How Did Each U.S. State Get Its Name?

▶ Check out my latest video: • The Territorial Evolut...
The first 100 people to go to www.blinkist.com/generalknowl...
are going to get unlimited access to Blinkist for 1 week to try it out.
You'll also get 25% off if you want the full membership!
Follow me on Twitter: / gkonyoutube
Timestamps:
Alaska 1:53
Hawaii 2:24
California 2:57
Nevada 4:48
Arizona 5:05
Oregon 5:46
Washington 6:50
Idaho 7:18
Utah 7:45
New Mexico 7:58
Colorado 8:12
Wyoming 8:23
Montana 8:36
North Dakota and South Dakota 9:13
Nebraska 9:26
Kansas 9:43
Arkansas 10:02
Oklahoma 10:25
Texas 10:42
Louisiana 11:08
Mississippi 11:54
Missouri 12:07
Iowa 12:30
Minnesota 12:39
Wisconsin 13:08
Illinois 13:34
Michigan 13:50
Maine 14:08
New Hampshire 14:30
Vermont 14:41
Massachusetts 14:59
Rhode Island 15:19
Connecticut 16:11
New Jersey 16:19
New York 16:39
Pennsylvania 16:49
Delaware 17:03
Maryland 17:12
Virginia 17:27
West Virginia 17:37
Ohio 17:46
Indiana 17:58
Kentucky 18:16
Tennessee 18:47
North and South Carolina 19:01
Alabama 19:18
Georgia 19:29
Florida 19:46
Washington DC 20:13
American Samoa 20:19
Guam 20:31
Northern Mariana Islands 20:41
Puerto Rico 20:47
US Virgin Islands 21:04
US outlying islands 21:12
Become a member on Patreon & get exclusive content! / generalknowledge
Special mention to my patrons: Richard, Jeseenya, Francis, Edward, Stephen, MiFE, Rpgkillerspace, Wilhelm, Roland, Rami, Juan, Bruno, Albert, Lastmatix, Kalvin, Francisco, Tom, 43rpak, Chet, Ryan Keith, ou_lyss, Borton, Ryan McMurry, Pete, Cesar, Hendrick.
Business Contact: [e-mail]
Thanks for watching, remember to subscribe to catch future videos!

[@General.Knowledge]

CHECK OUT "How Did Each American Country Get Its Name": kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWLWaGZmd89-ba8

[@kenchristie9214]

Hawaii was originally called Sandwich Islands.

[@christerhummelstedt9708]

@@charleBerglund mxxmxmmx

[@williamberry4615]

I hate when they call us America. America goes from Canada and Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. We are the United States

[@williamberry4615]

@Bee Middleton Texas was it's own country I believe called Texarkana? Correct me if I'm wrong. Then the USA annexed the state and the Cowboys still cant get a decent gm.

[@williamberry4615]

@Bee Middleton thank you bud. I read a lot about president James Polk and the Mexican War but I forgot a lot of stuff cuz lets face it Texas is the most recognized part of that whole area.

[@NoonyJW]

FALSE: Florida was named after the famous rapper Flo-Rida

[@danylo6665]

Yeah

[@meowpoosaymeow]

Finally someone spoke facts

[@jrjr648]

Saw Florida on a map, can confirm

[@wennick4859]

The three sides of florida Florida Flooridah Flawdah

[@jrjr648]

Flawridder if you live in Boston

[@Zeoytaccount]

"We can't name it Columbia! It'll get mixed up with the capital!" *names it Washington*

[@albierodriguez9797]

Might have to do w the country Colombia we’ll have to see which came first

[@michaelalbertson7457]

Zane Baylon, I thought the same thing!

[@joesmith942]

Good story, but that had nothing to do with it. The votes to secure passage of the legislation were there if they named it Washington so politicians could go home and brag to constituents. The votes were not there if it was Columbia. The will of the locals just wasn't a consideration. That's politics.

[@teodorivanov4558]

bruh

[@michaelalbertson7457]

@@joesmith942 That makes sense, but can't you tell the initial comment was a joke?

[@mark_a_schaefer]

If you want a real treat, do a deep dive into the local place names *in* the states. In New York State we have four kinds of place names: places named by homesick English settlers (Rochester, Liverpool, York, Albany, etc.), places named by homesick Dutch settlers (Amsterdam, Rotterdam), places from classical antiquity (Rome, Ithaca, Corinth, Syracuse, Troy), or Indigenous place names as spelled by the Dutch: Schenectady, Schaghticoke, Coxsackie, Schoharie, Schodack).

[@johsiantorres8495]

I live in Rochester 🎉

[@Axphyl]

I lived in Troy NY for 12 years, I’m surprised to see it be mentioned, most people don’t know about Troy

[@mark_a_schaefer]

@@Axphyl Troy has become an amazing place in recent years. It's my hometown and it's great to see how it's rebounded from the low point in the 70s and 80s.

[@MoveoverAndbark]

NoShitzky!!!!

[@dingleberryftm7918]

In western New York, we have a lot of Native American town names. Geneseo, Canadaigua, Cansteo, Keshequa

[@seankt]

Background music/marches: 0:00 The Trombone King - Karl L. King 2:20 Bravura- Charles E. Duble 5:07 The Circus Bee- Henry Fillmore 7:50 The Purple Carnival- Harry Alford 11:25 Mother Hubbard - John Philip Sousa 13:48 National Emblem- Edwin E. Bagpey 16:48 King Cotton- J.P. Sousa 18:57 The Fairest of the Fair- J.P. Sousa

[@joseluiszunigarodriguez7075]

Thanks for your fine work, best regards

[@Eastsid3]

Underrated comment

[@lanahartman-mccuen28]

Thank you so much for this information.

[@nebulium6707]

The Trombone King!! I played 2nd trombone in 10th grade lol I was shocked to hear it in this video

[@nathancreek6086]

I love the idea that French missionaries turned up in Illinois and the natives kept telling them to "speak normally" but the French thought that was their name

[@Kenfren]

Yeah, though the french would think them not speaking french would make em a bit slow

[@alessioartioli3323]

like the alleged legend according to which the word "kangaroo" comes from the aborigin language, meaning "i don't understand", which was the answer the aborigins gave to english colonizers asking what animal was that. But apparently this is just a legend. May be some aussie mates can confirm?

