List of place names of French origin in the United States
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Several thousand place names in the United States have names of French origin, some a legacy of past French exploration and rule over much of the land and some in honor of French help during the American Revolution and the founding of the country (see also: New France and French in the United States). Others were named after early Americans of French, especially Huguenot, ancestry (Marion, Revere, Fremont, Lanier, Sevier, Macon, Decatur, etc.). Some places received their names as a consequence of French colonial settlement (e.g. Baton Rouge, Detroit, New Orleans, Saint Louis). Nine state capitals are French words or of French origin (Baton Rouge, Boise, Des Moines, Juneau, Montgomery, Montpelier, Pierre, Richmond, Saint Paul) - not even counting Little Rock (originally "La Petite Roche") or Cheyenne (a French rendering of a Lakota word). Fifteen state names are either French words / origin (Delaware, New Jersey, Louisiana, Maine, Oregon, Vermont) or Native American words rendered by French speakers (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Wisconsin).
The suffix "-ville," from the French word for "city" is common for town and city names throughout the United States. Many originally French place names, possibly hundreds, in the Midwest and Upper West were replaced with directly translated English names once American settlers became locally dominant (e.g. "La Petite Roche" became Little Rock; "Baie Verte" became Green Bay; "Grandes Fourches" became Grand Forks).
Alabama
[edit]- Albertville
- Barbour County
- Bay Minette (named for a French surveyor)[1]
- Bayou la Batre ("Bayou of the Battery")[2][a]
- Belle Fontaine ("Beautiful Fountain")[3]
- Belle Mina ("belle" meaning beautiful + mina)[3]
- Bon Air ("Good Air")[4]
- Bon Secour ("Good Rescue")[4]
- Centreville (City-center, or Downtown. Note the "re" spelling of centre, as opposed to "er" as in center)
- Citronelle (named after the citrus trees)[4]
- Daphne
- Dauphin Island (The island was originally named "Ile Dauphine" after Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the Dauphine (crown princess) of France in 1711).[5]
- DeArmanville[4]
- Decatur (named for Stephen Decatur)[6]
- Decatur County (named for Stephen Decatur)[6]
- Delchamps (named for a postmaster)[6]
- Detroit[7]
- Dozier ("D'osier" means "of wicker" in French.)[4]
- Fayette County (for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette)[7]
- Gasque (named for a state representative)[8]
- Grand Bay[9]
- Grande Batture Islands
- Isle aux Dames (Island of the ladies)
- Isle aux Herbes (Island of the herbs)[10]
- LaFayette (for the Marquis de Lafayette)[11]
- Lamar County
- Lanett (for a settler named Lanet)[11]
- Lapine ("rabbit")[11]
- Le Moyne (The Monk, old spelling)
- Leroy ("le roi" meaning "king")[11]
- Magnolia (named for the plant, which was named for botanist Pierre Magnol)[11]
- Malbis
- Marion (named after Francis Marion, patriot of the American Revolution and of Huguenot ancestry)[12]
- Mentone (after Menton)[13]
- Mobile (French name for the indigenous Mauvilla tribe)[14]
- Mobile County[14]
- Moulton (after a settler)[15]
- Mon Louis (for Louis XIV)[16]
- Montrose
- Ozark[15]
- Perdue Hill[15]
- Piedmont[15]
- Semmes (for Raphael Semmes)[17]
- Vinemont (from "Vigne Mont," meaning "Grape Mountain")[15]
Alaska
[edit]- Flambeau River[18]
- Gastineau Channel named after John Gastineau, an English Civil Engineer and Surveyor with a French surname.[19]: 361–362 Compare with Gatineau, Quebec.
- Juneau named after Joseph Juneau, French-Canadian prospector and gold miner[19]: 480
- La Chaussée Spit at the entrance of Lituya Bay. Named originally in charts prepared by French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse in 1786. La Chaussée means "causeway".[20]
- Mount La Pérouse (3231 m) and La Pérouse Glacier in the Fairweather Range of Alaska, both named after French explorer and naval captain Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse[20]
- Latouche Island ("the touch")[21]
- Lemesurier Island[21]
- Mount Crillon (for Felix-Francois-Dorothee de Bretton, Comte de Crillon)[21]
Arizona
[edit]- Bellemont, Arizona ("beautiful mountain")[22]
- Chevelon Creek[22]
- Clemenceau (Named after the French prime minister during World War I)[23]
- Picket Wire (Corruption of the French Purgatoire, "Purgatory")
- Peridot[24][25]
Arkansas
[edit]- Arkansas (named by French explorers from aboriginal word meaning "south wind")[26]
- Antoine ("Anthony")[27]
- Aurelle
- Auvergne (a French region)
- Barraque Township[28]
- Bauxite, Arkansas[26]
- Bayou[28]
- Bayou Meto, Arkansas County, Arkansas[29]
- Bayou Meto, Lonoke County, Arkansas[29]
- Beauchamp (fair of beautiful field or plain)
- Beaudry
- Belleaire (from "belle aire", beautiful place)
- Belleville ("Beautiful City")
- Bellefonte (maybe from "belle fontaine", beautiful fountain)[26]
- Boeuf ("Beef")[30]
- Bonair (good air)
- Buie
- Burdette
- Cache[30]
- Cadron ("sun dial")[30]
- Calumet The French word for a Native American tobacco pipe.
