Names with Spanish origins can be found in the West, including Colorado, New Mexico and California. Hawaii and Alaska’s names are derived from words describing the lands in the language of the native people who inhabited those areas before the arrival of Europeans.

Which US city has a Spanish name?

El Paso (Texas) — A mountain pass is a paso; the city is on a historically major route through the Rocky Mountains. Fresno (California) — Spanish for ash tree. Galveston (Texas) — Named after Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish general.

Why do states have Spanish names?

The first European explorers to chart the area now known as Nevada were Spanish, who gave the state its name because of the snow that covered the mountains during the winter. The name ‘Nevada’ derives from the nearby Sierra Nevada, which was named after the mountain range of the same name in Granada.

Is Texas a Spanish name?

The name Texas derives from a Caddo Indian word that means “friends” or “allies,” which was incorporated into the state motto: Friendship.

Is Idaho a Spanish name?

“Idaho” was created by mining lobbyist George M. Willing, who insisted it was a Native American Shoshone expression meaning “gem of the mountains” for the area around Pike’s Peak. By the time it was discovered the name was phoney, it was already being used.

Is Chicago a Spanish name?

The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion; it is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as “ramps”.

Is Florida a Spanish word?

U.S. state, formerly a Spanish colony, probably from Spanish Pascua florida, literally “flowering Easter,” a Spanish name for Palm Sunday, and so named because the peninsula was discovered on that day (March 20, 1513) by the expedition of Spanish explorer Ponce de León.

Is Colorado a Spanish name?

Contents. The name of our state, Colorado, has its origin in the Spanish language, as the word for “colored red.” This was the name chosen for Colorado as a Territory in 1861 by Congress.

Is Arizona a Spanish word?

The state’s name appears to originate from an earlier Spanish name, Arizonac, derived from the O’odham name alĭ ṣonak, meaning “small spring”. Initially this term was applied by Spanish colonists only to an area near the silver mining camp of Planchas de Plata, Sonora.

What city in Texas has a Spanish name?

San Antonio (Texas): “Saint Anthony” (of Padua). On the feast day of St. Anthony in 1691, Spanish explorers found and named the eponymous river. Later the name was given to the city, which was founded in 1718.

Is Los Ángeles a Spanish name?

The Beginnings of The City Of Los Angeles



The name comes from the Spanish language about a river called – El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles de Porciúncula. El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles was the second pueblo (town) created during the Spanish colonization of California.

What does Florida mean in Spanish?

Ponce de Leon claimed the land for Spain, calling it La Florida, the Spanish name for flowery, covered with flowers, or abounding in flowers.

What does Arizona mean in Spanish?

What does “Arizona” mean? The exact evolution of the name Arizona is debated by historians; the Spanish called the area Arisona, Arissona or Arizona, based on native American word(s) translated as meaning “silver-bearing” or “place of the small spring.” All State Name Origins.

Why does California have so many Spanish names?

This was over half of the landmass of Mexico, gone in an instant. Tough blow for a new country! When the United States took over all of its new territory in the west, many of the Spanish names stuck. That is why the names of all of the major cities in California are in Spanish.

Is Alabama a Spanish name?

ALABAMA: From an Indian tribe of the Creek Confederacy originally called the Alabamas or Alibamons, who in turn gave the name to a river from which the State name was derived. ALASKA: From Eskimo word “alakshak”, meaning peninsula; also said to mean “great lands.”

Is California a Spanish name?

1. California’s name is derived from a bestselling novel.



The story was so popular that when Spanish explorers under the command of Hernan Cortes landed on what they believed to be an island on the Pacific coast, they named it California after Montalvo’s mythical island.

What city in Texas has a Spanish name?

San Antonio (Texas): “Saint Anthony” (of Padua). On the feast day of St. Anthony in 1691, Spanish explorers found and named the eponymous river. Later the name was given to the city, which was founded in 1718.

Which U.S. state is named after the Spanish word for snow?

Nevada comes from the Spanish Sierra Nevada (which is also a mountain range in Spain), meaning snowy mountain range (Nevada is the Spanish feminine form of snowy).

Is Colorado a Spanish name?

Contents. The name of our state, Colorado, has its origin in the Spanish language, as the word for “colored red.” This was the name chosen for Colorado as a Territory in 1861 by Congress.

Is Florida a Spanish word?

U.S. state, formerly a Spanish colony, probably from Spanish Pascua florida, literally “flowering Easter,” a Spanish name for Palm Sunday, and so named because the peninsula was discovered on that day (March 20, 1513) by the expedition of Spanish explorer Ponce de León.