List of U.S. county name etymologies (S–Z)

This is a list of U.S. county name etymologies, covering the letters S to Z.

S

T

County nameStateOrigin
Talbot CountyGeorgiaNamed for Matthew Talbot, 30th Governor of Georgia.
Talbot CountyMarylandNamed for Grace, Lady Talbot, the wife of Sir Robert Talbot, an Irish statesman, and the sister of Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore.
Taliaferro CountyGeorgiaNamed for Colonel Benjamin Taliaferro of Virginia, an officer in the American Revolution.
Talladega CountyAlabamaThe name Talladega is derived from a Muscogee (Creek) Native American word Tvlvteke, from the Creek tålwa, meaning "town", and åtigi, or "border" -- "Border Town"—a town indicating its location on the boundary between the lands of the Creek tribe and those of the Cherokee and Chickasaw.[7]
Tallahatchie CountyMississippiChoctaw name meaning "rock of waters".
Tallapoosa CountyAlabamaName of Creek origin.
Tama CountyIowaNamed for Taimah, a leader of the Meskwaki Indians.
Taney CountyMissouriNamed in honor of Roger Brooke Taney, fifth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tangipahoa ParishLouisianaTangipahoa comes from an Acolapissa word meaning "ear of corn" or "those who gather corn."
Taos CountyNew Mexico"Place of red willows" in the Taos language.
Tarrant CountyTexasNamed in honor of General Edward H. Tarrant.[8]
Tate CountyMississippiNamed for Thomas Simpson Tate, one of the first prominent settlers of the area.
Tattnall CountyGeorgiaNamed for Josiah Tattnall Sr., U.S. Senator and 25th Governor of Georgia.
Taylor CountyFloridaNamed for Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States of America.
Taylor CountyGeorgia
Taylor CountyIowa
Taylor CountyKentucky
Taylor CountyTexasNamed for Edward Taylor, George Taylor, and James Taylor, three brothers who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
Taylor CountyWest VirginiaNamed for Sen. John Taylor of Caroline.
Taylor CountyWisconsin
Tazewell CountyIllinoisNamed in honor of Littleton Waller Tazewell, U.S. Senator and Governor of Virginia, and/or Littleton's father, prominent Virginia politician Henry Tazewell.
Tazewell CountyVirginiaNamed after Henry Tazewell, a United States Senator from Virginia as well as a state legislator and judge.
Tehama CountyCaliforniaUncertain
Telfair CountyGeorgiaNamed for Edward Telfair, sixteenth governor of Georgia and member of the Continental Congress.
Teller CountyColoradoNamed for Henry M. Teller, a U.S. Senator and the 15th United States Secretary of the Interior.
Tensas ParishLouisianaDerived from the Taensa people.
Terrebonne ParishLouisianaFrench for "good land" or "good earth".
Terrell CountyGeorgiaNamed for U.S. Representative William Terrell.
Terrell CountyTexasNamed for Texas state senator Alexander W. Terrell.
Terry CountyTexasNamed for Benjamin Franklin Terry, a colonel in the Confederate Army.
Teton CountyIdahoNamed after the Teton Mountains.[9]
Teton CountyMontana
Teton CountyWyoming
Texas CountyMissouriNamed after the Republic of Texas.
Texas CountyOklahomaSo named because it was wholly included within the limits of the Texas Cession of 1850, whereby the ownership of the area was passed from the State of Texas to the United States Government.
Thayer CountyNebraskaNamed after the General and Governor John Milton Thayer.[10]
Thomas CountyGeorgiaNamed for Jett Thomas, officer in the War of 1812; also known for overseeing the construction of the first building at the University of Georgia as well as the state capitol at Milledgeville.
Thomas CountyKansasNamed for George Henry Thomas, Union General in the American Civil War.
Thomas CountyNebraskaNamed after General George H. Thomas.[11]
Throckmorton CountyTexasNamed for William Throckmorton, an early Collin County settler.
Thurston CountyNebraskaNamed after U.S. Senator John M. Thurston.[12]
Thurston CountyWashingtonNamed after Samuel R. Thurston, the Oregon Territory's first delegate to Congress.
Tift CountyGeorgiaNamed for Nelson Tift, founder of the city of Albany and United States Representative.
Tillamook CountyOregonNamed for the Tillamook, a Native American tribe.
Tillman CountyOklahoma
Tioga CountyNew YorkDerived from an American Indian word meaning "at the forks", describing a meeting place.
Tioga CountyPennsylvaniaNamed for the Tioga River.
Tippah CountyMississippiThe name "Tippah" is a Chickasaw word meaning "cut off", and is taken from the creek of the same name that flows across much of the original county from northeast to southwest before emptying into the Tallahatchie River. The creek probably was so named because it, and the ridges on either side, "cut off" the western part of the region from the eastern portion.