- Calvin (Anglicized version of Cauvin, famous French Protestant)
- Champagnolle (meaning a person from Champagne)[30]
- Chancel
- Chicot County (a stump)[30]
- Claude
- Cloquet
- Cossatot River ("tomahawk")[30]
- Dardanelle, Arkansas[31]
- Darcy
- DeGray Lake ("sandstone")[32]
- De Roche (of the rock)
- Deberrie
- Decatur
- Delaplaine (Of-the-plains, surname)
- Departee
- Devue[32]
- Des Arc ("At the bend")[32]
- Dumas (French surname, possibly for Alexandre Dumas)[26]
- Ecore Fabre[32]
- Fayetteville (named for French general, Marquis de La Fayette)[26]
- Fontaine ("Fountain", a surname)
- Fourche ("Pitchfork")
- Fourche Lafave
- Fourche Valley
- Francure
- Frenchman's Bayou[33]
- Galla Rock (from "gallets," meaning pebbles)[32]
- Gallatin
- Glazypeau Mountain (Anglicization of "Glaise à Paul," meaning "Paul's clay pit")[34]
- Grand Glaise ("Large Clay")[34]
- Gravette
- Guion, Arkansas (named for a railroad conductor of French-Canadian descent)[33]
- La Fave ("bean")[34]
- La Grue (the crane)[34]
- La Grue Springs
- Lacrosse[33]
- Ladelle
- Lafayette County
- LaGrange ("the barn" (possibly for the plantation of the Marquis de Lafayette))[33]
- Lamartine (French author Alphonse de Lamartine, also a surname)
- L'Aigle Creek ("the eagle")[34]
- L'Anguille ("The Eel")[34]
- Lapile ("a pile," possibly a surname)[34]
- Larue (the street)
- Latour (the tower)
- Lave Creek
- Levesque ("Bishop", a common French-Canadian surname)
- L'Eau Frais Creek[34]
- Macon (French city "Mâcon")
- Magnolia, Arkansas (named for the plant, which was named for the botanist Pierre Magnol)[33]
- Marais Saline (saline marsh)[34]
- Marche
- Maumee
- Maumelle (breasts)[29]
- Monette
- Mont Sandels
- Montreal (royal mount)
- Moreau (feedbag, probably a family's proper name)[29]
- Mount Magazine ("Magasin," meaning barn or warehouse)[34]
- New Gascony (Gascony)
- Ozan, Arkansas[35]
- Ozark (phonetic rendering of either aux Arks, "of the Ark(ansas)" or aux Arcs, "of the arches", or possibly aux arcs-en-ciel, "of the rainbows")[35]
- Ozark Mountains as per immediately above[35]
- Paris[35]
- Paroquet
- Partain
- Petit Jean ("Little John" named after a French sailor on the Arkansas River)
- Pollard
- Prairie County ("prairie, meadow")
- Saline County[36]
- Sans Souci (literally without concern)
- Segur (French city)
- Sevier County
- Smackover (Anglicization of chemin couvert, "covered way")[35]
- Soudan
- St. Francis County
- Terre Noire (black earth)[36]
- Terre Rouge (redland or red earth)
- Tollette
- Tully
- Urbanette
- Vallier (French surname)
- Vaucluse (French region)
- Vaugine Township
- Vidette
- Villemont (ville = city, mont = mount)
California
[edit]- Alsace (Region in France bordering Germany)
- Artois (named after Artois, France)[37]
- Auburn[37]
- Beaumont[37]
- Bel Air ("Beautiful Air")[38]
- Belfort ("Beautiful Fort")[38]
- Belmont ("Beautiful Mount")[37]
- Bettravia ("betterave," meaning beet)[37]
- Bijou ("gem")[39]
- Bonnefoy ("Good Faith")
- Bouquet Canyon[39]
- Brisbane (French "brise" and Old English "bane," meaning bone)
- Butte County[39]
- Chalfant
- Claremont ("clear mountain")[40]
- Concord (from French "concorde" meaning agreement, harmony, or union)
- Coutolenc (after a French factory owner)[40]
- Declezville (after a French factory owner)[40]
- Delano (after Columbus Delano, a scion of the famous Delano Family, originally Huguenots named "De Lannoye")[41]
- Disneyland (after Walt Disney, a descendant of the Norman family d'Isigny (Isigny, Normandie, France))
- Fremont (named for John C. Frémont, American soldier, explorer and politician of French ancestry)[42]
- Friant (named for a sugar farmer)[43]
- Gasquet (named for a settler from France)[44]
- Giraud Peak[45]
- Guerneville
- Huron[45]