[@riograndedosulball248]

@@alessioartioli3323 also, the Yukatan peninsula, which also is derived from the phrase "i don't understand" in the native language

[@alessioartioli3323]

@@riograndedosulball248 this I didn't know. Thanks for the update!

[@Joao-vm9hq]

@@riograndedosulball248 RS é top mano 🇧🇷 Abraço de Portugal 🇵🇹

[@la187357]

Fun fact: Mexico also has a state named from an indigenous word that also roughly means the same thing as Michigan. It's named.. Michoacan!

[@joesmith942]

I had wondered if those were related.

[@vogelvogeltje]

One means place of the fish, the other just means place of the lake…. No connection at all

[@la187357]

@@vogelvogeltje well, where do fish live?

[@sacharacine3700]

Yup drug cartels are battling over drug trade there thanks YT

[@Minsajang]

@@vogelvogeltje Nope there is a connection. Native groups in Mexico had trading routes where they made contact with native groups in the US thus there are similarities in language. Fun fact, Seattle actually derives from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec.

[@Finrirthegray16]

The naming of California is a pretty cool one among the rest. It's like if someone discovered a new territory and decided to dub it as either Isengard, Stygia, or after any other fictitious land.

[@HOPEandGRACE4US]

Much of his information is incorrect. Someone from Portugal should not be trying to teach U.S. history. He probably got his information from so much bogus information online, instead of straight from our own history right here in the U.S.

[@JeanEDeaux]

I’m sure they’ll be plenty of new planets to use those names in the future 😂

[@josecarlosmenezes1241]

I'm Portuguese but spanish is a closer language. California means "Hot like an oven"; Arizona means "Arid zone" or "desert"; Florida is "with many flowers".

[@claus1225]

california is not that hot.

[@Sadtreesong]

​@@claus1225 but it does have the hottest place on earth...death valley

[@pacoramon9468]

So basically: -Native tribes -Spanish adjectives -European Kings.

[@EpicPlayer17]

@Earth and George Washington

[@relcnt]

@@EpicPlayer17 but that's just one occasion

[@marcusrichards6117]

@@relcnt 1 and a half

[@kvgm_]

Literally

[@alonsojimeanch]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@QuentinWatt]

You should place your timestamps and descriptions the other way around to make use of "KZbin chapters." It'll break up the play bar into chapters.

[@dead.dummy678]

Isn't it really tiring to do it 50+ freaking times!?

[@wernerhiemer406]

@@dead.dummy678 Spread sheet is a thing? And some pasting in between.

[@Liggliluff]

Plus it looks nicer the other way around

[@METALFREAK03]

@@Liggliluff not sure why you would do timestams like that. Always been chapter before name thereof. In any written book.

[@piccololou]

You certainly have a RUSSIAN inflexión on your voice. What is clear is that you are wrong by mistake, or wrong with intention. Intention is to dis-inform. TeXas name is Aztec. Like MeXico. Louisiana is not a THIRD of the American territory. The fact remains that you and Russians have infiltrated US and KZbin. We take notice.

[@Luna-35]

I read a while ago that Oregon comes from the mispronunciation of the community in Spain called Aragon. Nevada is literally the word for 'snowed' in Spanish but in Spain there is also a chain of mountains called Sierra Nevada. They probably named it after that place because it may have looked similar or something.

[@bigbloopboy8892]

there is also a Sierra Nevada mountain range in CA right on the Nevada border

[@Luna-35]

@@bigbloopboy8892 Yeah that’s why I said it. They probably named it like that for that reason.

[@Josuperhero]

Our tribe is pronounced oh-JIB-way. Thanks for the recognition.

[@johnathanbowes5996]

Quick note: The name “Hawaiʻi” doesn’t have an apostrophe. The symbol commonly confused for an apostrophe is a separate Hawaiian character, called the ʻokina. It represents a glottal stop (e.g. the sound in the middle of “uh-oh”).

[@nidiashalabi2036]

Interesting! In Arabic the letter hamza (ء) has the same purpose…

[@solorzanochris665]

Very interesting, thank you

[@eldavis1311]

Also at the start of the video, the word Alaska is misspelled - this channel is NOT operated by an AMERICAN who first language is ENGLISH.

[@TheVideomaster138]

@@eldavis1311 who cares

[@ChristopherR96]

​@@eldavis1311 So what if English isn’t the primary language of the person who operates this channel? You’re not going to do anything about it. Your second statement contains a grammatical error anyway, since you didn’t use the word ‘whose’ instead of ‘who.’ Stop being miserable.

[@Tam0de]

I find it fascinating that Texas almost got named 'New Philippines'. The name 'Philippines' in itself came from the Spanish, naming it after their king, King Philip.

[@susany8493]

Or in Spanish, Felipe II

[@andresmoreno45]

It used to be named tejas which was an Indian word

[@gorangers18bates2]

@@andresmoreno45 which means friendly.

[@andresmoreno45]

@@gorangers18bates2 yep

[@bonne_vie]

"Don't mess with New Philippines" doesn't have quite the same flow.

[@michaelsadams524]

Thank you for this video! I really enjoyed learning the origin of our state n ames. I knew the story behind a few of the states but I will check back again to refresh my memory.

[@ryanshuell]

Wow! Very, very nice. I never got this in any history class that I ever went through. Thanks for sharing your insights!! Appreciate it!!

[@ScottGrammer]

As a native Tennessean who drives the highways daily, I can tell you that the word "Tennessee" means, "orange barrel in road."

[@yeetyeet8732]

Alright, that was pretty good

[@JessicaHayes02]

You ain't lying!

[@vernwallen4246]

And"civil assets forfeiture".😜😜😜

[@louieo.blevinsmusic4197]

lol nice.

[@dannypipewrench533]

I spent a week in Tennessee in July of 2019. Yep, lots of orange barrels.

[@staffan-]

Them: Wait, we can't name the state after Columbus, it will get confused with District of Columbia. Also them: Yeah, let's name it Washington, no way that will be confusing.

