List of U.S. counties named after women
This is a list of U.S. counties which are named for women. Items may be listed in more than one category.
Locals and settlers
- Ada County, Idaho: Ada is named for Ada Riggs, the first pioneer child born in the area and the daughter of Boise, Idaho cofounder H.C. Riggs.[1]
- Dare County, North Carolina: Dare is named for Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World who disappeared with the Lost Colony.[2]
- East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana: East Feliciana is allegedly named for Felicite de Gálvez, the wife of Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory.[3]
- Florence County, South Carolina: Florence is named for Florence Harllee, a daughter of W. W. Harllee, a president of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad.[4]
- Grainger County, Tennessee: Grainger is named for Mary Grainger Blount, the wife of William Blount, the only governor of the Southwest Territory (modern Tennessee).[5]
- Hart County, Georgia: Hart is named for Nancy Hart, a woman sharpshooter and patriot in the American Revolutionary War.[6]
- Josephine County, Oregon: Josephine is named for Virginia "Josephine" Rollins, the first European-American woman to settle in southern Oregon.
- Marshall County, Oklahoma: Marshall is named for the mother of George A. Henshaw, a delegate to the state constitutional convention, Marshall having been her maiden name.[7]
- Merrick County, Nebraska: Merrick is named after Elvira Merrick, wife of Henry W. DePuy, a territorial legislator.[8]
- Montour County, Pennsylvania: Montour is named for Madame Montour, a French-Indian woman who was involved in Native American affairs.
- Wake County, North Carolina: Wake is named for Margaret Wake, a London heiress and the wife of William Tryon, a colonial governor of North Carolina.[9]
- West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana: West Feliciana is allegedly named for Felicite de Gálvez, the wife of Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory.
Native Americans
- Angelina County, Texas: Angelina is named for Angelina, a Hasinai Native American woman who assisted early Spanish missionaries and was named Angelina by them.[10]
- Marinette County, Wisconsin: Marinette is named for Marinette, a 19th-century trader who was the daughter of a French-Canadian trapper and a Menominee woman.
- Montour County, Pennsylvania: Montour is named for Madame Montour, a French-Indian woman who was involved in Native American affairs.
- Pocahontas County, West Virginia: Pocahontas is named for Pocahontas, the famous Native American who played a leading role in the history of the first permanent English settlements in North America.
- Pocahontas County, Iowa: Pocahontas is named for Pocahontas, the famous Native American who played a leading role in the history of the first permanent English settlements in North America.
- Tama County, Iowa: Tama is named for any of several Native American chiefs or chief's wives, over which there is dispute.
- Tippah County, Mississippi: Tippah is named for Tippah, wife of Pontotoc, an important Chickasaw leader.
- Winona County, Minnesota: Winona is named after Winona, a Dakota woman of distinction who was a cousin of the last of three chiefs named Wabasha.
Famous women
Titled noblewomen and queens
- Amelia County, Virginia: Amelia is named for Princess Amelia of Great Britain, daughter of George II.
- Anne Arundel County, Maryland: Anne Arundel is named for Anne Arundell, the wife of Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore and daughter of Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour.
- Augusta County, Virginia: Augusta is named for Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales and mother of George III of Great Britain.
- Caroline County, Maryland: Caroline is named for Lady Caroline Eden, the daughter of Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore, sister of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, and wife of Robert Eden, the last colonial governor of Maryland.
- Caroline County, Virginia: Caroline is named for Caroline of Ansbach, wife of George II of Great Britain.
- Charlotte County, Virginia: Charlotte is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III of Great Britain.
- Dutchess County, New York: Dutchess is named for Mary of Modena, the Duchess of York and wife of the future King James II of England.
- Isabella County, Michigan: Isabella is named for Queen Isabella I of Castile, who patronized Christopher Columbus.
- King and Queen County, Virginia: King and Queen is named for King William III of England and Queen Mary II of England.
- Louisa County, Virginia: Louisa is named for Princess Louise, daughter of George II of Great Britain.
- Mecklenburg County, North Carolina: Mecklenburg is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III of Great Britain.