- Lafayette (named for the French general Marquis de La Fayette)[45]
- La Grange ("The Barn", after Lafayette's home in France)[45]
- La Grange Reservoir[45]
- La Porte ("The door")[45]
- La Verne[46]
- Lebec (Le bec = "the beak")[46]
- Le Grand ("The Big")[46]
- Montague (pointed hill)
- Montclair ("Clear Mountain")
- Montrose ("Rose Mountain")[46]
- Nice (After French city of the same name)[47]
- Nord ("North")[b]
- Orleans[48]
- Piedmont (French spelling of the Piedmont region of Italy)[49]
- Richmond (After Virginian city of the same name with French origins)
- Rubidoux (named for Louis Rubidoux)[48]
- San Francisco (named after Saint Francis of Assisi, who had received that name because his mother was French or as a tribute to France)
- Sicard Flat[50]
- Simmler[50]
- Vichy Springs (After French city of the same name)[50]
Colorado
[edit]- Ault
- Bellevue ("Beautiful Sight" or View")[51]
- Berthoud
- Berthoud Pass and town of Berthoud
- Bethune (named for Béthune)[52]
- Bijou Creek (from bijoux meaning "jewel"; possibly also after Joseph Bijeau)[53]
- Cache La Poudre River ("hide the powder" or "powder cache")[54]
- Calumet[54]
- De Beque
- Florissant (from "flowering")[55]
- Fremont County (for John C. Fremont)[56]
- Grand County
- Lafayette[55]
- Lamar
- Laporte ("The Door", a common French Canadian surname)[55]
- La Salle ("The Room", surname)[55]
- Louisville (for a coal miner)[57][58]
- Louviers (after Louviers by way of the town in Delaware)[58]
- Lyons (a city in France)
- Mount Audubon (for John James Audubon)[57]
- Montclair ("Bright or "Clear Mountain")[59]
- Montrose (Rose-mount)
- Montrose County
- North and South Platte Rivers ("dull, shallow")[57]
- Parachute
- Parachute Creek
- Platteville[57]
- Poudre Park ("gunpowder")[60]
- Purgatoire River[57]
- St. Vrain Creek (after Ceran St. Vrain)[61]
- Sublette[57]
- Vernon
Connecticut
[edit]Delaware
[edit]- Delaware named after Lord de la Warre (Anglo-Norman surname originally de la Guerre meaning; "of the war")[62]
- Bellefonte ("beautiful fountain")[62]
- Bellevue ("beautiful view")[62]
- Granogue[62]
- Guyencourt[62]
- Magnolia[63]
- Montchanin[63]
Florida
[edit]- Abbeville Road
- Amiens Way
- Antibes Street
- Avalon
- Barrineau Park
- Bayou George
- Belandville (failed "colony" in northern Santa Rosa County, approximately one mile south of its border with Escambia County, Alabama)
- Belle Glade ("beautiful" glade)
- Belle Isle
- Belleview ("beautiful" view)
- Belfort Road
- Belmont
- Bermont
- Bordeaux Villages
- Boulogne
- Brevard County
- Brittany
- Cambon
- Cannes Street
- Chancey
- Chantilly Acres
- Clermont
- Decatur Avenue
- Destin ("destiny")
- Dijon Drive
- DuBois Park
- DuPuis Reserve
- Duval County (named for William Pope DuVal)
- Eau Gallie ("rocky water")
- Eloise
- Fort Caroline
- Fontainebleau
- Frontenac
- Grenoble Drive
- Huguenot Lagoon
- Huguenot Memorial Park
- Isle of Normandy
- LaBelle ("The Beauty", "The Beautiful" or "Beautiful Woman")
- Lafayette County
- Lafayette
- Lafayette Oaks
- La Grange
- La Rochelle Drive
- Lake Beauclair
- Lake Lorraine
- Le Havre Drive
- Le Palais (named after Le Palais)
- Lorraine
- Lyons (derived from Lyon)
- Lyons Park
- Macon, Leon County
- Macon
- Marion County
- Marseilles
- Metz Road
- Montclair ("Bright Mountain")
- Montpelier Villages
- Montreal Drive
- Monet
- Navarre (Navarre)
- Navarre Beach
- Normandy Beach
- Normandy Estates
- Normandy Manor
- Normandy Shores
- Normandy Village
- Normandy, Duval County
- Orleans Lane
- Paris Lane
- Pierre Lane
- Port Saint Lucie (Lucie is French for Lucy)
- Poitier Drive (derived from Poitiers)
- Provence
- Rennes Lane
- Ribault River (named for Jean Ribault leader of the Huguenot colony Fort Caroline in early Florida whose inhabitants were massacred by the Spanish)
- Toulouse Lane
- Versailles