[@spiritmatter1553]

Those who want statehood for Washington, D.C. (which goes against the Constitution, which designates it as a federally run city) want to rename it: Washington, Douglass Commonwealth (after Frederick Douglass).

[@TexanUSMC8089]

@@spiritmatter1553 What they should do is move the borders of DC, so that no one lives in DC. They should be citizens of Maryland or Virginia. The Federal city called Washing DC should have no citizens.

[@thesecondsomeone]

@@TexanUSMC8089 then the government its not there too

[@madrush24]

As a resident of Washington (State)... hell yes.

[@vijaysura2874]

Wasn't Columbus a Jesuit?

[@fig1954]

Awesome and an amazing job! Lots of research from you lots of knowledge for us. Thanks.

[@gopcongress]

The "apostrophe" in Hawaiʻi is not technically a punctuation mark, but is actually a Hawaiian letter called "okina." Although 99% of the time people use the standard apostrophe ('), proper people use an okina (ʻ). The mark is slightly different.

[@cordobazo]

Correction, Kentucky means, "Fried chicken" in Native American

[@notallthatskilled]

Bruuuuuughhh

[@EZDuzIt1979]

On the Rez

[@saintlucifer7522]

This deserves a like

[@Tallslimchris]

Native American isn’t a language, it’s a generic term to refer to all the different Native American tribes and each of those has a different language

[@aitzgabe]

KFC.. it was Named by the Founder of Kentucky, the Famous Military Hero, Colonel Sanders! I hear he had a top secret receipt for Thanksgiving that brought the people together like a Melting pot in the Heart land of America! 🐔🤤❤️🙌🏽😋💯

[@wetplant1748]

Where do you live? Oh I live in the state of n e w p h i l i p p i n e s

[@brianarbenz7206]

Imagine the song lyrics "All my ex-es live in Texas" being: "All my drama queens live in New Philippines."

[@RojanWasTaken]

I live in old philippines

[@captainxact4493]

@@RojanWasTaken damn i lived in future philippines lad

[@mcdonalsmcmenu2449]

@@RojanWasTaken sheeesh you live in a human

[@slavenarkaimovski3897]

Don't you worry,when us dollar crash you will be renamed into DEBTONIA,and nationality will be DEBTONIANS.

[@irinadeguzman8772]

Very informative.. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@domo_hudson]

Well done on the video it was very informative! I'm impressed with how many were named after the indigenous people

[@kyleidahomie]

Utah was going to be named Deseret. The Mormon pioneers who inhabited the area chose the Hebrew word deseret which means “honeybee” because the honeybee is a common symbol of hard work, productivity, and self-reliance. The government didn't want the area to be named by a religion so it was rejected. The government decided on the name "Utah" from the Native American "Ute" tribe which means people of the mountains.

[@Zalis116]

Of course, they did get "Beehive State" as a nickname. I'd seen "Deseret" before, from the newspaper in the area, but never knew what it actually meant until now.

[@roddbroward9876]

@@Zalis116 Yep. Their flag also has a beehive

[@kimberlywilliams3009]

Once I heard that incorrect origin, many others became suspect!

[@speedmetalmassiah567]

Wow, so much for religious freedom

[@Skip.8221]

⁠@@speedmetalmassiah567they have every right to practice their religion openly, but there should also be a fair separation from the church and state

[@TheBestDrunkDriver]

Minnesota was named after a really tiny can of soda

[@garretphegley8796]

It's Pop

[@Screamintatatots]

@@garretphegley8796 Blasphemers, both of you. Its obviously a can of coke.

[@CAC63]

You're all wrong, it's tonic

[@jesselivermore2291]

minniesoda

[@I_killed_that_beard_guy]

Hmm seems legit

[@meupequenomundo]

I was wondering that not too long ago! Thank you so much for the information.

[@xispaster]

Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Adventures of Esplandián) is a novel written by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.The Esplandián novel describes a fictional island named California,[8] inhabited only by black women, ruled by Queen Calafia, and east of the Indies. When Spanish explorers, under the command of Hernán Cortés, learned of an island off the coast of Western Mexico, and rumored to be ruled by Amazon women, they named it California. (Wiki)

[@tatarkhan33]

In Bulgaria we also have Montana as a city its actually in the same position as the state montana almost corner left

[@71avalon36]

That's kind of a nest coincidence!

[@todor6217]

I was born in Montana!

[@silverletter4551]

Our Montana is probably bigger than your entire country.

[@petergray2712]

In Montana there's a town named Plevna. Bulgarian immigrants were heping to build the Northern Pacific Railroad through this area when news came of the Russian victory over the Turks in 1880 at Plevna, Bulgaria. The jubilant builders convinced the US Post Office to name the nearest station town in its honor.

[@silverletter4551]

@@petergray2712 why were they happy?

[@wildershoney2439]

I always thought Utah came from Ute Indians. As a Texan we were taught it was a Caddo word but it was Tejas.

[@gigachad6844]

Wassup New Filipino

[@madcat1865]

Definitely calling Texas the New Philippines from now on

[@asherl5902]

Sure! The Uteh Indians are the ones called "yutas" in Spanish. And Texas, like Mexico, are spellings with the Old Spanish Orthography, it's optional to spell them with J because that's how they sound currently in Spanish. The X sounded "sh" when the names were adopted in Spanish from native languages but then in Spanish the sound changed to a "strong h" which is spelt J, only some place names continue to write X (which is misleading: since the "sh" dissapeared X is now used for "ks" and saying these names with "ks" like in English is incorrect) because of the tradition.

[@wildershoney2439]

@Alejandro Melesio OR YOU could stop telling people what to say. That sounds better to me.

[@mrbrainbob5320]

@Alejandro Melesio American Indians prefer the name as opposed to Native American

[@BenJustSaid]

This was amazing, you should do another one of the Caribbean Islands and its native names w/ meanings.

