List of U.S. counties named after rivers

This is a list of U.S. counties which are named for rivers.

Counties possibly named for rivers

*Cumberland County, Illinois: Cumberland is named for either the Cumberland River or the Cumberland Road.
*San Juan County, Utah: San Juan is possibly named for the San Juan River.
*Skamania County, Washington: Skamania is named for a Chinookan word meaning "swift water".

Counties indirectly named for rivers

*Aroostook County, Maine: Aroostook is named for a Native American word meaning "beautiful river".
*Canyon County, Idaho: Canyon is named after either the Boise River or Snake River canyons.
* Coos County, New Hampshire: Coos is named for a Native American word meaning "crooked", in reference to a bend in the Connecticut River.
*Crow Wing County, Minnesota: Crow Wing is named after an island shaped like a raven's wing at the junction of the Crow Wing River and Mississippi River.
*Merced County, California: Merced is named for the Spanish word for "mercy", and was named by Spanish explorers in gratitude for water of the Merced River, which was found after a dry 40-mile trek.
*Muskingum County, Ohio: "Muskingum" is a Delaware word meaning "by the river side".
*Riverside County, California: Riverside is named for the city of Riverside.
*Sagadahoc County, Maine: Sagadahoc is named for a Native American word meaning "mouth of big river".
*Twin Falls County, Idaho: Twin Falls is named after the double falls along the Snake River.
*Yellowstone County, Montana: Yellowstone is named for the yellow rocks found along what is now known as the Yellowstone River.

A

*Alamance County, North Carolina: Alamance is named for the Alamance River.
*Allegany County, New York: Allegany is a variant spelling of the Allegheny River.
*Alleghany County, North Carolina: "Alleghany" is a corruption of the Native American Delaware tribe's word for the Allegheny River, which is said to have meant "a fine stream".
*Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: "Allegheny" is a corruption of the Native American Delaware tribe's word for the Allegheny River, which is said to have meant "a fine stream".
*Appomattox County, Virginia: Appomattox is named for the Appomattox River, which is in turn named for the Appamatucks Native American people.
*Ashtabula County, Ohio: Ashtabula was named for the Ashtabula River.
*Asotin County, Washington: Asotin is named for the Nez Percé name for Eel Creek.
*Auglaize County, Ohio: Auglaize is named for the Auglaize River.

B

*Beaver County, Oklahoma: Beaver is named for its county seat of Beaver, Oklahoma and the Beaver River, which flows through the county.
* Benzie County, Michigan is an Americanization of the French name, "Riviere Aux-Bec-Scies", for the local river.
*Blanco County, Texas: Blanco is named for the Blanco River. "Blanco" means "white" in the Spanish language.
*Boise County, Idaho: Boise is named after the Boise River. "Boise" is French for "timber".
*Bosque County, Texas: Bosque is named for the Bosque River.
*Brazoria County, Texas: Brazoria is named for the Brazos River.
*Brazos County, Texas: Brazos is named for the Brazos River.
*Buffalo County, Wisconsin: Buffalo is named for the Buffalo River.

C

*Canadian County, Oklahoma: Canadian County is named for the Canadian River, which flows through the county.
*Cassia County, Idaho: Cassia is named after Cassia Creek.
*Cedar County, Iowa: Cedar is named for the Cedar River.
*Chariton County, Missouri: Chariton is named from the Chariton River.
*Chattahoochee County, Georgia: Chattahoochee is named for the Chattahoochee River of Georgia, which also forms part of the Alabama-Georgia state line.
*Chattooga County, Georgia: Chattooga is named for the Chattooga River in northeast Georgia.
*Cheboygan County, Michigan is named for the Cheboygan River, which was itself a Native American name.
*Chippewa County, Minnesota is named after the Chippewa River, which flows through the county.
*Clear Creek County, Colorado: Clear Creek is named for Clear Creek, which runs through the county.
*Clearwater County, Idaho: Clearwater is named after the Clearwater River.
*Clearwater County, Minnesota is named after the Clearwater River and Clearwater Lake, which are both located within the county.
*Colorado County, Texas: Colorado is named for the Colorado River.
*Columbia County, Oregon: Named for the Columbia River which it borders.
*Columbia County, Washington: Columbia is named for the Columbia River.
*Coosa County, Alabama: Named for the Coosa River of Alabama & Georgia
*Cottonwood County, Minnesota is named after the Cottonwood River, which flows through the county.
*Costilla County, Colorado: Costilla is named for the Costilla River.
*Cuyahoga County, Ohio: Cuyahoga is named for the Cuyahoga River.
*Conecuh County, Alabama: Conecuh is named for the Conecuh River in southern Alabama.

D

*Des Moines County, Iowa: Des Moines is named for the Des Moines River.
*Deschutes County, Oregon: Deschutes is named for the Deschutes River.
*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".
*DuPage County, Illinois is named after the DuPage River.