Georgia
[edit]- Beaulieu ("pretty place")
- Berrien County
- Decatur
- Decatur County
- Fannin County
- Fayette County (named for the French Estate of Marquis de Lafayette)
- LaGrange ("The Barn")
- Lanier County
- Macon ("mason")
- Valdosta (named after the French-speaking region of Val d'Aoste in the Italian Alps)
Hawaii
[edit]- Fort DeRussy (named for General René Edward De Russy and his brother Lewis, soldiers of Huguenot ancestry)
- French Frigate Shoals
- La Pérouse Bay named after Jean-François de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse, first European to visit the island of Maui
- La Pérouse Pinnacle located in the French Frigate Shoals, Hawai'i
Idaho
[edit]- Arbon
- Bellevue ("Beautiful View")
- Blanchard (French surname)
- Boise (from boisé, "Wooded")
- Bonneville County (named after Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796–1878), a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper and explorer)
- Bovard
- Bruneau (French surname)
- Cache ("hidden")
- Coeur d'Alene ("Heart of the Awl")
- Culdesac ("Dead End")
- Dubois ("of the wood")
- Fremont County
- Grandjean
- Grangeville ("barn city")
- Jacques
- Labelle
- Laclede
- La Fleur ("the Flower")
- Malad City (from malade, French for "sick")
- Michaud (French surname from Michel (Michael))
- Montour
- Montpelier
- Nez Perce County (from the Nez Perce Tribe's name "nez percé" meaning "pierced nose")
- Paris
- Payette (named after François Payette)
- Pierre's Hole
- Ponderay (from pend oreille, "earring")
- Simplot
- St. Maries
- Teton ("Teat")
- Thiard
Illinois
[edit]- Illinois, French version of Illini, a local Native American tribe
- Illinois River
- Beaucoup Creek (plenty good)
- Belle Rive ("Beautiful Bank") (French military commander)
- Belleville ("Beautiful City")
- Bonpas Creek ("Good Step")
- Bourbonnais (named for François Bourbonnais, Sr., a fur trader)
- Bureau County ("Office"; person's name)
- Cache River (hidden river)
- Champaign (from Champaigne, a French surname)
- Chicago, although not a French place name in itself, shikaakwa or "wild onion" in the Native-American Miami-Illinois language, the pronunciation of the "chi" (as opposed to the "chi" as in China) is the result of early French settlement
- Creve Coeur ("Heartbreak"; early French fort)
- Decatur
- DePue (named for an early French fur trader by the name of De Pue)
- Des Plaines ("of the Plains")
- Des Plaines River
- Du Bois (from the woods)
- DuPage River
- Du Quoin (name of an Illiniwek chief)
- Embarrass ("Predicament")
- Fayette County (after LaFayette)
- Fort Massac
- Hennepin (named in honor of the 17th-century French explorer Father Louis Hennepin)
- Joliet (named after explorer Louis Jolliet)
- La Fayette
- La Grange ("The Barn")
- La Moille
- La Moine River ("The Monk", after an early monastery)
- La Salle (named after explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle literally means "the Hall.")
- L'erable, Illinois (Settled by French Canadians)
- Libertyville
- Marion
- Marseilles (after Marseille)
- Massac (French Minister)
- Menard County (after Pierre Menard)
- Prairie du Rocher ("Prairie of the Rock")
- Paris
- Rochelle
- St. Anne (Anne is spelled in French. Founded by French-speaking Canadians. See Charles Chiniquy)
- St. Georges (Note: retains the silent "s" from the French)
- Sublette
- Toulon
- Versailles (for the French city and palace)
Indiana
[edit]- Bourbon
- Clermont
- Decatur
- Decatur County
- Delaware County
- De Motte ("the mound")
- Dubois County
- Dunkirk
- Fayette
- Fayette County
- Ferdinand
- Fremont
- French Lick
- Fugit
- Jay County
- La Crosse
- La Fontaine
- La Porte (named by French explorers travelling up from the south, this area was the first clearing or "door" out of the heavy woods to the south.)