[@davidslife989]

Both headache and knowledge gained! Thanks for both! 😊

[@topside3935]

Fun fact, the New Mexico’s state name is older than Mexico’s country name, because before Mexico’s independence it was called Nueva España(New Spain)

[@estebanvidegarayortega4206]

The capital of New Spain was founded in 1521, and is the actual capital of Mexico, Ciudad de México (Mexico City) The name comes from the Mexicas, or Aztects, so the spanish names their city after that. So basically the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico are both named after the capital of Mexico, Mexico City.

[@estebanvidegarayortega4206]

@Galleta de Soda Which then became the capital city of Mexico

[@rotemplatino91]

The city of México-Tenochtitlan has been around for 600 years, so no.

[@gerardsotxoa]

No, the official name gived by The emperor Charles V was ''Kingdom of Mexico-New Spain'', which is not the same political entinty as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Even today ''Mexico'' refers loosly to central mexico for mexicans out of the central region. The name new mexico was given because it was conquered mostly by Mexican indians and a Grand doughter of Aztec Emperor Mocteczuma. New Mexico was Rule by the Kingdom of New Galice and the archibishop of Guadalajara.

[@pacogama]

In the New Spain also was the province of Mexico that its the moderns states of Mexico, Mexico City, Guerrero and Morelos in Mexico

[@emily0071000]

I feel like sometimes Americans wish the United States (the country) had a longer history, but i’m from Scotland/UK and i think it’s fascinating that you guys can know the exact origin of place names. In Europe it’s often hard to work out the origin of a place name, because it was so so long ago

[@71avalon36]

@ emily As a historian I've always been jealous of folks over where you live, though. Short car ride and you're at a 1,000-year-old medieval site or a 2,000-year-old Roman site. All I have near me is a civil war battlefield from 1864.

[@alejandroalba9410]

@@71avalon36 in my town in Germany you can literally find everything from ww2 to medival houses and even Roman ruins

[@MrChristianDT]

Usually we can. Iroquoian names are a nightmare, because even closely related Iroquoian languages can have similar words which mean completely different things. Take Cuyahoga River in Ohio. That can mean 'On the chin' in Seneca, 'Elm River' in Cayuga, or 'Warfront' in Wyandot. Then, there's tons of native languages which are extinct & poorly recorded. This stuff is worst on the East Coast.

[@emily0071000]

@@MrChristianDT yeah i understood from this video that it’s not always straightforward or possible to find place name origins in the US. But generally there’s a lot more concrete information out there compared to Europe

[@gregoryspatisserie9858]

@@71avalon36 The pub I drink in is older than your country haha

[@koshaz3x]

What an educative and interesting video. Looking at the Montana flag I couldn't avoid but to notice there are two Spanish words written on it, "oro and plata" which means "gold and silver" respectively. I'm from South America, but I like learning history.

[@LorelLa22]

Thank you - so informative!

[@cwilliams808]

When it comes to Hawaii, you may notice that both the archipelago and the the eastern most island share the name of “Hawaii”. It would have been worth mentioning that Kamehameha came from the island of Hawaii, and then went on to unify the islands, thus making the entire island chain the “Kingdom of Hawaii”

[@Krizanathan]

@Jermare I think its so dumb to just refer to the largest Hawaiian island as “the Big island” , almost insulting, especially as an official name. We should just call it Hawaii, and if it confuses tourist then great at least they’ve learned some history :)

[@encycl07pedia-]

@@Krizanathan True. I don't know why approximately 200,000 people live next to active volcanoes, though. I thought there were a lot fewer people on the actual island of Hawaii.

[@Krizanathan]

@@encycl07pedia- It’s actually quite predictable where the Lava will flow, the eruptions are relatively calm, and most people live a safe distance away.. however there are areas that are in a potential danger zone and people live there as well because of cheap land…

[@JakeLikesTech]

Imagine being in a crew of 3 Jarvis's and you discover an island.

[@vex4652]

so tony hid two of them from us?

[@michaelseybold1743]

Imagine discoverin the island but you're the only guy not named Jarvis

[@AltName7]

@@michaelseybold1743 Captain Brown

[@__JJN__]

Multiple Jarvis is actually Jarvai

[@GuardianTactician]

I wonder which of the three Jarvis didn't contribute to the group project.

[@Nextraker]

Oregon is definitely Orejón which means big eared 👂 in Spanish, Arizona is Narizona which means big nosed 👃in Spanish

[@User22625]

😂

[@irismariaadams7630]

In Mexico we are taught that California is a compound name that derived from two words: calor(heat) and fornos (furnace) therefore, California means Hot furnace.

[@DialloMoore503]

@@irismariaadams7630 Interesting.

[@hannahcabana5403]

@@irismariaadams7630 They lied to u guys🤣

[@LampWaters]

@Iris Maria Adams named after queen califia

[@douglasnieblas74]

La Florida was named for a festival in Spain called the festival of flowers. Apparently the Spanish went ashore during the same month that the festival is celebrated in Spain and thus named the newly discovered land La Florida. At least it’s one of the stories I’ve heard on how Florida received its name.

[@happygirl964]

For the apostrophe in Hawaii, it's called an ‘okina (an upside down apostrophe). It's a glottal stop between syllable. The spelling "Hawai‘i" is still used today, as it's the "correct" spelling in Hawaiian, but just "Hawaii" works more as an everyday spelling ☺️

[@CraftsmanOfAwsomenes]

tbh, if we can put an apostrophe in it's I don't know why it would work more or less than anything else.

[@lindajokensinger8690]

Thank you for sharing this information. From an amateur linguist. 🙂

[@michaelalbertson7457]

Never saw the apostrophe until about 8 years ago. Growing up, never saw it in print anywhere. Never noticed it was upside down, either. When God confused the languages at the tower of Babel, He wasn't leaving any room for error.

[@happygirl964]

@@michaelalbertson7457 I agree, I think I've only been aware of it about 8 years ago. I use the diacritical marks heavily in my work place so it's very much second nature.

[@tbolt2948]

I have pronounced Hawai'i with the break. I learned that from my studies of WW II. I've gotten a lot of flack over the years for saying it that way and spelling it correctly. I also try to pronounce countries and cities as the natives of those localities do.