Tippecanoe CountyIndianaNamed for the Tippecanoe River and the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Tipton CountyIndianaTipton is named for John Tipton, a soldier of the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Tipton CountyTennesseeNamed for Jacob Tipton, who was killed by Native Americans in a conflict over the Northwest Territory.
Tishomingo CountyMississippi
Titus CountyTexasNamed for Andrew Jackson Titus, an early settler.
Todd CountyKentuckyNamed after John Todd, an early frontier military figure.[13]
Todd CountyMinnesotaNamed after John Blair Smith Todd, delegate from Dakota Territory to the United States House of Representatives and General in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Todd CountySouth Dakota
Tolland CountyConnecticutNamed for the town of Tolland, Connecticut, which itself is named after Tolland, Somerset.
Tom Green CountyTexasNamed for Thomas Green, a Confederate brigadier general.
Tompkins CountyNew YorkNamed in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States of America.
Tooele CountyUtahIt is thought that the name derives from a Native American chief, but controversy exists about whether such chief lived. Alternate explanations hypothesize that the name comes from "tu-wanda", the Goshute word for "bear", or from "tule", a Spanish word of Aztec origins meaning "bulrush" (Schoenoplectus).
Toole CountyMontanaNamed for Joseph Toole, Montana's first governor.
Toombs CountyGeorgiaNamed for Robert Toombs, United States representative and senator.
Torrance CountyNew Mexico
Towner CountyNorth DakotaNamed after Oscar M. Towner, a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Towns CountyGeorgiaNamed for lawyer, legislator, and politician George W. Towns.
Traill CountyNorth DakotaNamed after Walter John Strickland Traill, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and son of Canadian pioneer Catharine Parr Traill.[14]
Transylvania CountyNorth CarolinaDerived from the Transylvania Company and has Latin origins: trans ("across") and silva or sylva ("woods").
Traverse CountyMinnesota
Travis CountyTexasNamed in honor of William Barret Travis, commander of the Republic of Texas forces at the Battle of the Alamo.
Treasure CountyMontana
Trego CountyKansas
Trempealeau CountyWisconsinFrench fur traders were the first Europeans to enter this land. At the mouth of the Trempealeau River, which flows from northeast to southwest across the county on its way to the Mississippi River, they found a bluff surrounded by water and called it "La Montagne qui trempe à l'eau", which means "mountain with its foot in the water." The name was later shortened.[15]
Treutlen CountyGeorgiaNamed for John A. Treutlen, Georgia's first state governor following adoption of the state Constitution of 1777.
Trigg CountyKentuckyNamed for Stephen Trigg, a frontier officer in the American Revolutionary War who died in the Battle of Blue Licks.
Trimble CountyKentuckyNamed for Robert Trimble, attorney, judge, and justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Trinity CountyCaliforniaNamed after the Trinity River, which was named in 1845 by Major Pierson B. Reading, who was under the mistaken impression that the river emptied into Trinidad Bay. Trinity is the English translation of Trinidad.
Trinity CountyTexasNamed after the Trinity River (Texas).
Tripp CountySouth DakotaNamed for Bartlett Tripp.
Troup CountyGeorgiaNamed for George Troup, thirty-fourth governor of Georgia, U.S. representative, and senator.
Trousdale CountyTennesseeNamed for William Trousdale, Creek and Mexican–American War soldier and officer, state senator and Governor of Tennessee.
Trumbull CountyOhioNamed for Jonathan Trumbull, Governor of Connecticut, who once owned the land in the region.
Tucker CountyWest VirginiaNamed after Henry St. George Tucker, Sr., a judge and Congressman from Williamsburg, Virginia.[16]
Tulare CountyCaliforniaNamed for Tulare Lake.
Tulsa CountyOklahoma
Tunica CountyMississippiNamed for the Tunica Native Americans.
Tuolumne CountyCalifornia

The name Tuolumne is of Native American origin and has been given different meanings, such as Many Stone Houses, The Land of Mountain Lions and, Straight Up Steep, the latter an interpretation of William Fuller, a native Chief. Mariano Vallejo, in his report to the first California State Legislature, said that the word is "a corruption of the Indian word talmalamne which signifies 'cluster of stone wigwams.'" The name may mean "people who dwell in stone houses", i.e., in caves.