E

*Eagle County, Colorado: Eagle is named for the Eagle River.
*Elk County, Kansas: Elk is named for the Elk River.
*Escambia County, Florida: Escambia is named for the Escambia River.
*Escambia County, Alabama: Escambia, AL is also named for the Escambia River.

G

*Gila County, Arizona: Gila is named for the Gila River.
*Grand County, Colorado: Grand is named for the Grand River, later renamed the Colorado River.
*Grand County, Utah: Grand is named for the Grand River, later renamed the Colorado River.
* Greenbrier County, West Virginia: Greenbrier is named for the Greenbrier River.

H

*Hillsborough County, Florida: Hillsborough is named for the Hillsborough River (Florida), which in turn is named after Wills Hill, Viscount Hillsborough, a British politician during the period of the American Revolutionary War who ordered the mapping of the river's course.
*Hocking County, Ohio: Hocking is named for the Hocking River.
*Hood River County, Oregon: Named for the Hood River, a river in the county.
*Huerfano County, Colorado: Huerfano is named for the Huerfano River. "Huerfano" is "orphan" in Spanish.
*Humboldt County, Nevada: Humboldt is named for the Humboldt River, named in turn for Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, the famous German scientist, explorer and statesman.

I

*Indian River County, Florida: Indian River is named for the Indian River, not a real river, but a long, narrow saltwater lagoon between the mainland and the barrier islands that extends above and below the county.
*Iowa County, Iowa: Iowa is named for the Iowa River and the Iowa Native American tribe.

J

*Judith Basin County, Montana: Judith Basin is named for the Judith River.

K

* Kalamazoo County, Michigan is named for the Kalamazoo River. "Kalamazoo" is an Anglicized Native American word which probably meant "boiling water".
*Kankakee County, Illinois: Kankakee is named after the Kankakee River.
*Kanabec County, Minnesota: Kanabec is named after the Snake River, which flows through the area. "Kanabec" is Ojibwa for "snake".
*Kanawha County, West Virginia: Kanawha is named for the Kanawha River.
*Kennebec County, Maine: Kennebec is named for the Kennebec River.
*Kern County, California: Kern is named after the Kern River, which is named in turn for Edward M. Kern, a topographer who accompanied John C. Frémont on an early expedition through the state.
*Keya Paha County, Nebraska: Keya Paha is named for the Dakota words "Ké-ya Pa-há Wa-kpá", which, translated, mean Turtle Hill River.
*Kings County, California: Kings is named for the Kings River.
*Koochiching County, Minnesota is named after a Cree word of uncertain meaning given by Ojibwas to Rainy River.

L

*Las Animas County, Colorado: Las Animas is named for the Las Animas River, originally "El Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio", or, in English, "River of the Souls Lost in Purgatory".
*Latah County, Idaho: Latah is named after Latah Creek.
*Lehigh County, Pennsylvania: Leigh is named after the Lehigh River; a tributary of the Delaware River.
* Limestone County, Alabama: Limestone is named for Limestone Creek, which runs through the county and has a bed of limestone.
*Little River County, Arkansas: Little River is named for the Little River.
*Loup County, Nebraska: Loup is named for the Loup River.

M

*Mahoning County, Ohio: Mahoning is named for the Mahoning River.
*Malheur County, Oregon: Malheur is named for the Malheur River.
* Manistee County, Michigan was named for the Manistee River, which in turn had Native American name meaning "river at whose mouth there are islands".
*Maries County, Missouri: Maries is named from the Maries River.
*Merrimack County, New Hampshire: Merrimack is named for the Merrimack River.
*Mississippi County, Missouri: Mississippi is named after the Mississippi River.
*Moniteau County, Missouri: Montineau is named after Moniteau Creek.
*Monongalia County, West Virginia: Monongalia is named for the Monongahela River.
* Muskegon County, Michigan is named for the Muskegon River, named for the Ojibwa language word meaning "swamp" or "marsh".
*Musselshell County, Montana: Musselshell is named for the Musselshell River, named in turn by the Lewis and Clark Expedition presumably due to mussels found on its banks.

N

*Nemaha County, Kansas: Nemaha is named for the Nemaha River.
*Nemaha County, Nebraska: Nemaha is named for "Nimaha", the Oto name meaning "miry water" for a stream which crossed the county and emptied into the Missouri River.
*Neosho County, Kansas: Neosho is named for the Neosho River.
*Niobrara County, Wyoming: Niobrara is named for the Niobrara River. "Niobrara" is Omaha for "flat or broad river".
*Nodaway County, Missouri: Nodaway is named from the Nodaway River. "Nodaway" is a Potawatomi word meaning "placid".

O

*Oconee County, Georgia: Oconee is named for the Oconee River that forms part of the county's border
* Ohio County, Indiana: Ohio is named for the Ohio River.
* Ohio County, Kentucky: Also named for the Ohio River. When the county was formed, the river formed its northern boundary, but no longer does after several new counties were carved from it.
* Ohio County, West Virginia: Also named for the Ohio River.
* Ontonagon County, Michigan is named for a river called "Nantounagon" on an early French map.
*Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Otter Tail is named after Otter Tail Lake and Otter Tail River. The river was named by the Ojibwa for its long sandbar shaped like an otter's tail.
*Osage County, Kansas: Osage is named for the Osage River.
*Oswego County, New York: Oswego is named for the Oswego River.
*Ouachita County, Arkansas: Ouachita is named for the Ouachita River.

