Aussie Learns How Each U.S State Got It's Name

[@Dacre1000]

Hollywood being in a state named after a fictional country in a medieval adventure novel is the kind of shit you cant make up.

[@larryprice5658]

The area was originally named Hollywoodland because of a housing development. After the houses sold the sign was to be taken down.

[@deannyeltatzie7759]

@@Dacre1000 Are you talking about a mentally defunct one for that whole state, minus the select few there that actually have braincells, or some other kind of state entirely?

[@bevinboulder5039]

The rivers were also pretty much the only reliable method of transportation too.

[@decrox13]

Uh, Montana is extremely mountainous. It has some regions of smaller mountain ranges, plains, badlands, and canyons, but it absolutely is quite mountainous. Not sure why he said that.

[@rohan1970b]

You mentioned how interesting it was that so many were named after rivers. This reminds me of a misconception I had cleared up during my first trip to Britain. I was on the audio tour of the Tower of London and they mentioned that the "Water Gate" was in fact, the main entrance to the castle. I scoffed but didn't dispute without hard evidence. It was the very next day I was on a hiking trail next to a river (near Lullingstone Roman Villa) that it occurred to me that I could travel lightly because I could be assured of buying lunch at the Villa's gift shop, but that medieval people would have to carry all their supplies and it would be FAR easier to do that on a raft rather than on animals you would have to load/unload every day.

[@Goldenself]

The river thing comes down to how important they were to transportation, and therefore settlement, in the colonial period. People always spread out from the Atlantic coast, Gulf of mexico, or the Great Lakes, by exploring and then settling down the rivers. Also in many areas of the northeast, there was very dense forest, that made river travel essential at first. Much of the eastern 2/3 of the US is covered by a huge network of rivers, that's really the country's big advantage in agriculture and early industry during the 19th century.

[@Carly_SIU]

Geography King has some unique videos on US geography if you are interested in that kind of stuff. I particularly like his series of "Geographic Oddities" as well as his "states ranked for scenic beauty". Honestly, I really like the college football reactions so more of those would be nice as well

[@BrLoc]

That's why America has such amazing Mexican/Hispanic foods.

[@javierclyburn5688]

A fun little video I suggest would be the ranking of the 50 states welcome signs by Geography king. You would get a good laugh from it. He's very funny. Great video!

[@eacole72]

The origin of Kansas as "People of the South Wind" is the source of the name of the song by the band KANSAS. There is a series from the Discovery called "How the states got their shapes" which was really interesting as a complete history/geography nerd. I think they may have it on KZbin now.

[@am74343]

Another possible (but disputed) origin of the name "California" could come from Spanish/Portuguese "calor" which means "hot", and "forno" ("horno") which means "oven". So "Calorforno" could mean "as hot as an oven".

[@jflatley38]

Virginian here. Thanks for the vid! Here in the USA each state holds its own identity and diversity when it comes to culture and the natural environment. I have always enjoyed learning about Australian states and territories! I am particularly interested in visiting Victoria and Queensland one day. Cheers, mate! You've now got a friend in Yankeeland.

[@diddiaskew3084]

Just so you know, I'm reporting you to the board of the South.🤦🏾‍♀️ As a native Georgian, I cannot let that lie.🙅🏾‍♀️ We are not now nor never will be "Yankee land".😏🤷🏾‍♀️🇺🇦

[@ColtonRMagby]

I'm an Arkansan, and it's against state law to pronounce it any way other than "Arkansaw." I don't know why.

[@MarkSeinIII]

Probably the French influence. French doesn't pronounce the letter S if it's the last letter.

[@ColtonRMagby]

@@MarkSeinIII Could be, but I don't know.

[@bartonbagnes4605]

Utah could be translated as Top Of The Mountains. Texas ment friendly, but what happened to the people who spoke that language definitely wasn't friendly, the were all killed off. And it's no surprise so many were named after rivers, rivers were the highways before roads were built.

[@catherinesearles1194]

Are you referring to the Pilgrims slaughtering Indians on Thanksgiving day.then sitting down to eat? I assure you that never.happened.

[@bartonbagnes4605]

@@catherinesearles1194 Nope. Nor am I referring to the Trail Of Tears. I don't know who killed them, whether another tribe, the Spanish or Texans, or a combination of them. I only know they no longer exist, there is nobody alive who still speaks that language.

[@bob_._.]

Besides the State names, we have many place names from French, Spanish and Native languages. In the Great Lakes region you even get things like English misunderstandings of French transliterations of Native words.