[@Seansadventure]

“No one can name all 50 states in one sitting “ *Wacko joins the battle *

[@oscarzavala5183]

I think the one where he names the countries is more catchy tho. Lol

[@quattro4468]

Xoomers dont get it.

[@johnnykrash9806]

That challenge is child's play to Wacko

[@chawndel8279]

I learned a song in elementary school called Fifty Nifty, where one sings all 50 states in alphabetical order. 🤷‍♀️

[@mr.8-bit604]

@@oscarzavala5183 that wasn't wakko who sang the countries song it was yakko

[@ispeed7013]

“I can’t believe we named states after the original land owners” 😢

[@kjsdpgijn]

Thanks for that intro, I just sat here and wrote out all 50 states, but miscounted when I was done so I thought I was going nuts missing one lol

[@thebepsusdog9227]

I used to think that Texas was named like that because in Spanish the X is pronounced as an J in many cases, so Tejas. Tejas are a kind of bricks used to decorate ceilings (look it up), and ceiling in Spanish is techo, but a synonym is tejado. Plus Texas being in the north of Mexico back then, made a joke as Texas being the tejado/ceiling of the country. I hope I explained myself well.

[@armdelgado]

not ceiling but roofs, that is on top of the houses

[@josegiovanigonzalezmata5570]

That's right, in Mexico, we have this habit of pronouncing the "X" as a "J". There are people who say "Texas", others "Tejas" because of the habit of changing the "x" to a "j". The case is quite similar to the state of "Oaxaca", foreigners mention the state using the "x" (Oaxaca), while all of Mexico pronounce it with the "j" (Oajaca). Or also "Mexico" for foreigners and "Mejico" or "Meshico or Mechico" (the latter on rare occasions) for those who are from Mexico. 😂💚🤍❤

[@JuntosXlaLibertadMileyBuIIrich]

@@josegiovanigonzalezmata5570 sólo en Méjico, en otros países no mezclamos la x con la j.

[@blassoriano109]

@@JuntosXlaLibertadMileyBuIIrich not only in México. That comes from old Castilian.

[@JuntosXlaLibertadMileyBuIIrich]

@@blassoriano109 you right with that but i meant nowadays

[@nicholashandley4456]

Fun fact: "Nuevo Mexico" was the first time the word/letters "Mexico" appeared in written form. When Spanish colonists arrived in the region of the Rio Grande it reminded them of a region of Mexico (then Nueva España) where, incidentally, Tenochtitlan (modern day Ciudad de Mexico) stood in a region locally known as Mexica ("Mesheeca"). It also was more similar to the Spanish regions they were familiar with than places in modern day Florida and North Carolina that they had abandoned that they decided to settle there much more permanently. As a result, Santa Fe, NM is the oldest continuously governing regional capital in the U.S., founded 1610 and maintained ever since, including the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

[@BOB-wo2nb]

Funner fact, New Mexico the state was absolutely NOT named after the country of Mexico and is actually 258 years OLDER than Mexico. Conquistadores named the area Nuevo Mexico after the Aztec valley of Mexica in 1563. There was no country of Mexico until independence from Spain in 1821, after which they named their new country after the same Aztec valley (current day Mexico City). So, yes you are correct, the video got it wrong.

[@emmanuelake421]

Mexico - Tenochtitlan was first called New Mexico, then it was renamed Mexico City and the region a subdivision that was called "Reyno de México"

[@roberto_ik5640]

@@emmanuelake421 I suppose it's "Reino"

[@rodrigoe.gordillo2617]

False

[@luisrb7348]

@@BOB-wo2nb The city of Mexico Tenochtitlan has been around for 600 years so no. Mexico and New Mexico got their name after the city of Mexico Tenochtitlan (Mexico City after the Spanish conquest).

[@mykkie100]

A wonderful achievement in just around twenty-two minutes. It is very well done. Thank you.

[@whatzupLizzy]

Well done video with lots of research. Liked how you shared the state flags. BTW Arizona wins my flag design award !

[@abehambino]

As someone who’s gone through 15 different schools throughout all of Utah, I’m afraid I’m going to need a source for your citing “Yuta” as the origin of the name. It is universally taught here that the origin is from the Ute tribe.

[@FantasticalChronicles]

Yeah, they named our state like that to honor the Ute tribe natives. People don't know it lot because they over look though little of the native Americans in history.

[@sebaschan-uwu]

What do you think the spanish called the Ute's? Yuta.

[@shyamsundard.r1782]

I liked the name Utah - Yuta. In my language Kannada (India) , Uta( Oota) means eating food.

[@MrJackOfAllTraits]

So what if the spanish called it Yuta? Thats not the origin. The origin is the tribe of the Utes. So its not an accurate statement. ​@sebaschan-uwu

[@Mark-cg2bg]

The naming of Wyoming caught my interest a few years ago when I saw it affixed to a valley in PA. Logic dictated the name was carried west rather than east, so I couldn't figure out why American Indians indigenous to the state of Wyoming, would call it a name that had no meaning to them. Checking, it turns out many of the first white settlers who arrived in Cheyenne, decided, I guess in a bout of nostalgia, to name the region after their former Pennsylvania homestead. But he's right, it's an Algonquin word.

[@matthewbednarski]

There was an important colonial battle there: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wyoming

[@wmallensmith7508]

There’s a Wyoming Avenue in Philadelphia. Now you know 😀

[@felixdaniel9472]

Wyoming = What do you mean?

[@Elitist20]

There's a Wyoming in Australia near Sydney that dates from 1824, also named after the valley in Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbell. So Wyoming, Australia actually predates Wyoming, USA.

[@railroadforest30]

Wyoming, Michigan

[@domenicozagari2443]

California name comes from calente which means worm in Spanish. Arizona comes from the Spanish, it means arid or dry zone or land. Utah comes from the Spanish word alta which means high, maybe high mountains. Oklahoma comes fro home of tribe okla. Virginia was named because of the virgin land.