Turner CountyGeorgiaNamed for Henry Gray Turner, U.S. representative and Georgia state Supreme Court justice.
Turner CountySouth DakotaNamed for John W. Turner.
Tuscaloosa CountyAlabamaNamed in honor of the pre-Choctaw chief Tuskaloosa.
Tuscarawas CountyOhioThe name is a Delaware Indian word variously translated as "old town" or "open mouth".
Tuscola CountyMichiganNeologism created by Henry Schoolcraft.
Twiggs CountyGeorgiaNamed for American Revolutionary War general John Twiggs.
Twin Falls CountyIdahoThe county is named for a split waterfall on the Snake River of the same name. The Snake River is the county's northern boundary.
Tyler CountyTexasNamed for John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States.
Tyler CountyWest VirginiaNamed after John Tyler, Sr., father of President John Tyler.
Tyrrell CountyNorth CarolinaNamed for Sir John Tyrrell, one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina.

U

County nameStateOrigin
Uinta CountyWyomingNamed for the Uinta(h), a Native American tribe associated with the Ute people.
Uintah CountyUtah
Ulster CountyNew YorkNamed for the Irish province of Ulster, which was an earldom of the Duke of York at the time of naming.
Umatilla CountyOregonNamed for the Umatilla River.
Unicoi CountyTennesseeName is a Native American word for the southern Appalachian Mountains, probably meaning white or fog-draped.
Union CountyArkansasNamed in recognition of the 1829 citizens' petition for a new county, stating that they were petitioning "in the spirit of Union and Unity".
Union CountyFloridaNamed to honor the concept of unity.
Union CountyGeorgiaThe Union Party, a political group that supported removing Native Americans from the area and opening it to white settlers, is the probable inspiration for the county's name.
Union CountyIllinois
Union CountyIndianaSo named because it is the product of a union of parts of Fayette, Franklin and Wayne counties, as united into one county in 1821.
Union CountyIowa
Union CountyKentucky
Union CountyMississippiThis county was formed as a union of pieces of several other counties.
Union CountyNew JerseyIn reference to the Federal Union of the United States.
Union CountyNew MexicoThe county is named "Union" because the citizens, in 1893/94, were united in their desire for the creation of a new county out of three existing New Mexico counties.
Union CountyNorth CarolinaIts name was a compromise between Whigs, who wanted to name the new county for Henry Clay, and Democrats, who wanted to name it for Andrew Jackson.
Union CountyOhioThe name is reflective of the county's origins, being the union of pieces of Franklin, Delaware, Madison, and Logan Counties.[17]
Union CountyOregonThe name, which is taken from the city of Union within the county's borders, references the Union states, or Northern States, of the American Civil War.[18]
Union CountyPennsylvaniaThe name is an allusion to the Federal Union.
Union CountySouth CarolinaReceived its name from the old Union Church near Monarch Mill.
Union CountySouth DakotaOriginally named Cole County, the named was changed to Union because of Civil War sentiment.
Union CountyTennesseeNamed either for its creation from parts of five counties or to memorialize East Tennessee's support for preservation of the Union in the years before the Civil War.
Union ParishLouisianaReportedly took its name from a statement made by Daniel Webster: "liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable".
Upshur CountyTexasNamed for Abel P. Upshur, who was U.S. Secretary of State during President John Tyler's administration.
Upshur CountyWest Virginia
Upson CountyGeorgiaNamed in honor of noted Georgia lawyer Stephen Upson.
Upton CountyTexasNamed for brothers John C. and William F. Upton, both Colonels in the Confederate army.
Utah CountyUtahNamed for the Spanish name (Yuta) for the Ute Indians.
Uvalde CountyTexasNamed for Juan de Ugalde, the Spanish governor of Coahuila.