[@calibadgerdude6082]

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the US’s river system. The entire eastern half of the country, from the Rocky Mountains east to the the Atlantic Ocean, is literally connected by a network of rivers that span from the Great Lakes in the north down to the Gulf of Mexico. The vast majority of these waterways are navigable by large boats and barges, allowing for easy and efficient transportation of goods and people throughout the eastern side of the country. Not only do these rivers provide water, they also make the central part of the country incredibly fertile, and again the interconnecting waterways allow for efficient transportation of large quantities of food throughout most of the nation. They are a big part of the reason why America is able to be self sufficient, and to be a mass exporter of goods. Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America have river networks as well, but in total coverage and in sheer total volume, none of them can get anywhere close the what North America has available to it. All that to say, yeah it’s no big surprise that so many states are named after the rivers flowing through them. lol

[@jariemonah]

Montana is the 8th most mountainous state fyi. It literally sits in the "mountain west" region. This narrator usually says a lot of wrong info or mispronounces a ton of words.

[@robertmauck4975]

Like calling the Sioux the "see-you"? Not sure why, but that one really bothered me

[@jariemonah]

@@robertmauck4975 It took that channel several videos before he finally pronounced Arkansas correctly. I don't understand how they go through the editing process and say "hmm. I don't know if any of this info is correct but let me upload it anyway."

[@carolburnett190]

That was cool! I knew a lot of it, but there was still a lot that I didn’t know. Although I knew there were states named with Native roots, I didn’t know what the root word or phrase was. Although I recognized the Native tribal names mentioned, it makes me wonder how many more there were. Once I finish reading “Rock Chronicles” and a biography of Led Zeppelin, researching Native tribes may be my next non-fiction deep dive.

[@suevillarreal9315]

Thanks for sharing this!! I'm saving this. I'm a Yankee currently living in Virginia, but have lived in several states. Like others, I knew some of this but learned a lot!

[@lingoman1]

There are several of these 'explanations' of state names, differing in some ways. I grew up knowing different terms. For California - A combination of caliente (Spanish for hot) and foria (Italian word forno for over) thus, Hot oven land (ia = land). For Texas = clay tiles as in the clay roof tiles used at the time by Spanish builders who used clay tiles particularly on the roofs of missions. These clay tiles are known as tejas (texas). Arizona - I knew as arid zone. Oregon - in Spanish can also refer to sun-dried apricots (orejon - large ear), also a person with large ears. I guess it depends on who you ask or who's information you want to adopt.

[@garyballard179]

Texas is named after the Caddo word for friend. There is absolutely no alternate explanation. The history of the Caddo people is still very relevant within the state - more so than the short-lived Mexican occupation.

[@thomasnelson6161]

To be fair, some people in the northwest of Arkansas do pronounce it r-kansas, but the way most people say it sounds a little more fancy, I guess.

[@spinalobifida]

That's great he added the territories too. Good reaction.

[@user-dl7kh4ke8h]

That was fun! Thanks!

[@user-mv4be1tc2u]

There were Ojibway peoples in Missouri also, there was a community in the county I live in named Ojibway, it had to be abandoned when Lake Wappapello was built in the 1940's

[@oliviawolcott8351]

an aussie would appreciate this. we have a mountain range called the Grand Tetons or the Tetons. alledgedly, they were named by french trappers who thought they looked like breasts.

[@marygarrison9519]

Very interesting

[@mffdvr7137]

I appreciate this as someone who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. Which is on the Missouri River.

[@mikehawk8984]

Thanks for taking a look and learning a bit about our history, it's definitely interesting whenever we can see perspectives on this stuff from outside of our own! If you enjoyed this, I'd highly reccomend a video called "13 American accents ranked easiest to hardest to understand" as it shows a bit of how truly diverse America is linguisticly, and I'd love to see if you can understand some of the more "difficult" ones 😂😂

[@alexred9111]

Cities on the western coast of the US might be extremely interesting to you. Much love from the los angeles area. Or. "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula"

[@Counterpoint1951]

The way the narrator pronounced "Allegheny" at the <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1132">18:52</a> mark is incorrect (unless there's an accent that does say it that way). It's pronounced more like "ala-gainy."

[@peggysoutherland1183]

Love it Lyle, thanks

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

In colonial years and for decades after independence, the best way to get anywhere was by water, often along the coast, but often up the many shortish rivers that flow into the Atlantic. The roads really sucked, and were often subject to attacks by highwaymen and hostile Indians/native Americans. The expansion west of the Appalachians was greatly aided by finding passes to the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers (horses or oxen pulling wagons could not take the much steeper grades that we take for granted in cars and trucks). Especially upon the Louisiana Purchase, the rivers to the Gulf of Mexico also facilitated travel. Railroads started to spread in the early 1800s, but they tended to connect population centers, so for moving into new lands, the rivers remained critical, although the flatness of the prairies made wagons practical there. Of course, rivers also meant a reliable source of drinking water without digging a well. It's no wonder that so many areas, states etc. are named after the rivers around which most of the early settlement was.