[@user-qs3rf4hh5n]

Spanish has 2 words which describe heat caliente = hot and it's used generally but calido is more specifically used for climate. I'm therefore more inclined to believe that cali in California is a shortening of calido

[@user-qs3rf4hh5n]

Caliente translates as hot not warm

[@the503creepout7]

i grew up in Portland OR, & even though this information didn't make it into the Oregon Trail computer game, we were taught in grade school: that "Oregon" was a native word meaning "land of water"(kind of an oxymoron when you think about it, but it works). Yet, it was always disputed which tribe(s) the moniker could definitively be attributed to.

[@Lowlandlord]

The j in Ojibwe is pronounced as a j. O-jib-way, although the o sound can apparently be reduced in some pronounciations, also leading to the name Chippewa (which is the more common name for the tribe in the US). Also, just worth noting that the Ojibwe/Chippewa languages fall into the Algonquin family.

[@kkerr1953]

Also Sioux is pronounced like the female name “Sue”. It’s not pronounced See-you or see-ou nor is it pronounced sy-ox.

[@piperchristian77]

Thank you for pointing this out. I was going to say something too!

[@chloeorr9880]

Same with “Iriquoi” the “quoi” is pronounced more like “coy”

[@Ojibwe_Chippewa]

Yes Ojibwe is the French word given by the French to the tribe so the French and English could identify them. Our actual name is Anishinaabe in (Canada) Chippewa in (U.S) But can also even be Anishinaabek to Anishinaabeg. For example the Navajo nation tribes name was the name given to them from the Spaniards. It Translates to “the thieves that kill with knives”. Kinda messed Up we use the word the Spanish gave them. thats the name and that’s what we go off of today. (Btw funny to call them the thieves, when the Spanish were the colonizers that came to their home land and started the war). You have the actual tribe names that are from the actual indigenous, then u have the names the Europeans gave the tribes to go off of. To use, Ojibwe or Chippewa or anishinaabe are all correct just ones that are actually the indigenous ones to the Europeans ones.

[@robertschrum5496]

@ Logan, Would the Fox & the Sac tribes, who were indigenous to Iowa, be included in the Algonquin family? Thx.

[@andrewhobbs6776]

“Montana is not that mountainous” while there’s a big flat part in the east, southern Montana and western Montana are about as mountainous as it gets

[@bcaye]

You are correct.

[@basilmarasco1975]

I see. But are there any buttes in Montana?

[@Catlily5]

@@basilmarasco1975 Maybe next to the city named Butte?? Or maybe not.

[@masterchinese28]

I have driven it many times and I can vouch for the mountains

[@jeffreyhutchins6527]

So the Rockies don't count as not that mountainous. Guess the continental divide is a myth as well.

[@olddoggeleventy2718]

Well done and most enjoyable.Thank you.

[@MArmes-fn8lq]

When he said about washington being in the historic county of Durham is an interesting story in itself. In the 70s some cities had got too big and were across county boarders so the boarders got changed and created new counties to cover this. The picture he put in the photo was the county of Tyne and Wear which is the county Washington is now in which came about because of Newcastle and Sunderland spreading over the boarders of Northumberland and Durham which do still exist today.

[@AllKindsOfTrickshots]

“Don’t mess with New Philippines” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it

[@santinovalfiore]

Eh, neither does the original. Messing with Texas has been the meat and potatoes of lowbrow political comedy for the past century

[@nicolethompson2399]

Everything's bigger in ....New Phillipines?

[@the.abhiram.r]

ford f-150 new philippines edition

[@irvinalexanderflores]

The stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of.. New Phillipines

[@markyofficial5610]

i really dont know this. first time i've heard texas was the new Philippines

[@hs_conspiracy]

As someone who lives and has grown up in Maryland, we were taught that the name came from the Catholic's naming it after Queen Mary, the last Catholic monarch of England, as they could not freely practice their religion in England after the rule of her sister Queen Elizabeth.

[@Prompmarccc]

Hm where im from in maryland we learned that the queen gave it the name not it being named after mary

[@rukminikrishna1938]

Henrietta Maria was the sister of Louis XIII of France

[@uragonsktv1152]

Thanks for sharing

[@keithbond9423]

​We lived in Hawai'i for several years and we were taught by several people including native Hawaiian speakers (some of whom were good friends of ours) that the name comes from combining 3 separate Hawaiian words: ha (meaning breath, or breath of life), wai (meaning water or life force), and 'i (meaning supreme) roughly translated to "the water is the supreme source of the breath of life." Interestingly, ki has a similar connotation to 'i by adding emphasis, and one of the many meanings of loa also has a similar meaning. Thus, if you look at the actual meaning of each of the compound words, Hawai'i, Hawaiki, and Hawai'iloa, they all have very similar meanings. It very well could be that a place given such a name would be associated with the place of the gods and has taken on that meaning as well.

[@Nihilitty]

3:06 texas used to have a lot of water 😂

[@danielzamora9491]

@Safwaan Yeah, but C'mon, if you can see the other side of the river from the coast, it has not to be so titanic.

[@bentleymoody9400]

@@danielzamora9491 the titanic sank at newfoundland (in canada)

[@RyanMiddleton_the_Rhino]

Nevada used to be a big lake. If the Cascadia Subduction Zone goes, Nevada will once again be a big lake.

[@RyanMiddleton_the_Rhino]

@Safwaan Tru dat. We will probably need an ocean liner to get across.

[@Vlmdo]

@Safwaan thats not the Río grande, it was a disputed territory between México and Texas known as the Nueces Strip. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as its southern border; Mexico claimed the Nueces River (150 mi north of the Rio Grande).

[@wennick4859]

General knowledge had me thinking I was saying Ojibwe wrong this whole time I had to look it up 😂

[@strigiformes5434]

I think it’a O-Jib-Way

[@wennick4859]

@@strigiformes5434 it is

[@brianlooker7913]

Glad I'm not the only one questioning my understanding of First Nations pronunciations.

[@adriennegormley9358]

@@wennick4859 I learned it as either Ojibway or Ojibwah, both acceptable. He also isn't sounding the final e on Shoshone (sho-sho-nee). At least he did admit he may be pronouncing a lot of the names wrong; give him that. There are a lot of tribes that speak Athapaskan languages, from the Apaches in the southwest well up into western Canada (which, oddly, also has a name taken from Spanish: cañada, which can mean variously path, narrow valley, etc.

