | Oregon | The Deschutes River, from the French words meaning "of the falls"
|
Desha County | Arkansas | Benjamin Desha, a soldier in the War of 1812 |
DeSoto County | Florida | Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer and conquistador |
DeSoto County | Mississippi | |
Deuel County | Nebraska | The Deuel family |
Deuel County | South Dakota | Jacob S. Deuel, pioneer legislator |
Dewey County | Oklahoma | Either for Admiral George Dewey (1837–1917) or derived from its original name, County "D", during the land run of 1892 and later changed |
Dewey County | South Dakota | William P. Dewey, territorial surveyor-general |
DeWitt County | Illinois | DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), Governor of New York, responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal |
DeWitt County | Texas | Green DeWitt, an empresario who founded an early colony in Texas |
Dickens County | Texas | J. Dickens, who died at the Battle of the Alamo |
Dickenson County | Virginia | William J. Dickenson, delegate to the Virginia General Assembly |
Dickey County | North Dakota | Dakota territorial legislator George H. Dickey |
Dickinson County | Iowa | Daniel S. Dickinson (1800–1866), United States senator from New York |
Dickinson County | Kansas | |
Dickinson County | Michigan | Donald M. Dickinson (1846–1917), Postmaster General in the Cleveland Administration |
Dickson County | Tennessee | U.S. Representative William Dickson (1770–1816) |
Dillingham Census Area | Alaska | The city of Dillingham, the largest settlement in the area, in turn named after U.S. Senator Paul Dillingham (1843–1923), who had toured Alaska extensively with his Senate subcommittee in 1903 |
Dillon County | South Carolina | James W. Dillon, a wealthy Irish settler who campaigned to bring a railroad to the region. |
Dimmit County | Texas | Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in the Texas Revolution |
Dinwiddie County | Virginia | Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia from 1751 to 1758 |
Divide County | North Dakota | Created by division from Williams County |
Dixie County | Florida | "Dixie", a common nickname for the southern United States |
Dixon County | Nebraska | The Dixon family |
Doddridge County | West Virginia | Philip Doddridge, U.S. congressman from Virginia |
Dodge County | Georgia | William E. Dodge, a New York businessman who owned large tracts of forest land in Georgia |
Dodge County | Minnesota | Henry Dodge (1782–1867), twice governor of Wisconsin |
Dodge County | Wisconsin | |
Dodge County | Nebraska | Augustus C. Dodge, a United States senator from Iowa who was a supporter of the Kansas–Nebraska Act |
Dolores County | Colorado | The Dolores River, itself originally named by Spanish explorers as El Río de Nuestra Señora de Delores ("The River of Our Lady of Sorrows") |
Doña Ana County | New Mexico | The town of Doña Ana, the county's first seat, which in turn was named for Doña Ana Robledo, a 17th-century woman known for her charitable giving |
Doniphan County | Kansas | A. W. Doniphan
|
Donley County | Texas | Stockton P. Donley, a frontier lawyer |
Dooly County | Georgia | Colonel John Dooly, a Revolutionary War hero who helped prosecute Tories in 1779 and was killed by them the following year |
Door County | Wisconsin | A water passage known as Porte des morts, French for "door of the dead" after many Native Americans died in the passage during a conflict
|
Dorchester County | Maryland | The town of Dorchester, Dorset, in England; Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was a friend of the Calvert family |
Dorchester County | South Carolina | The town of Dorchester, Massachusetts |
Dougherty County | Georgia | Judge Charles Dougherty of Athens, Georgia |
Douglas County | Colorado | Stephen A. Douglas (1813–1861), prominent Illinois Democrat and rival of Abraham Lincoln for the presidency |
Douglas County | Georgia | |
Douglas County | Illinois | |
Douglas County | Kansas | |
Douglas County | Minnesota | |
Douglas County | Missouri | |
Douglas County | Nebraska | |
Douglas County | Nevada | |
Douglas County | Oregon | |
Douglas County | South Dakota | |
Douglas County | Washington | |
Douglas County | Wisconsin | |
Drew County | Arkansas | Governor of Arkansas
|
Dubois County | Indiana | Toussaint Dubois, who fought in the War of 1812 |
Dubuque County | Iowa | Julien Dubuque (1762–1810), first permanent white settler in Iowa |
Duchesne County | Utah | Uncertain; perhaps Ute word translated as "dark canyon"
|
Dukes County | Massachusetts | King James II, who was Duke of York before his accession |
Dundy County | Nebraska | Elmer Scipio Dundy, a U.S. Circuit Court judge from Nebraska |
Dunklin County | Missouri | Daniel Dunklin (1790–1844), fifth governor of Missouri |
Dunn County | North Dakota | John P. Dunn, an early civic leader of Bismarck |
Dunn County | Wisconsin | Charles Dunn, state senator and chief justice of the Wisconsin Territory |
DuPage County | Illinois | The DuPage River, which flows through the county and was named for a French trader |
Duplin County | North Carolina | British nobleman Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin (1710–1787) |
Durham County | North Carolina | The city of Durham, which was named in honor of Dr. Bartlett S. Durham, who donated the land on which the railroad station was located |
Dutchess County | New York | Mary of Modena, the Duchess of York, in 1683 |
Duval County | Florida | William Pope Duval (1784–1854), the first governor of the Florida Territory |
Duval County | Texas | Burr H. Duval (1809–1836), a soldier in the Texas Revolution who died in the Goliad Massacre |
Dyer County | Tennessee | Tennessee state legislator Robert Henry Dyer |
See also
- Lists of U.S. county name etymologies for links to the remainder of the list.
References
- ^ Idaho.gov - Bonneville County Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine - accessed 2009-05-31
- ^ "Brevard County Maps". Exploring Florida History. University of Florida. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
- ^ "Catoosa County". Georgia Counties. State of Georgia. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
- ^ "Chowan County Profile". Website. epodunk. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 2010-02-19.
- ISBN 0-9744657-3-9