List of South Dakota county name etymologies

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This is a list of South Dakota county name etymologies:

Aurora County: Aurora is named for Aurora, Greco-Roman goddess of the dawn.
Beadle County: Beadle is named for military officer and local leader William Henry Harrison Beadle.
Bennett County: Bennett is named for either John E. Bennett, a judge of the state supreme court, or local politician Granville C. Bennett.
Bon Homme County: Bon Homme is named after Bon Homme Island in the Missouri River. Bon homme is French for good man.
Brookings County: Brookings is named for Brookings, South Dakota, the county seat.
Brown County: Brown is named for territorial legislator Alfred Brown.
Brule County: Brule may be named for the Brule Sioux Native American people.
Buffalo County: Buffalo is probably named for the buffalo (properly American Bison) that once roamed the Great Plains.
Butte County: Butte is named for the local geographical features known as buttes.
Campbell County: Campbell is named for Newton B. Campbell of Scotland, son of the famous Gen. Charles T. Campbell, "the man whom Lincoln made a brigadier general upon condition that he should die immediately."
Charles Mix County: Charles Mix is named after Charles Mix, a commissioner of Indian affairs.
Clark County: Clark is named after Clark House, a local inn that was the county's first headquarters.
Clay County: Clay is probably named for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Henry Clay.
Codington County: Codington is named for a local circuit preacher named Reverend G.S. Codington.
Corson County: Corson is named after Dighton Corson, a Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Custer County: Custer is named after military officer George Armstrong Custer.
Davison County: Davison is named for Henry C. Davison, an important local merchant.
Day County: Day is named for Territorial legislator Merrit H. Day.
Deuel County: Deuel is named for early settler Jacob S. Deuel.
Dewey County: Dewey is named for William P. Dewey, the surveyor general of Dakota Territory from 1873 until 1877.
Douglas County: Douglas is named for United States Senator Stephen A. Douglas.
Edmunds County: Edmunds is named for Governor of Dakota Territory Newton Edmunds.
Fall River County: Fall River is named for the Fall River.
Faulk County: Faulk is named for Governor of Dakota Territory Andrew Jackson Faulk.
Grant County: Grant is named for American Civil War general and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
Gregory County: Gregory is named for C.H. Gregory, an officer stationed at Fort Randall.
Haakon County: Haakon is named for Haakon VII of Norway.
Hamlin County: Hamlin is named for Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln's first Vice President.
Hand County: Hand is named for George H. Hand, U.S. Attorney for the District of Dakota Territory.
Hanson County: Hanson was named for Joseph R. Hanson of Yankton
Harding County: Harding is named for territorial legislator J. A. Harding.
Hughes County: Hughes is named for territorial legislator Alexander Hughes.
Hutchinson County: Hutchinson is named for territorial secretary John Hutchinson.
Hyde County: Hyde is named for territorial legislator James Hyde.
Jackson County: Jackson is named for territorial legislator J.R. Jackson.
Jerauld County: Jerauld is named for territorial legislator H.A. Jerauld.
Jones County: Jones is named for Jones County, Iowa.
Kingsbury County: Kingsbury is named for territorial legislators and brothers George W. Kingsbury and T.A. Kingsbury.
Lake County: Lake is named for the region's many lakes.
Lawrence County: Lawrence is named for John Lawrence, the first treasurer of the county.
Lincoln County: Lincoln was named after Abraham Lincoln.
Lyman County: Lyman is named for territorial legislator W.P. Lyman.
Marshall County: Marshall is named for prominent county resident Marshall Vincent.
McCook County: McCook is named for military officer and Dakota Territory secretary Edwin McCook.
McPherson County: McPherson is named for American Civil War military officer James B. McPherson.
Meade County: Meade is named for American Civil War general George Meade.
Mellette County: Mellette is named for Arthur C. Mellette, the first governor of South Dakota and the last governor of Dakota Territory.
Miner County: Miner is named for territorial legislators Nelson Miner and Ephriam Miner.
Minnehaha County: Minnehaha's name is taken from a Native American word meaning river waterfall.
Moody County: Moody is named for territorial legislator and later U.S. Senator Gideon C. Moody.
Pennington County: Pennington is named for Governor of Dakota Territory John L. Pennington.
Perkins County: Perkins is named for South Dakota state legislator Henry E. Perkins.
Potter County: Potter is named for territorial legislator Joel A. Potter.
Roberts County: Roberts is named for territorial legislator S. G. Roberts.
Sanborn County: Sanborn is named for Milwaukee Railroad superintendent George W. Sanborn.
Shannon County: Shannon is named for Peter Shannon, a Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court.
Spink County: Spink is named for secretary of the Dakota Territory S.L. Spink.
Stanley County: Stanley is named for military officer David S. Stanley, long-time commander at Fort Sully.
Sully County: Sully is named for Fort Sully, which is named in turn for is founder, officer Alfred Sully.
Todd County: Todd is named for John Blair Smith Todd, the first Congressional Delegate from Dakota Territory.
Tripp County: Tripp is named for chief justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court Bartlett Tripp.
Turner County: Turner is named for territorial legislator John W. Turner.
Union County: Union was named because of pro-Union sentiment during the American Civil War.
Walworth County: Walworth is named for Walworth County, Wisconsin.
Yankton County: Yankton is named for the Yankton Sioux Native American people.
Ziebach County: Ziebach is named for local leader Frank M. Ziebach.