[@terrylandess6072]

And in Florida is Saint Augustine. A quick google search will provide much more, much easier than I could. I was surprised how narrow streets could be.

[@kingbaldwiniv5409]

The origin of Arizona is yet more disputed than the video provided. The O'Odham terms are one theory of native etymology, but there are 2 other competing theories which hold as much water. Officially, we don't know, and are unlikely to find out as written records were not kept by the natives and only the Spanish records exist.

[@leisastalnaker3790]

Western Nevadas border are the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Yes, it snows there, quite a lot.

[@jeremiahmowen6601]

Rivers were the major highways of travel before the railroads (yes there were also canals and turnpikes).

[@RandomDude-jl9rx]

The strongest aussie accent i have EVER heard. I already like this dude and i barely just found him! 😎👍

[@rickghastly1511]

Floridian here, Saint Augustine in Florida is the oldest city in the United States, founded in 1565 and the old Spanish fort there predates that and goes all the way back to 1514.

[@jennifercarriger6168]

Historically, waterways were so important to people back then, particularly for transportation and trade. You will find that many large cities are either along rivers or at ports. This is why I know that if I ever get lost while hiking, all I have to do is find a river or stream and then follow it downstream and eventually, I will run into a town or city.

[@johndeeregreen4592]

Most of the state of Nevada is above 5500 feet above sea level and many mountain ranges have snow on them year-round. The majority of the state sees a winter lasting 6-7 months.

[@hardtackbeans9790]

No suggestions for new videos. You are doing fine picking them yourself. In the US we are probably a little jaded to what would be interesting too someone in Australia.

[@vladyvhv9579]

Rivers were very important as they were not only a source of water, but a main method of transportation and thus important for trade routes. Some of our rivers are still used for shipping goods.

[@Dan-B]

Even though exonyms are commonly used throughout history (I.e. none native words for things and people) I still feel that when there’s historical documentation of native peoples calling something local to the area the same or a similar name to the modern name, then that’s more likely the origin of a states name. (As it’s a word that people are actually using at the time which is endemic, rather than similar words from other sources) it also makes more sense since it’s a native word likely to predate foreign settlement, colonisers often using native words in the names of settlements.

[@endoraismygma]

I did know the origin of Massachusetts (my home state) but not most of these. Although I figured most were from Indigenous languages. It's incredible realizing how many dialects there were within Native tribes. A shame how many got lost. Thanks for sharing, I learned a lot.

[@trevor3013]

Don't underestimate just how big states are. Most have every type of weather and biome. Nevada has deserts yes but also forests, mountains, snow, etc.

[@bradparnell614]

We were taught a theory in elementary school that the name Kentucky came from a word meaning dark and bloody ground. This has since been proven false but the idea came from the fact that there was no one tribe that had settled that area for very long before the Europeans came there. It was considered a lush hunting ground and was fought over by many different tribes long before America's founding. It became a very difficult place for the European settlers for this reason. Eventually of course it became settled by many people known in America as the Scots-Irish who saw the rolling green hills which reminded them of their homeland. Today you'll find a lot of Scottish/Irish culture which has evolved into Kentucky culture such as clog dancing and bluegrass music.

[@jeffwilliams2925]

So the origins of Kentucky that we're taught growing up in Kentucky has nothing to do with the Iroquois or Seneca languages. There were no permanent native settlements in Kentucky at the time when settlers were colonizing Kentucky, but there were plenty living in the states that border Kentucky. The Shawnee in Ohio and the Cherokee in North Carolina and Tennessee used to use Kentucky as a sort of hunting preserve. They would make weeks and months long hunting expeditions into the territory, but once they got enough meat to sustain their villages they'd pack up and go home. "On the Meadow" doesn't really make much sense because at the time of it's naming Kentucky was heavily wooded in the Eastern and Central regions. As a student in Kentucky, growing up, we were taught that the name Kentucky came from the Shawnee phrase Kan-tuck-hee meaning "Dark and bloody ground" which makes a lot more sense when you consider it's Native usage and the terrain at the time. Kentucky is still heavily wooded in a lot of areas, but many of those woods were cut down for timber and to clear farmland. However, in Eastern Kentucky you can still see what the majority of the state used to look like by visiting Daniel Boone National forest and Red River Gorge. Some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world in my humble opinion.