- Mecklenburg County, Virginia: Mecklenburg is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of George III of Great Britain.
- Queen Anne's County, Maryland: Queen Anne's is named for Anne, Queen of Great Britain.
- Queens County, New York: Queens is named for Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England and the wife of Charles II of England.
Saints
- St. Helena Parish, Louisiana: St. Helena is named for Saint Helena of Constantinople, the mother of Constantine the Great.
- St. Lucie County, Florida: St. Lucie was named for the Spanish-era Ais town of Santa Lucea, presumed to have been named by the Spanish for Saint Lucie of Syracuse.
- Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri: Ste. Genevieve is named after Sainte Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.
- Santa Barbara County, California: Santa Barbara is named for Saint Barbara, patroness of fire.
- Santa Clara County, California: Santa Clara is named for Mission Santa Clara, which was in turn named for Saint Clara de Asís.
Aspects of the Virgin Mary
- Assumption Parish, Louisiana: Assumption is named for the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
- Dolores County, Colorado: Dolores is named for the Dolores River, originally Rio de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores, or, in English, River of our Lady of Sorrows.
- Guadalupe County, New Mexico: Guadalupe is named for Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas.
- Los Angeles County, California: Los Angeles is named for the fact that Gaspar de Portolà's explorers reached what was then the Native American village of Yangna on August 2, 1769, the feast day of Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula (English: Our Lady, Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula).
- St. Mary Parish, Louisiana: St. Mary is named for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- St. Mary's County, Maryland: St. Mary's is named for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Fictional
Counties indirectly named for women
- Doña Ana County, New Mexico: Doña Ana is named for its first county seat of Doña Ana, New Mexico, which in turn was named for Doña Ana Robledo, a 17th-century woman known for her charitable giving.
- Fluvanna County, Virginia: Fluvanna is named for an archaic term for the James River, fluv anna or River of Anne.
- Haines Borough, Alaska: Haines Borough is named after Haines, Alaska, which is named in turn for Mrs. F. E. Haines, the community leader who raised funds for a religious mission to the local Chilkat Native American tribe.
- Judith Basin County, Montana: Judith Basin is named for the Judith River, which in turn is named for Julia Hancock, the sweetheart and future wife of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who discovered the river; the misspelling is because Clark mistook her name to be Judith.
- Santa Rosa County, Florida: Santa Rosa is named for Santa Rosa Island, which in turn is named for Santa Rosa de Viterbo (Saint Rose of Viterbo), a Catholic saint who lived in the thirteenth century.
Counties possibly named for women
- Culpeper County, Virginia: Culpeper is named for one of three members of the Colepeper family, of which two were women: Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper of Thoresway, a colonial governor of Virginia; his first wife Margaretta van Hesse, called Margaret, Lady Colepeper; or their daughter, Thomas's heir and only surviving issue, Catherine Colepeper.
- Elmore County, Idaho: Elmore is named for the Ida Elmore mines, which may have been named for a woman named Ida Elmore.
- Ida County, Iowa: Ida is named for possibly Ida Smith, the first European-American child born in the county.
- Louisa County, Iowa: Louisa is named for either Louisa Massey of Dubuque, Iowa, who, according to legend, killed the murderer of her brother; or Louisa County, Virginia.
- Maries County, Missouri: Maries is named for the Maries River, which may be named after one or more Maries.
- St. Clair County, Michigan: St. Clair is named for either Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the Northwest Territory; or Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day Lake St. Clair was discovered.
- Tama County, Iowa: Tama is named for any of several Native American chiefs or chief's wives, over which there is dispute.
See also
References
- ↑ "Ada County". Idaho.gov. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ↑ "About Dare County". Dare County. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ↑ "History of East Feliciana Parish". Feliciana Tourism.
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 127.
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 141.
- ↑ "Hart Country". Georgia.gov. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ↑ "Marshall County". Oklahoma Historical Society Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ↑ "Nebraska Place Names (1925)". NEGenWeb Project. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ↑ "Joel Lane House". United States National Park Service.
- ↑ "About". Angelina County website.
- ↑ Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. Standard Publishing Company. p. 153.
- ↑ "Bremer County History". Bremer County, Iowa. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
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