- La Porte County
- Lafayette (named for the French general, Marquis de Lafayette)
- LaGrange County
- Ligonier
- Marion County
- Montpelier
- Napoleon
- Notre Dame ("Our Lady")
- Orleans
- Portage
- Saint Croix
- Saint Leon, Indiana
- St. Paul
- Sedan
- Terre Haute ("High Ground")
- Vernon
- Versailles
- Vevay
- Vincennes (named for François Marie Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes)
Iowa
[edit]- Audubon
- Belle Plaine
- Belleville
- Bellevue
- Belmond
- Belmont
- Bennezette
- Bonaparte
- Bondurant
- Boyer
- Chariton
- Clutier
- Couler Valley ("To Flow," also namesake for the Couler Creek)[64]
- Decatur City
- Decatur County
- Des Moines 41°35′27″N 93°37′15″W / 41.59083°N 93.62083°W (from Rivière des Moines, "River of the Monks", the river flowing through the city)
- Dubuque (named after explorer Julien Dubuque)
- Durant (French surname)
- Fayette (town and county, named after the French Marquis de LaFayette who served in the Revolutionary War)
- Fontanelle
- Fort de la Trinité
- Fremont
- Giard, Iowa
- Lafayette
- La Grange ("The Barn")
- La Motte
- La Porte ("The Door")
- Le Claire
- Le Grand ("The Great")
- Le Mars ("March")
- Le Roy ("The King")
- Lyons, Iowa (named after the French city, Lyon)
- Marion, Iowa (named after Francis Marion, Revolutionary War hero of a S. Carolinian French Huguenot family)
- Marquette
- Martelle
- Mondamin
- Montpelier
- Muscatine
- Orleans (French city of Orléans)
- Paris
- Platte
- Prairie
- Rinard
- Tête des Morts ("Head of the Dead Ones")[65]
Kansas
[edit]- Belleville
- Belle Plaine
- Bourbon County
- Decatur County
- La Cygne ("The Swan"; after the Marais des Cygnes River, which was named by French explorers)
- Labette County, named after Pierre La Bette, an early settler of French origin
- Lecompton
- LeLoup "The Wolf"
- Marais des Cygnes River
- Marion County
- Reno County, named after Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed in the American Civil War. (Reno's family name was a modified version of the French surname "Renault".)
- St. Francis
- Sedan
- Sublette, Kansas
- Toulon (most likely named for the French city)
- Wyandotte County, French spelling of the name of an Indian tribe who were also known as the Hurons by the French in Canada
Kentucky
[edit]Cities
- Bellefonte
- Bellemeade
- Bellevue ("Beautiful Sight")
- La Center
- La Grange
- LaFayette
- Louisville (named in honor of King Louis XVI in 1778)
- Paris
- Versailles
Counties
- Bourbon County (name for House of Bourbon, European Royal House)
- Fayette County (named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette)
- Gallatin County (named for Albert Gallatin, Swiss American and Secretary of State)
- LaRue County (named for John LaRue, early Kentucky settler)
- Marion County (named for Francis Marion, a hero of the American Revolution of French Huguenot ancestry)
Louisiana
[edit]- Louisiana (Louisiane in French - named in honor of King Louis XIV of France in 1682)
- Abbeville (after Abbeville, France) (One of several communities in the United States named "Abbeville".)
- Algiers New Orleans neighborhood
- Ascension Parish, named from the French l'Ascension
- Arnaudville
- Assumption Parish, named from the French l'Assomption
- Audubon New Orleans neighborhood
- Avoyelles Parish
- Baton Rouge ("Red Stick")
- Bayou Cane
- Bayou Chicot
- Bayou Gauche ("Left Bayou")
- Bayou Grande Cheniere Mounds
- Bayou L'Ourse
- Beauregard Parish
- Belle Alliance ("Beautiful Alliance")
- Belle Chasse ("Beautiful Hunting")
- Belle d'Eau
- Belle Rose ("Beautiful Rose")
- Belmont
- Bienville Parish
- Blanchard (named after a Louisiana governor of French ancestry)
- Bonnet Carré, flood prevention spillway on the Mississippi River ("square bonnet")
- Bossier City (after Pierre Bossier)
- Bossier Parish
- Bourg (ancient French word for "town")
- Breaux Bridge
- Breton National Wildlife Refuge (on and around Breton Island)
- Broussard (after merchant Valsin Broussard, of Acadian descent)
- Butte La Rose
- Calcasieu
- Cancienne
- Chalmette ("Pasture land, fallow land")
- Chandeleur Islands
- Charenton (named after Charenton asylum)
- Chataignier ("Chestnut tree")
- Chauvin
- Chenier Au Tigre ("Tiger oak tree")
- Chenal
- Cocodrie (dialect word for "crocodile")
- Cossinade
- Coteau Bourgeois ("Bourgeois hill")
- Davant
- Delacroix Island
- Delcambre
- Des Allemands ("of the Germans")
- Destrehan (named in honor of Jean Noel Destréhan, Creole politician)
- Deville
- Dulac ("of the lake")
- Evangeline Parish
- Faubourg Marigny New Orleans neighborhood
- Faubourg Tremé New Orleans neighborhood
- Fontainebleau New Orleans neighborhood
- Fort De La Boulaye
- Garyville
- Gentilly New Orleans neighborhood
- Grand Bayou ("great bayou")
- Grand Ecaille ("great scale")
- Grand Ecore
- Grand Isle ("great island")
- Grand Chenier ("great oakwood")
- Grand Coteau ("great hill")
- Grosse Isle ("big island")
- Grand Point
- Grand Prairie ("great meadow")
- Grosse Tête ("fat or big head")
- Gueydan
- Iberville Parish (named for Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville)
- Iberville Projects New Orleans neighborhood
- Jean Lafitte (named for Jean Lafitte, a famous pirate)
- Labadieville
- Lacamp
- Lacassine ("small house")
- LaCour
- Lacombe
- Lafayette (named for the Marquis de La Fayette)
- Lafitte Projects New Orleans neighborhood
- Lafourche Parish (from la fourche, referring to a forked path)
- Lake Borgne ("one-eyed")
- Lake Pontchartrain
- L'Anse Grise ("the gray cove")
- LaPlace (named for early settler Basile LaPlace.)
