List of South Dakota county name etymologies

This is a list of South Dakota county name etymologies:

Alphabetical, by first letter

A

* Aurora County: Aurora is named for Aurora, Greco-Roman goddess of the dawn.

B

* 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.

C

* 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.

D

* 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.

E

* Edmunds County: Edmunds is named for Governor of Dakota Territory Newton Edmunds.

F

* Fall River County: Fall River is named for the Fall River.
* Faulk County: Faulk is named for Governor of Dakota Territory Andrew Jackson Faulk.

G

* 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.

H

* 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.

J

* 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.

K

* Kingsbury County: Kingsbury is named for territorial legislators and brothers George W. Kingsbury and T.A. Kingsbury.

L

* 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.

M

* 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.

P

* 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.

R

* 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.

T

* 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.

U

* Union County: Union was named because of pro-Union sentiment during the American Civil War.

W

* Walworth County: Walworth is named for Walworth County, Wisconsin.

Y

* Yankton County: Yankton is named for the Yankton Sioux Native American people.

Z

* Ziebach County: Ziebach is named for local leader Frank M. Ziebach.

ource

* [http://www.sdcounties.org/home.cfm County Associations of South Dakota]
* [http://www.sdglaciallakes.com/history.htm South Dakota Glacial Lakes County Histories] (Incomplete)
* [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/sd/history/robinson/lxxiv.txt "History of South Dakota": Brief Sketches of the Counties]

ee also

* South Dakota
* County (United States)
* List of South Dakota counties
* Lists of U.S. county name etymologies