[@hannahbrown187]

A couple notes-most Americans CAN name all 50 states. In alphabetical order and to a tune, in fact! Most of us learn the “50 nifty” song in grade school. The original video says O’odham *was* am indigenous language, but O’odham *is* an indigenous language. It has not died out and some people still speak it.

[@diddiaskew3084]

I just spent 15 minutes looking for the state I forgot.🤦🏾‍♀️ No one taught me the song. I want so far as the name the capitals to try and remind me. 🙇🏾‍♀️ It turned out, I had misnumbered them. I had them all along.🤦🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️👩🏾‍🏫🇺🇦

[@hlrose71]

Northern California has been trying to cede from California for a LONG time and some people there refer to it as "Jefferson State". If you want a real eye opener, check out the original names the Spanish gave the cities of Los Angeles in California or El Paso in Texas. The names will blow your mind. (They're like 5+ words long).

[@TheKuptis]

Just an FYI... you can pause the video to comment especially since there aren't breaks between each state.

[@jimgreen5788]

He was wrong on Hawaii to a certain extent, in that he said it originally had an apostrophe between the ii. Truth be told, it still does. He then said in the AZ section that O'Odham used to be spoken there. In reality, Tohono O'Odham is the14th. most spoken tribal language in USA and Canada--15,000 speakers in AZ today.) If Washington possibly comes from Durham, England, it's 99 of 100 chance it's not DUR-ham, but DUR-um (twin city of Raleigh), as in NC. Sioux is pronounced SUE, rather than SEE-oo, during the Dakota section. The big piece of property at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="727">12:07</a> in the Louisiana section is the Louisiana Purchase (from France in 1803). I have no idea where he gets oh-WEEB-way out of Ojibwa. It's oh-JIB-wah.

[@Raven5150]

The word tennessee roughly means gathering so there is no set location the gathering itself is what the word means

[@Raven5150]

Im a tennessee native also cherokee indian decendent tennessee is a cherokee word, but its name wasnt always tennessee it was called the state of franklin and was part of what became north carolina im an 8th gen tennessean so yes we used to have a state named after franklin

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

Two points, the Louisiana purchase is a bit misleading, the French of course sold the territories they had but mostly they sold CLAIMS. They just claimed to own that land and didn't consult the actual natives Second your observation is correct, the rivers are supremely important. It's part of the reason there was no need to invent carts, the rivers were the highways of the continent and the europeans stumbled into that

[@Snoy_Fly]

I like the names.

[@easybreezy4559]

I’ve watched this video many times and I still don’t know many lol I’m also American which seems on par lol

[@kayleevernetti8157]

A lot of N. American animals are native in origin as well: Raccoon, squirrel, chipmunk etc.

[@kayleevernetti8157]

same with an overwhelming percentage of counties/towns/cities.

[@lianabaddley8217]

Utah's name comes from a native tribe, the Ute's. Means the mountain people or the people. It's a Shoshone dialect.

[@DrPluton]

I live in Indiana, and I find our state name quite boring. "Land of the Indians" is weird considering we no longer have any native population.

[@shaneyerbey8278]

🐗🐗🐗🐗 woo pig sooie razorbacks dyess Arkansas

[@ghostforce2376]

should dive into the fat electrician vids

[@gamexsimmonds3581]

You should learn about Canada

[@SGlitz]

Utah, the land of the Utes, native americans. The mormon settlers wanted Deseret.

[@regentmad1037]

freindship

[@charlesbrown4483]

Spoiler alert, they’re all anglicized versions of native words for various rivers. Not super inventive but who cares😂

[@Tijuanabill]

Louisiana was a better deal for the French, than it was for America. The British got zero dollars, so that was on the table too.

[@deannyeltatzie7759]

SPELL ALASKA CORRECTLY!

[@PatrolNation]

? when was it not spelt correctly

[@deannyeltatzie7759]

@@PatrolNation :30 seconds. It was to whomever made the video.

[@PatrolNation]

@@deannyeltatzie7759 oh good catch, i didn't even notice lol

[@AudraR]

Whoever made this original video has no idea how to pronounce some of the tribal names and words, he’s just butchering a lot of them.

[@diddiaskew3084]

I have been looking for this post. 👩🏾‍🏫🤦🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🇺🇦

[@diddiaskew3084]

I'm sorry, but it needs to be said again. He is seriously butchering tribal names.👩🏾‍🏫🙅🏾‍♀️ Sioux - Sue Shoshone - show-show- knee Ojibwe - oh-jib-way I may edit this as I feel the need arises. 🤦🏾‍♀️🇺🇦

[@markjohnson6194]

Hi there! As a Nevadan (not from Vegas) Yes, Snow Covered makes a lot of sense, if you look at a topographical map you'll understand. Have a good one!