List of Mississippi county name etymologies

This is a list of Mississippi county name etymologies.

*Adams County: Adams is named for the 2nd U.S. President, John Adams.
*Alcorn County: Alcorn is named for Governor of Mississippi James L. Alcorn.
*Amite County: Amite is based on the Latin language word "amicus" (friend) or "amare" (to love), via the French language; the French named the Amite River in honor the friendly local Native Americans.
*Attala County: Attala is named for Attala or Atala, a fictional Native American heroine from an early 19th Century novel by François-René de Chateaubriand.
*Benton County: Benton is named for U.S. Senator from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton.
*Bolivar County: Bolivar is named for South American revolutionary Simón Bolívar who freed much of South America from Spanish rule.
*Calhoun County: Calhoun is named after U.S. Vice President and US Senator from South Carolina, John C. Calhoun.
*Carroll County: Carroll is named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, last surviving signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
*Chickasaw County: Chickasaw is named for the Chickasaw Native American people.
*Choctaw County: Choctaw is named for the Choctaw Native American people.
*Claiborne County: Claiborne is named for Governor of Mississippi Territory William C. C. Claiborne.
*Clarke County: Clarke is named for first Mississippi state chancellor and judge Joshua G. Clarke.
*Clay County: Clay is named for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Henry Clay.
*Coahoma County: Coahoma is a Native American word meaning "red panther".
*Copiah County: Copiah is a Native American word meaning "calling panther".
*Covington County: Covington is named for U.S. Army officer and Congressman Leonard Covington.
*DeSoto County: DeSoto is named for Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto.
*Forrest County: Forrest is named for Nathan B. Forrest, Confederate general.
*Franklin County: Franklin is named for Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.
*George County:George is named for James Z. George, US Senator from Mississippi.
*Greene County: Greene is named for American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene.
*Grenada County: Grenada is named for the Spanish province of Granada.
*Hancock County: Hancock is named for Founding Father John Hancock.
*Harrison County: Harrison is named for U.S. President William Henry Harrison.
*Hinds County: Hinds is named for U.S. Congressman from Mississippi Thomas Hinds.
*Holmes County: Holmes is named for David Holmes, Governor of Mississippi Territory and later Governor of Mississippi.
*Humphreys County:Humphreys is named for Benjamin G. Humphreys, Governor of Mississippi.
*Issaquena County: Issaquena is a Native American word meaning "Deer River".
*Itawamba County: Itawamba is named for Levi Colbert, a Chickasaw leader who was called "Itte-wamba Mingo", meaning "bench chief".
*Jackson County: Jackson is named for U.S. President Andrew Jackson.
*Jasper County: Jasper is named for Sergeant William Jasper who was killed during the American Revolutionary War's siege of Savannah, Georgia.
*Jefferson County: Jefferson is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
*Jefferson Davis County: Jefferson Davis is named for CSA president Jefferson Davis.
*Jones County: Jones is named for naval leader John Paul Jones.
*Kemper County: Kemper is named for Reuben Kemper, a soldier in the Seminole Wars and Mexican-American Wars.
*Lafayette County: Lafayette is named for French military officer Marquis de la Fayette.
*Lamar County: Lamar is named for U.S. Secretary of the Interior Lucius Q.C. Lamar.
*Lauderdale County: Lauderdale is named for colonel James Lauderdale, who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.
*Lawrence County: Lawrence is named for naval leader James Lawrence, famous for the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.
*Leake County: Leake is named for Governor of Mississippi Walter Leake.
*Lee County: Lee is named for Confederate American Civil War general Robert E. Lee.
*Leflore County: Leflore is named for Choctaw leader Greenwood LeFlore.
*Lincoln County: Lincoln is named for U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.
*Lowndes County: Lowndes County is named for U.S. Congressman William Jones Lowndes.
*Madison County: Madison is named for U.S. President James Madison.
*Marion County: Marion is named for American Revolutionary War guerilla leader Francis Marion, known as the "Swamp Fox".
*Marshall County: Marshall is named for Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall.
*Monroe County: Monroe is named for U.S. President James Monroe.
*Montgomery County: Montgomery is named for American Revolutionary War military leader Richard Montgomery.
*Neshoba County: Neshoba is a Native American word meaning "grey wolf".
*Newton County: Newton is named for scientist Isaac Newton.
*Noxubee County: Noxubee is a Native American word meaning "stinking water".
*Oktibbeha County: Oktibbeha is a Native American word meaning either "bloody water" (because of a battle fought on the banks) or possibly "icy creek".
*Panola County: Panola is a Native American word meaning "cotton".
*Pearl River County: Pearl River County is named for Pearl River, which early on was the site of French-run pearl fisheries.
*Perry County: Perry is named for American naval leader Oliver Hazard Perry.
*Pike County: Pike is named for explorer Zebulon Pike.
*Pontotoc County: Pontotoc is named for a Chickasaw Native American leader called Pontotoc.
*Prentiss County: Prentiss is named for Smith Prentiss, a famous speaker and debater.
*Quitman County: Quitman is named for Governor of Mississippi John A. Quitman.
*Rankin County: Rankin is named for U.S. Representative Christopher Rankin.
*Scott County: Scott is named for Governor of Mississippi Abram M. Scott.
*Sharkey County: Sharkey is named for provisional Governor of Mississippi William L. Sharkey.
*Simpson County: Simpson is named for Judge Josiah Simpson.
*Smith County: Smith is named for Major David Smith.
*Stone County: Stone is named for Governor of Mississippi John M. Stone.
*Sunflower County: Sunflower is named for the Sunflower River, which is named in turn for the sunflowers that grow along its banks.
*Tallahatchie County: Tallahatchie is named for the Tallahatchie River, the main tributary of the Yazoo River. "Tallahatchie" is a Native American name for "river of the rock".
*Tate County: Tate is named for the prominent local Tate family.
*Tippah County: Tippah is named for Tippah, wife of Pontotoc, an important Chickasaw leader.
*Tishomingo County: Tishomingo is named for a Chickasaw leader called Tishomingo.
*Tunica County: Tunica is named for the Tunica Native American people.
*Union County: Union is named for the Union which was threatened by the American Civil War.
*Walthall County: Walthall is named for military leader Edward Walthall.
*Warren County: Warren is named for American Revolutionary War officer Joseph Warren.
*Washington County: Washington is named for U.S. President George Washington.
*Wayne County: Wayne is named for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne.
*Webster County: Webster is named for American statesman Daniel Webster.
*Wilkinson County: Wilkinson is named for military leader James Wilkinson.
*Winston County: Winston is named for military leader Louis Winston.
*Yalobusha County: Yalobusha is a Native American word meaning "tadpole place".
*Yazoo County: Yazoo is named for the Yazoo Native American people.

Reference

* [http://www.natchezbelle.org/ahgp-ms/places/ The Origin of Certain Place Names in the State of Mississippi]
* [http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2007/native_america_place_names.html/ Native American Place Names in Mississippi]

ee also

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