P

*Payette County, Idaho: Payette is named after the Payette River, which, in turn, is named for explorer Francois Payette.
*Pearl River County, Mississippi: Named for the Pearl River, obviously
*Platte County, Nebraska: Platte is named for the Platte River.
*Platte County, Wyoming: Platte is named for the North Platte River. "Platte" is French for "flat".
*Plumas County, California: Plumas is named for Spanish name for the Feather River ("Rio de las Plumas"), which flows through the county.
*Powder River County, Montana: Powder River is named for the Powder River, which in turn was named for gunpowder-like sand along its banks.

R

* Racine County, Wisconsin: Racine is named for the Root River, "racine" being the French word for "root".
*Rappahannock County, Virginia: Rappahannock is named for the Rappahannock River, named in turn for the Rappahannock Native American people.
*Red Lake County, Minnesota: Red Lake County is named after the Red Lake River, named by the Ojibwa for its reddish sand and water.
*Red River County, Texas: Red River is named for the Red River.
*Redwood County, Minnesota: Redwood County is named after the Redwood River, which flows through the county.
*Republic County, Kansas: Republic is named for the Republican River, which in turn was named for the Pawnee Republic which once existed near the river.
*Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: Rio Arriba is named for its location on the upper Rio Grande. ("Rio Arriba" is "upper river" in Spanish.)
*Rio Blanco County, Colorado: Rio Blanco is named for Rio Blanco, or, in English, the White River.
*Rio Grande County, Colorado: Rio Grande is named for the Rio Grande, which runs through the county.
*Rock County, Wisconsin: Rock is named for the Rock River.
*Roseau County, Minnesota: Roseau County is named after the Roseau Lake and Roseau River.
*Rosebud County, Montana: Rosebud is named for the Rosebud River, which was named for the many wild roses along the banks of the river.

*Sacramento County, California: Sacramento is named for the Sacramento River.
*Saline County, Kansas: Saline is named for the Saline River.
*San Benito County, California: San Benito is named for San Benito Creek.
*San Juan County, Colorado: San Juan is named for the San Juan River and San Juan Mountains.
*San Juan County, New Mexico: San Juan is named for the San Juan River.
*San Miguel County, Colorado: San Miguel is named for the San Miguel River.
*Santa Cruz County, Arizona: Santa Cruz is named after the Santa Cruz River.
*Sangamon County, Illinois is named after the Sangamon River.
*Scioto County, Ohio: Scioto is named for the Scioto River.
*Sevier County, Utah: Sevier is named for the Sevier River.
*Shenandoah County, Virginia: Shenandoah is named for the Shenandoah River; Shenandoah is a Native American term meaning "beautiful daughter of the stars".
*Shiawassee County, Michigan: Shiawassee is named for the Shiawassee River.
*St. Francis County, Arkansas: St. Francis is named for the St. Francis River.
*St. Johns County, Florida: St. Johns is named for the St. Johns River.
*St. Joseph County, Indiana: St. Joseph is named for the St. Joseph River.
*St. Lawrence County, New York: St. Lawrence is named for the St. Lawrence River.
*St. Louis County, Minnesota: St. Louis is named after the St. Louis River.
*Stillwater County, Montana: Stillwater is named for the Stillwater River, named for its very slow current.
*Suwannee County, Florida: Suwannee is named for the Suwannee River, the same river made famous by Stephen Foster in his song "Old Folks at Home".
*Sweetwater County, Wyoming: Sweetwater is named for the Sweetwater River.

T

* Tallapoosa County, Alabama: Tallapoosa is named for the Tallapoosa River. "Tallapoosa" is believed to be a Choctaw word meaning "pulverized rock".
*Tippecanoe County, Indiana: Tippecanoe is named for the Tippecanoe River and the Battle of Tippecanoe.
* Tuscaloosa County, Alabama: "Tuscaloosa" was a Native American name for the Black Warrior River.
* Tuscarawas County, Ohio: Tuscarawas is named for the Tuscarawas River.

V

*Vermilion County, Illinois: Vermilion is named for both the Vermilion River and the Little Vermilion River.

W

* Wabash County, Indiana: Wabash is named for the Wabash River.
*Wabash County, Illinois: Wabash is named for the Wabash River.
*Wicomico County, Maryland: Wicomico is named for the Wicomico River. In Lenape, "wicko mekee" indicated "a place where houses are built", possibly in reference to a settlement.

Y

*Yamhill County, Oregon: Yamhill is named after the Yamhill River.Fact|date=July 2007
*Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota: Yellow Medicine County is named after the Yellow Medicine River, which flows through the county.

ee also

* County (United States)
* Lists of U.S. county name etymologies