- Larose ("the rose")
- Lebeau ("the beautiful")
- Le Blanc ("the white")
- Lecompte
- Leonville
- Le Moyen
- Loreauville
- Marchand
- Mandeville (named for developer Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville)
- Maringouin (Cajun French in origin and means "mosquito")
- Marion (named after an American soldier of Huguenot ancestry)
- Maurepas
- Meaux (after the town of Meaux)
- Meraux
- Mermentau
- Mer Rouge ("red sea")
- Metairie (from a French word for sharecropping)
- Michoud New Orleans neighborhood
- Montegut
- Montpelier
- Moreauville
- Napoleonville (for French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte)
- New Orleans (named for the duke of Orléans, France)
- Ossun (named after the town of Ossun)
- Paincourtville ("short of bread town")
- Paradis ("Paradise")
- Parlange
- Pierre Part
- Plaisance
- Plaquemines Parish
- Plaucheville
- Point Au Fer Reef Light
- Pointe aux Chenes ("Oak Point")
- Pointe à la Hache ("Axe Spike")
- Pointe Coupee Parish (from pointe coupée, "cut spike")
- Port Barre
- Port Fourchon
- Pont Des Mouton
- Prairieville ("meadow town")
- Presquille (from presqu'île, "peninsula")
- Provencal
- Rosaryville
- Saint Benedict
- Saint Bernard
- Saint Maurice
- St. Amant
- St. Claude New Orleans neighborhood
- St. Francisville
- St. Gabriel
- St. Landry Parish
- St. Malo
- St. Martinville (originally named Poste des Attakapas-Atakapas Post)
- St. Roch New Orleans neighborhood
- St. Rose
- Saline
- South Vacherie
- Terrebonne Parish ("Good Land")
- Timbalier Island ("timpani player")
- Tulane/Gravier New Orleans neighborhood named after Paul Tulane, philanthropist and son of Louis Tulane, a French immigrant
- Vacherie ("Cowshed")
- Verdun
- Versailles
- Vieux Carré ("Old Square") also known as the French Quarter in New Orleans
- Ville Platte ("Flat City")
Maine
[edit]- Maine (one theory suggests the state was named after the historic French province of Maine)
- Cadillac Mountain (named after explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac)
- Calais (after Calais, France)
- Caribou
- Castine
- Deblois
- Detroit
- Fayette
- Fort Pentagouet
- Grand Isle
- Isle au Haut
- Lagrange
- Lamoine
- Minot
- Montville
- Mount Desert Island
- Paris
- Presque Isle (from the French word "presqu'île" meaning "peninsula"--- from presque meaning "almost", and isle meaning "island". The town is surrounded on three sides by water, and therefore is "almost an island")
- Portage Lake
- Roque Bluffs
- Saint Croix Island
- St. Francis River
- Saint John River
- Tremont
Maryland
[edit]- Bel Air ("Good Air")
- Crapo (from crapaud, 'toad')[66]
- Havre de Grace (named after Le Havre (originally Le Havre de Grâce, literally "harbor of grace"), France)
Massachusetts
[edit]- Barre
- Belmont
- Marion
- Orleans (named for Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans)
- Revere (after Paul Revere, of Huguenot ancestry; his family name originally was Rivoire)
- Savoy
Michigan
[edit]- Allouez (named after missionary Claude-Jean Allouez)
- Au Gres (French for "at the sandstone")
- Au Sable
- Au Sable River
- Au Train
- Barbeau
- Beaugrand Township
- Belle River
- Belleville ("Beautiful City;" named for a Paris district)
- Bellevue
- Benzie County "Bec Scie", meaning "Saw Beak" or "Saw Bill", a kind of duck
- Berrien County
- Bete Grise ("Gray Beast")
- Bete Grise (community also meaning "Gray Beast")
- Bois Blanc Island ("White Wood")
- Cadillac (named after explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac)
- Chapin Township
- Charlevoix (named for Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix (1682–1761), a French Jesuit in New France)
- Cheviers
- Delaware Township
- De Tour Village
- Detroit (of the "Strait")
- Doty
- Eau Claire
- Ecorse (from Rivière aux Écorces, "Bark River")
- Fort Gratiot Charter Township
- Fremont Township
- Grand Blanc ("Great/Large White")
- Grand Marais ("Large Marsh")