[@seththeace6217]

@@adriennegormley9358 really? Canada is from cañada? I heard it was after a native word Kanata, meaning settlement, close to the same time the east was first being explored.

[@whattheduck4644]

I immediately recognized that King march in the background, at the start! Love it, played it in highschool just can't remember the name of that one, we played many King marches.

[@jonathanwaddell2716]

Franklin did become an actual state, but it only lasted 4 years from 1784 to 1788. It was the 14th state and actually Davy Crockett was born in Limestone Franklin which is now Limestone Tennessee. The state of Franklin took up a part of east Tennessee with a little of North Carolina and just a little bit of Virginia.

[@pomboe]

As a Filpino, I'm amazed that Texas was formerly known as Nuevas Filipinas.

[@derpizzaman1050]

if you look at the map at 10:58 you'll see to the left of it "New Vizcaya" which is interesting because "Nueva Vizcaya" is also a province in the Philippines.

[@worldhubtv6496]

Well you guys got your name from the Spanish Spanish/Mexicans lived in present day Texas Makes sense

[@Banom7a]

fun fact, filipino was the first asian migrant to the US (In Louisiana)

[@derpizzaman1050]

@@worldhubtv6496 yeah just weird why the spanish needed two new Vizcayas lmao

[@acenix1549]

@@derpizzaman1050 Vizcaya is a province from Spain

[@aislingrvr]

I'm from a small town in Ireland; its English name is Virginia, no need to explain that! But the Irish name is Acadh an Ùir, which means 'field of yews', after the field of yew trees which is still in the centre of the town.

[@Souliban]

Virginia is Latin, not English. Pretty common in Spain...comes from Virginidad....

[@aislingrvr]

@@Souliban I meant the name that the English colonisers imposed on it...

[@mohanmenon446]

Very informative

[@Geraldinslo]

Great video, I learned a lot

[@revatorjohn]

0:10 Aslaska?

[@jrjr648]

😂 screaming

[@General.Knowledge]

Ah yes, Aslaska, the unknown 51st state 😂

[@HairyGhostbear]

Also, Alaska is continental as well. Contiguous is the term he was looking for (and was written down)

[@JSALGang]

@@General.Knowledge haha yes

[@ejstreasurehunting6627]

My favorite state.

[@crazydogg0996]

Him: Kentucky comes from the irroquoian language... Me: IT COMES FROM THE KFC

[@burritoguy6]

I always thought it meant prairie in Iroquoian.

[@QuizVortex.1]

Great video! The content was engaging and of high quality

[@YogaWithCriss]

Very enlightening! Thanks!

[@borninjordan7448]

Fun fact: Canada 🇨🇦 means "Village" in Iroquois.

[@heikosteffens1661]

And it means "no one at home" in bavarian German ("kana da") :-)

[@Harman.s.ghotra]

@@heikosteffens1661 waaaass?!?!😂😂

[@battleman8681]

It means "home cold tree" in Roquisah

[@tonymarselle8812]

It means “friendly neighbor to the north” in American.

[@chasemarkmckenzie622]

It mean jerk in south park verse

[@schworgis8951]

This guy pronounces everything with confidence, I’m not sure if he is saying them wrong.

[@nobodytagota9813]

Anything sounds fishy to you?

[@jameskilgour387]

@@nobodytagota9813 Durham was definitely wrong, we just say "Durum" in England, don't pronounce the "ham" - same with places like Birmingham, Lewisham etc ...

[@alanwatson7560]

Predictably he pronounces Durham incorrectly. Should be "Durrum".

[@seththeace6217]

Ojibwe, at least in the Midwest, to my knowledge, is pronounced oh-jib-way.

[@marmac83]

He's totally saying them wrong. Confidence isn't always key.

[@dogoman410]

11:00 I noticed that one of the Mexican state names is New Viscaya, and when you translate New in Spanish is Nueva, making Nueva Viscaya, which is also a province in the Philippines, idk if it's anything related or what's Viscaya but I think that's how one of the philippine provinces named.

[@jr3753]

Viscaya is a province in spain

[@dogoman410]

@@jr3753 ya, that's why the Spanish added Nueva meaning new

[@MartintxoEH]

I am writing to you from Bizkaia (the official Basque name for Biscay), there was a province called the Kingdom of Nueva Vizcaya in Mexico (capital Durango, which is also a city of Basque Bizkaia and a city in Colorado) and there is a province in the Philippines called Nueva Vizcaya. All of them have the tree of Gernika and the wolves of the coat of arms of the original Biscay in their coat of arms.

[@johndodge2188]

Good show and information

[@bethhubbs9937]

Big props to this guy, taking a chance on all these pronunciations. I'm sure you did a lot better than I could have! Very interesting research you have here. Thanks for sharing.

[@xBlueWolf]

Oh wow, I've never thought about this. This is going to be so cool! Thanks for this.

[@curtf9813]

I’m from Minnesota and I’ve read about the origin of the name probably dozens of times. I’ve always heard that it comes from a Native American word meaning “sky tinted waters”.

[@user-tm2jk9ym4w]

you did pretty good with native names...i was impressed on how you said Ojibwa...my grandfather who is a Ojibwa full blood pronounced it the same way.

[@mikebrown1926]

I like the way that the language and usage is in an almost constant state of evolution, including place names. I am from Missouri, and recently was informed by a rather self important young woman that by pronouncing it as Missourah I was wrong - it should be Missouree. So I asked her the proper pronunciation of the state's largest city. When she said Saint Loois, I corrected her that it is properly San Looee, French after all.

[@raymondlugo9960]

I asked a Texan how to pronounce Amarillo. Apparently, pronouncing the Spanish name as if it is an English word is a big deal to some people.

[@MeemsKaso]

My grandpa was born in Missouri. He pronounced it the way you do. I mimicked him & call it Missourah. Is that how native Missourians say it? I live in Texas & when I mention Missourah no one tries to correct me. I’m not native to your home state. Where did that pronunciation come from?