V

County nameStateOrigin
Val Verde CountyTexasNamed for the 1862 Civil War Battle of Val Verde (val verde meaning "green valley" in Spanish).
Valdez-Cordova Census AreaAlaskaThe port of Valdez was named after the Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y Basán; Cordova after the city of Córdoba, Spain. Both namings were made by Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo in 1790.
Valencia CountyNew Mexico
Valley CountyIdahoNamed after the Long Valley of the North Fork of the Payette River.
Valley CountyMontana
Valley CountyNebraskaNamed after the geological features of the area.[19]
Van Buren CountyArkansasNamed for U.S. President Martin Van Buren (1782–1862).
Van Buren CountyIowa
Van Buren CountyMichigan
Van Buren CountyTennessee
Van Wert CountyOhioNamed for Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of John André in the American Revolutionary War.[20]
Van Zandt CountyTexasNamed for Isaac Van Zandt, a member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas.[21]
Vance CountyNorth CarolinaNamed for Zebulon Baird Vance, a Governor of North Carolina (1862–1865, 1877–1879) and United States senator (1879–1894).
Vanderburgh CountyIndianaNamed for Henry Vanderburgh, a judge for Indiana Territory.
Venango CountyPennsylvaniaThe origin of the name "Venango" comes from the Native American name for the region, Onenge, meaning Otter. This was corrupted into English as the Venango River.[22]
Ventura CountyCaliforniaFrom Mission San Buenaventura, named for Saint Bonaventure.
Vermilion CountyIllinoisNamed for the Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary).
Vermilion ParishLouisianaNamed for Vermilion River (Louisiana).
Vermillion CountyIndianaVermillion is named for the Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary).
Vernon CountyMissouriNamed for Col. Miles Vernon (1786–1867), a state senator and veteran of the Battle of New Orleans.
Vernon CountyWisconsin
Vernon ParishLouisianaVarious theories for the naming exist (see History of Vernon Parish)
Victoria CountyTexasNamed for Guadalupe Victoria, the first President of Mexico.
Vigo CountyIndianaNamed for Francis Vigo, an Italian tradesman from St. Louis who assisted George Rogers Clark's campaigns during the American Revolutionary War.
Vilas CountyWisconsinNamed for William Freeman Vilas, United States Senator (1891–1897).[23]
Vinton CountyOhioNamed for Samuel Finley Vinton, a 19th-century congressman from Ohio.[24]
City of Virginia BeachVirginia
Volusia CountyFloridaUnclear

W

Y

County nameStateOrigin
Yadkin CountyNorth CarolinaNamed for the Yadkin River which is derived from Yattken, or Yattkin, a Siouan Indian. The meaning of the word is unknown but it may mean "big tree" or "place of big trees" in Siouan language.
Yakima CountyWashingtonNamed after the Yakama tribe of Native Americans.
Yakutat City and BoroughAlaskaFrom the Tlingit name Yaakwdáat, meaning "the place where canoes rest", although it may originally derive from an Eyak name which has been lost.
Yalobusha CountyMississippiYalobusha is a Native American word meaning "tadpole place".
Yamhill CountyOregonOrigin of name uncertain, but probably from an explorer's name for a local Native American tribe, the Yamhill, who are part of the North Kalapuyan family.
Yancey CountyNorth CarolinaNamed in honor of Bartlett Yancey, U.S. Congressman (1813–1817) and speaker of the N.C. Senate (1817–1827).
Yankton CountySouth DakotaNamed for the Yankton tribe of Nakota (Sioux) Native Americans.
Yates CountyNew YorkYates County is named in honor of Joseph C. Yates, seventh governor of New York (1823–1824).
Yavapai CountyArizonaNamed after the Yavapai people, who were the main inhabitants of the area at the time of annexation by the United States.
Yazoo CountyMississippiNamed for the Yazoo River.
Yell CountyArkansasNamed after Archibald Yell, the state's first member of the United States House of Representatives and the second governor of Arkansas; he later fell in combat at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican–American War.
Yellow Medicine CountyMinnesotaThe name is based on an Indian name for the bitter root of the Moonseed plant, which they used for medicinal purposes.
Yellowstone CountyMontanaNamed for the Yellowstone River which roughly bisects the county from southwest to northeast.[26]
Yoakum CountyTexasNamed for Henderson King Yoakum, a Texas historian.
Yolo CountyCaliforniaYolo is a Native American name variously believed to be a corruption of a tribal name Yo-loy meaning "a place abounding in rushes" or of the name of the chief Yodo or of the village of Yodoi.
York CountyMaineIn 1664, what had been the Province of Maine was given a grant by Charles II of England to James, Duke of York. Under the terms of this patent the territory was incorporated into Cornwall County, part of the Province of New York. The patent to James for this territory was renewed in 1674 and survives in York County.
York CountyNebraskaEither named after the city of York in England or for York County in Pennsylvania.[27]
York CountyPennsylvaniaNamed either for the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and shire of York in England.
York CountySouth Carolina
York CountyVirginiaNamed for the city of York in Northern England.
Young CountyTexasThe county is named for William Cocke Young, an early Texas settler and soldier.[28]
Yuba CountyCaliforniaNamed after the Yuba River for the Native American village Yubu, Yupu or Juba near the confluence of the Yuba and Feather rivers, or for the quantities of wild grapes (uvas silvestres in Spanish) growing on its banks.
Yukon-Koyukuk Census AreaAlaskaThe Yukon River and one of its major tributaries, the Koyukuk River, whose respective drainages comprise the vast majority of the census area's land mass.
Yuma CountyArizona
Yuma CountyColoradoYuma County is named for the town of Yuma, Colorado, which itself was supposedly named for a Quechan railroad worker (or a man named "Yuma") who died near the town while building a line for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Z

