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US Cities with Names Derived from Indigenous Languages

Name these US cities and towns with names derived from indigenous/Native American languages.
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Quiz by nromero02
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Last updated: March 9, 2024
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First submittedMarch 9, 2024
Times taken31
Average score56.3%
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State
Origin
Hint
City
ME
Micmac: "qalipu" (snow shoveler)
Named after a horned animal
Caribou
TN
Muskogee: from "cvto" (rock)
Civil War railroad city bordering the Cumberland Plateau; names a "Choo Choo" song from the 1940s
Chattanooga
VA
Algonquin: "Chesepiooc" ("at a big river")
Shares its name with a bay between Maryland and Virginia and the largest estuary in the US
Chesapeake
WY
Dakota: "Šahíyena" (diminutive of "Cree")
Capital of Wyoming
Cheyenne
IL
Miami-Illinois: "Shikaakwa" (wild leek)
Biggest city in Illinois, home to the Bulls, Bears, Cubs, and Fire
Chicago
NC
Algonquin: (there is less vegetation)
Shares its name with a Cape and Inlet in the Outer Banks, along with a famous Lighthouse
Hatteras
CA
Ventureño Chumash: "Humaliwo ("the surf sounds loudly")
Beach city in Los Angeles County; setting of "Two and a Half Men," "Hannah Montana;" namesake of a coconut liqueur
Malibu
FL
Mayaimi: "mayaimi" (big river)
Home to the Dolphins, Heat, and Marlins
Miami
WI
Algonquin: "Millioke" ("the good/beautiful land;" "gathering place by the water")
The most populous city in Wisconsin, home to the Bucks
Milwaukee
MN
Dakota: "mníȟaȟa" (waterfall) (with Greek suffix for city)
The bigger of Minnesota's Twin Cities
Minneapolis
UT
Paiute: "moapa" (mosquitoes)
Site of both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Moab
NY
Iroquoian: "Onguiaahra" ("the strait")
Near famous transnational set of waterfalls shared with Canada
Niagara
PA
Lenape: "nekwti ahtəne" (single mountain)
Same name as the Mountain that gives Penn State its mascot
Nittany
NE
(Language is same as city): "Umoⁿhoⁿ" ("upstream people")
Nebraska's most populous city, home of Berkshire Hathaway
Omaha
RI
Algonquin: (Name is same as city): ("at the falls in the river [tidal stream]")
Fourth-largest RI city; home to Slater Mill, a symbol of the Industrial Revolution; names the Family Guy brewery
Pawtucket
FL
Choctaw: "pashi oklah" (hair people)
Westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, base of the Blue Angels flight team
Pensacola
MI
Ottawa: "Bwandiag" (the name of an Ottawan war chief
Former site of General Motors plants, namesake of a "Silverdome" and a GM companion brand
Pontiac
MD
Algonquin: approx. "Patawomeke"("place where people trade")
Named after the nearby river that also passes through Washington, DC
Potomac
PA
Lenape: "Punkwsutenay" (town of little sandflies)
Its resident groundhog "Phil" predicts the advent of spring or continuation of winter
Punxsutawney
NC
Algonquin: "rawrenoc" (a kind of shell used as money)
Its island was home of the "lost colony" that the English founded in the late 1500s
Roanoke
NY
Iroquoian: "se-rach-ta-gue" (debatably "floating scum upon the water")
It and its "Springs" neighbor were the site of a namesake Fort and Battle, the site of the turning point of the American Revolution
Saratoga
WA
Lushootseed "dᶻidᶻəlal̓ič" ("little crossing-over place")
Biggest city in the Pacific Northwest, home to the Seahawks, Mariners, and Sounders
Seattle
CA
Miwok/Pomo/Suisin(?): (valley of the moon" / "many moons"
Bay area wine city with namesake "International Film Festival"
Sonoma
AL
Muscogee: "italua" (town), and "atigi" (at the end, on the border)
South of a town with a namesake "Superspeedway" which inspired a 2006 racing film
Talladega
FL
Muscogee: "talahá:ssi" (old tribal town)
The state capital, home to Florida State University
Tallahassee
NM
(Name and language are same as city): ("(place of) red willows")
Home to a namesake "Pueblo," the northernmost in the state, having been occupied for nearly 1000 years
Taos
NY
Mohawk: "tekontaró:ken" ("it is at the junction of two waterways")
Namesake of a famous Revolutionary War fort, now also a pencil brand
Ticonderoga
KS
Kansa: "dóppikʔe" ("a good place to dig wild potatoes")
State capital of Kansas
Topeka
AZ
O'odham: "cuk ṣon" (black base)
Second-largest city in Arizona
Tucson
AL
Koasati "tasquiqui" (warriors)
Home of a historic "Institute" and its famous "Airmen"
Tuskegee
WA
Walawalałáma: same as language ("many waters")
Alliterative name with the state with a namesake river; close to the Oregon border
Walla Walla
OR
Kalapuyan/Clackamas: "Wallamt" (still water)
Shares its name with a namesake River, National Forest, and Valley in the Pacific Northwest
Willamette
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