- Grand Traverse County
- Grande Pointe
- Gratiot County
- Grosse Ile ("Big Island")
- Grosse Pointe ("Big Point")
- Grosse Pointe Farms
- Grosse Pointe Park
- Grosse Pointe Shores
- Grosse Pointe Woods
- Hamtramck (named for the French-Canadian soldier Jean François Hamtramck from Québec, became a decorated officer in the American Revolutionary War)
- Isle Royale National Park ("Royal Island")
- Lac La Belle ("Beautiful Lake", community)
- Lac La Belle ("Beautiful Lake", lake)
- Lachine
- Lamotte Township
- L'Anse ("The Cove")
- Lapeer County
- Lasalle
- LeRoy ("The King")
- Les Cheneaux Islands ("The Channels")
- Marion Township
- Marlette
- Marne (named after a river in France)
- Marquette (named after explorer Jacques Marquette)
- Marquette County
- Montcalm County (named for Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander in the French and Indian War).
- Montmorency County (named for the Montmorency family, a noble family influential in the administration of New France)
- Napoleon (for Napoleon Bonaparte)
- Parisville
- Pere Marquette River (for Father (père) Jacques Marquette)
- Pere Marquette Township
- Pointe Aus Barques
- Pointe aux Tremble
- Pointe Mouillee State Game Area
- Portage
- Presque Isle (from presqu'île, "peninsula")
- Presque Isle County
- Reno Township
- River Rouge
- Saint Clair Haven
- Saint Clair Shores
- Sans Souci
- Sault Ste. Marie ("St. Mary's Rapids")
- Sebille Manor
- St. Clair
- St. Clair County
- St. Clair Shores
- St. Ignace (French rendition of St. Ignatius)
- St. Joseph
- Traverse City
- Vermilion
- Vermontville
Minnesota
[edit]- Albertville, named after a city in France
- Argyle (from the French Argile, "clay") (or from Argyll in Scotland?)
- Audubon
- Baudette
- Beaulieu
- Belle Plaine [1]
- Belle Prairie Township
- Bernadotte
- Big Fork River (originally Rivière Grande Fourche)
- Bois de Sioux River ("woods of the Sioux")
- Bois Forte Indian Reservation ("hard wood")
- Brule River (from the Ojibwe name Wiisakode-ziibi "half-burned wood river", which was translated directly into French as Bois Brulé. Half of the river disappears into a pothole in the Judge C. R. Magney State Park).
- Calumet
- Cloquet
- Coteau des Prairies ("slope of the prairies")
- Delano (after a scion of the famous Delano Family, originally Huguenots named "De Lannoye")
- Detroit Mountain, thus Detroit Lakes
- Duluth (named after Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut)
- Faribault
- Faribault County, named for Jean-Baptiste Faribault, French-Canadian trader
- Fond du Lac Indian Reservation ("source of the lake")
- Frontenac State Park
- Frontier ("Border" refers to its position on the Minnesota / Ontario border)
- Gentilly
- Glese (From the French "glaise" or clay)
- Grand Marais ("Big Marsh"; some speculate "Big Harbor" in founders' accent)
- Grand Portage ("Large Portage")
- Grand Rapids
- Hennepin County (named in honor of the 17th-century Belgian explorer Father Louis Hennepin)
- Huot, Minnesota named after French-Canadian settler Louis Huot
- La Moille - corruption of La Mouette 'the seagull' from a Vermont city name
- La Porte (The Door)
- La Prairie
- Lac qui Parle ("lake that speaks")
- La Crescent
- Lac Vieux Desert ("lake of the old clearing")
- Lake Pepin named after French-Canadian settler Jean Pepin
- Lake Traverse
- La Salle (named for René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a french explorer)
- Le Roy
- Le Sueur (named for Pierre-Charles Le Sueur)
- Leech Lake (originally lac sangsue, "leech lake", a translation from the Ojibwe Ozagaskwaajimekaag-zaaga'igan "Lake abundant with leeches")
- Little Fork River (originally Rivière Petite Fourche)
- Little Marais (originally Petit Marais, "Little Marsh")
- Mille Lacs County
- Mille Lacs Lake ("thousand lakes")
- Nicollet County
- Orleans
- Pelland
- Platte
- Pomme de Terre ("potato")