[@dragonrings14]

This is an effect called "nativisation". Technically Amarillo and Saint Louis are Spanish and French respectively so one would think we should pronounce it how they do. But because they are nativised words they take on an English form where we pronounce it how it is spelled. This was often an effect of not knowing how the original languages sounded. Sometimes the nativisation doesn't take hold. For Arkansas people argued over whether to say Ar-kansas or Arkan-saw and ultimately the latter French way won. For Missouri we have a weird anomaly. So the French called it Missour-ee and even though the English is spelled the same way when they nativised it they felt the i at the end made it Missour-eye. Over time Missoureye became Missourah. So even though it is spelled Missouri, the English pronunciation is Missourah. But you'll find many still say Missouree like the French did.

[@mikebrown1926]

Thanks, interesting. I also will remark about how over time and possibly, local dialects, some words change beyond belief. For example, the word bedlam, which now means noise and chaos, was originally an English town named Bethlehem, but over time the locals slurred that to Bedlum or Bedlam, and it was the site a a very old mental institution, whose inmates made so much noise through their shrieks, howls and screams that the name acquired it's present usage. Or the family name Coward, as in the actor Noel Coward, was likely originally cow herd or cow herder.

[@fletchergrubbs3478]

Minnesotan here- the two words are similar but pretty much mean the same- by cloudy water it’s not meant that it’s murky, but rather that you can see the clouds in the water: so reflective. Land where the water is so clear you can see the clouds in the sky

[@amazingfireboy1848]

Thank you! This will help me name my fantasy world.

[@catherinechiara3914]

Fabulous video!!!!

[@JIKwood]

I thought Utah was named after the local tribe, the Ute's. You also missed that Utah's original proposed name (by the Mormon founders) was Deseret, meaning "honeybee" which signifies industry. This is also signified by the current flag for Utah.

[@groom_of_the_stool]

It is named after the tribe.

[@blue62show]

Dude, I’m so utah right now! Woh

[@rich9684]

Just clarification, Deseret is a word from the Book of Mormon and means honeybee. Really Utah should be called “land of big smelly lake” but I love it here.

[@JIKwood]

@@rich9684 ah, thanks for the clarification. And that works too. Or land of the Holy War.

[@rich9684]

@@JIKwood I've never really been a fan of the name "The Holy War" for the rivalry. It doesn't make a lot of sense, BYU is owned by the church whose leaders are educated at the UofU. Plus it's hard to call a game a war especially when one side loses 60% of the time.

[@solehsolehsoleh]

Hi General, I would like to suggest you use the KZbin Chapter feature so people can just click on the progress bar, the timestamp you put in the description should be written like these: 00:00 - Intro 1:53 - Alaska 2:24 - Hawaii 2:57 - California 4:48 - Nevada 5:05 - Arizona and so on.. keep up the good work General.

[@hismajesty6272]

Very well researched.

[@JoshuaC923]

Great video!

[@tatianajimenez8843]

I just saw Minnesota has two rivers: "Pomme de terre", which means Potato in French, and "Lac que parle", which means (lac QUI parle) "talking/speaking lake". It's so funny!

[@jdbb3gotskills]

We are just one potato loving talking lake up here dontcha know

[@stephaniechaffee6269]

Thank you for putting this together!! 😊

[@cjpayne677]

The story behind Vermont was the explorer Champlain who sailed down from the Quebec region, and looking upon the Vermont mountains to his east exclaimed "Verde Monte" or as mentioned "Green Mountain"

[@rtozier2011]

Thanks. This was fascinating and must have taken a lot of work. The English county where Washington is, County Durham, is pronounced 'durrum'.

[@williamwoodyard1771]

Fun fact from a Kansan: the whole "people of the south wind" is actually in reference to the way the wind blows in the Kansas and Missouri River area. If I remember correctly, as well, it was an Osage word used to describe a native tribe known as the Kaw. For which is Kaw Valley in the region is named.

[@Chompchompyerded]

Yeh, I used to always wonder if Nebraska sucked or Kansas blows. In the winter, North Dakota blows, so I guess that means Nebraska sucks no matter what. That's becoming more true by the day in so many ways.

[@zorafay8025]

Kansas was named after the Kansa Indians, who did not call themselves "People of the South Wind". For the record, we get wind from all directions. It was the French explorers who named the Kansas river.

[@williamwoodyard1771]

@@zorafay8025 So yes we get wind from all directions. However there are regions where wind direction is more predictable on a regular basis. The word Kansa is Lakota or Souix depending on your preference for the tribe. Much the same as Souix is a French word for enemy. Many of the names we use are from other tribes used to describe a people either based on relationship or region. The river was named after the people in the region, the Kansa. I will say my previous statement was incorrect Kansa is a Lakota word not Osage for as I said "people of the south wind". Now the Kansa called themselves Kaw which means "the people"

[@meadster308]

People Of The South Wind is an underrated song from the band Kansas.

[@toddaustin2198]

Freakin' awesome video! TY for dropping all this knowledge.

[@unomasentretantos]

I have heard that Arizonas name came from "Zona Arida" in spanish wich means "arid zone" in english , and even knowing that in spanish you write the noun before and then the adjetive sometimes you can do it opposite way for the name sound better , so you would take the last syllable of "arida" and then add it to zona and you got the name "Arizona" with the meanig "" arid zone "".

[@keith6032]

That is simply not true.

[@daviddesrosiers1812]

Great content, thank you. But the image of the man at 16:oo is not Adrien Block. This portrait is the English explorer Henri Hudson.

[@faultyblue9934]

In Spanish we still sometimes refer to Florida as “La Florida”, never knew why until this video

[@CATEGORIA_95]

Because Is "the flowered" maybe

[@liderpz3798]

Simply a place plenty of flowers. "La tierra florida", being "tierra" this time a territory

[@alcapone4635]

i dont know if anybody else, but I still call california "Las Californias" sounds nicer.

[@rnedlo9909]

Thank you. You put A LOT of work into this video. Good job!

[@terryschiller2625]

You are correct on Tennessee name. Even the Cherokee spelling! The Cherokee had a village named Tanasi which is pronounce in English as TA(NA-SEE)