County nameStateOrigin
Zapata CountyTexasNamed after Colonel Jose Antonio de Zapata, a rancher who rebelled against Mexico in 1839.[29]
Zavala CountyTexasNamed after Lorenzo de Zavala, Mexican politician and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.[30]
Ziebach CountySouth DakotaNamed after local leader Frank M. Ziebach.

References

  1. ↑ Scott County, Iowa
  2. ↑ May, James (May 19, 2003). "Why Graton is trying to get into gaming". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  3. ↑ Hanna, Phil Townsend (1951). The Dictionary of California Land Names. Los Angeles: The Automobile Club of Southern California. p. 311.
  4. ↑ Alfred Louis Kroeber (1976). Handbook of the Indians of California. New York City, N.Y.: Dover Publications.
  5. ↑ Alfred L. Kroeber, AAE 29:354 [1932]
  6. ↑ Gudde, Erwin Gustav; Bright, William (1998). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names (Second ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. g. 370. ISBN 0-520-21316-5.
  7. ↑ Jack Martin and Margaret McKane Mauldin, A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), s.vv. "Tvlvtēke", "Talladega."
  8. ↑ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hct01
  9. ↑ Idaho.gov - Teton County Archived 2009-08-15 at the Wayback Machine. accessed 2010-05-24
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-03-19. Accessed 2010-05-24.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-19. Accessed 2010-05-24.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-15. Accessed 2010-05-24.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ North Dakota government county history page
  15. ↑ Elkins, Winston (1985). Trempealeau and the Mississippi River Dam. Trempealeau County, Wisconsin: Trempealeau County Historical Society, p.1
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-03-19. West Virginia Division of Culture and History – Tucker County History web page, accessed 2010-05-24
  17. ↑ "Union County data". Ohio State University Extension Data Center. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  18. ↑ Deumling, Dietrich (May 1972). The roles of the railroad in the development of the Grande Ronde Valley (masters thesis). Flagstaff, Arizona: Northern Arizona University. OCLC 4383986.
  19. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-03-19. Retrieved on March 14, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Van Wert County data". Ohio State University Extension Data Center. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  21. ↑ History of Van Zandt County (Van Zandt County History Book Committee. Dallas, Texas: 1984)
  22. ↑ Donehoo, George (1995). "French Creek". Indian Villages and Place Names in Pennsylvania. Gateway Press. Retrieved 24 Jan 2007.
  23. ↑ Vilas County History
  24. ↑ "Vinton County data". Ohio State University Extension Data Center. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  25. ↑ "Here's How Iron Got Its Name". The Rhinelander Daily News. June 16, 1932. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Montana Digital Atlas – Montana Natural Resources Information System". Montana State Library, State of Montana. Archived from the original on 2007-07-15. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  27. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2010-03-19. Retrieved on March 15, 2008.
  28. ↑ "Young, William Cocke". The Handbook of Texas Online. The Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  29. ↑ "Handbook of Texas Online: Zapata County". University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
  30. ↑ "Handbook of Texas Online: Zavala County". University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2007-10-17.

See also

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