Boston1954

The word Massachusetts translates to "Large Hill Place". The Berkshires are no longer considered mountains as they have worn down with age. The town I grew up in is Rehoboth. That comes from the Bible, and means to make room. I have always liked knowing what things mean.

quiltinglady-1

Mesquite, Texas named after the Mesquite tree with BIG thorns.

colleen1978

Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin (if you are a visitor, you can't tell that it's really two villages)...Named after the Sac Indians, the Native Americans living and farming here in the 1700s, the area is still known today as the Sauk Prairie. The English explorer Jonathon Carver declared the Sauk Indian village as the “largest and best built Indian town” he had ever seen. With the introduction of European immigrants, the twin villages developed their own identities. The southern village became Sauk City and is the oldest incorporated village in Wisconsin. It was founded by the colorful Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy who, in 1847, built what is today Wollersheim Winery before heading to California where he became the father of the California wineries.

Winding your way north along the Wisconsin River, you’ll find the northern twin village of Prairie du Sac. This village kept its French fur trading name meaning “Prairie of the Sac Indians.” Prairie du Sac is home to many fine examples of turn-of-the-last-century architecture. The majestic homes along the tree-lined Park Avenue and Water Street take visitors back to early days along the river. Eagle Island in downtown Prairie du Sac is a one-of-a-kind location where Eagles roost each winter as they soar along the bluffs and dive head-long into the Wisconsin River.

ube quilting

They used Osage Orange Trees to make bows and arrows. Those trees that drop the softball size, green,
knarley (sp) fruits in the fall. Wonderful trees. They are usually found growing in old hedge rows because they were used as living fences in Colonial times.
peace

FroggyinTexas

I think "cookie" is a derivative of a Dutch word. froggyintexas

Yooper32

Ontonagon, MI, Upper, that is. Said to be something close to "I lost my bowl", Indian.

AngeliaNR

Yes; locals call them hedge apple trees. We have used many of them to make fence posts--never straight, but they last forever.

jitkaau

I think it is lovely how each country has its English interpretation of native words and it is even nicer to know the meaning. We have place names such as Oodnadatta, meaning "mulga blossom",Parramatta, "a place of eels" and Cabramatta, "a place of worms". Of course, there are many more. I especially like the brevity of the Aboriginal languages where one word requires many English words to translate the meaning.

Geri B

Yes, and farmers used those trees to mark their property boundaries.....I call those green fruit of the tree st. George apples, although not edible, we throw a few in the corners of the basement to keep spiders out...seems to work. The wood of that tree is very hard and strong......

Edie

Minnesota is also an Indian word from the Sioux/Ojibwe/ AnishinaabeChippewa meaning "Mnisota - Sky-Tinted Waters". Over 10,000 Lakes like Hiawatha, Nokomis, Winnibigoshish . We have towns like Wanamingo, Waskish, Nay-Tah-Waush. We also have the Scandinavian names, the German names, French names and good old American names like Prosper, Walnut Grove, Sacred Heart, Faith, and, of course, the ever popular PROSIT! A toast to Minnesota----my state, St. Paul - my city named after the Saint Paul. St. Paul was originallly named Pigs Eye after Pigs Eye Perrault, a French river man and gambler and all around ne-er do well. He lived in a cave by the Mississippi River here in St. Paul. Well, apparently St. Paul was a better person than old Pigs Eye and there is a dump named after him not far from downtown St. Paul. So Pigs Eye went to the dumps and St. Paul took over the name of the Capitol City of Minnesota. I love state stories.

My mother was born in Wisconsin and didn't speak a word of English until my grandmother was chastised for not teaching Mom English (this goes back to the early 1920's. There was some dislike of the Germans/Prussians during WWI and so rather than be ostracized from the town, Mom learned English.) My father's parents were from Sweden and my father's mother never spoke a word of English. My grandfather did learn English as he was owner of a mill and a lumberjack (they were from Michigan (Yooper). My father went through confirmation class in total Swedish and with the exception of a few words, he never spoke the language. That makes me 1/2 German and 1/2 Swede and my husband was 1/2 German and 1/2 Norwegian. So we complemented each other just perfect, almost - he was Norwegian and I was Swede. It's a Minnesota thing - Swedes and Norwegians. And to cap this all off, my Swedish grandpa's name was Ole. Honest and truly.

Thank you for bringing up the subject. Edie