- Red Lake (originally lac rouge, "red lake", a translation from the Ojibwe Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga'igan "Red-colored Waters Lake")
- Rainy Lake (originally lac à la pluie, "rainy lake")
- Renville County, Minnesota
- Roseau ("reed")
- Roseville
- St. Cloud (named after a Paris suburb; St.Cloud is Saint Clodoald, grandson of the Frankish king Clovis I)
- St. Croix River
- St. Hilaire
- St. Louis Park
- Saint Paul (once known as Pig's Eye Landing after Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant - French: l'Oeil du Cochon, a French-Canadian trader and innkeeper, renamed Saint Paul by French-Canadian pastor Lucien Galtier when he built the first Roman Catholic chapel in the area)
- Sedan (named after the french city of the same name)
- Terrebonne ("good land")
- Traverse County
- Vadnais Heights, suburb of Saint Paul
- Lake Vermilion
- Voyageurs National Park, (named after the French-Canadian explorers - "travellers")
Mississippi
[edit]- Abbeville
- Amite County (from amitié, "friendship")
- Bay St. Louis (from Baie Saint-Louis)
- Bayou Caddy
- Bellefontaine
- Belmont
- Benoit
- Biloxi
- Bourbon
- Carriere
- Centreville (note the "re" spelling in "centre" as opposed to "center")
- Clermont Harbor
- Decatur
- De Lisle
- D'Iberville (named after Pierre Lemoyne, Sieur d'Iberville, governor of New France)
- Dumas
- Fayette
- Gautier (Named for the Gautier family, who established a homestead on the site in 1867.)
- LeFleur's Bluff State Park (Named after earlier French-Canadian trader and settler Louis Lafleur)
- Macon
- Marion
- Pass Christian (Named after Nicholas Christian L'Adnier)
- Petit Bois Island ("Little Woods")
- Saucier
- Sartinville
- St. Martin
Missouri
[edit]- Audrain County
- Auxvasse
- Bay de Charles
- Bayouville
- Belgique
- Belle
- Bellefontaine
- Bevier
- Bonne Terre
- Bourbeuse River
- Bourbon
- Brazeau
- Cap au Gris
- Cape Girardeau
- Cape Girardeau County
- Carondelet
- Castor River
- Chamois
- Chariton County
- Chouteau Springs
- Courtois
- Courtois Creek
- Courtois Hills
- Creve Coeur ("Heartbreak")
- Cuivre River ("copper")
- Dardenne Prairie
- DeBaliviere Place (Neighborhood in St. Louis)
- Des Arc
- Desloge
- Des Peres
- River Des Peres
- Fayette
- Femme Osage
- Florissant (formerly Fleurissant)
- Frontenac
- Gasconade County (from the French word "gascon" which in this context means braggart)
- Gravois Mills
- LaBarque Creek
- La Belle
- Laclede
- Laclede County (named for Pierre Laclede (1729–1778), founder of St. Louis, Missouri)
- Lafayette County (named for Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette)
- La Forge
- La Grange
- Lake Lafayette
- La Tour
- La Vieille Mine (Alternate name of Old Mines)
- Le Grand Village Sauvage
- Loutre River
- Lyon
- Macon County
- Marais Croche
- Marais des Cygnes River
- Marais des Liards (original name of Bridgeton)
- Marais Temps Clair
- Maries County From "Marais" meaning swamp.
- Marion County
- Maupin
- Mine La Motte
- Metz (named for the city in France)
- Moniteau County
- Moreau River
- Noel
- Normandy
- Oregon County "Ouragon" meaning hurricane
- Ozark County "Aux Arcs"
- Papin
- Paris
- Pere Marquette Park
- Petit Marais Rondeau Lake
- Platte County
- Pomme de Terre Lake ("Potato")
- Pomme de Terre River ("Potato")
- Portage des Sioux
- Portageville
- Prairie du Chien
- River aux Vases
- Robidoux
- Roubidoux Creek
- Rocheport
- St. Aubert
- St. Charles
- St. Charles County
- St. Clair County
- St. Cloud
- St. Francois County
- St. Francois Mountains
- St. Louis (named in honor of King Louis IX, later canonized as Saint Louis)
- St. Louis County
- Ste. Genevieve (after the patron saint of Paris)
- Ste. Genevieve County
- Terre du Lac
- Theabeau
- Valles Mines
- Versailles
- Vichy
- St. Joseph (Founded by Joseph Robidoux IV an american fur trader of French Canadian descent who named the city after his own name)
Montana
[edit]- Anceney and Anceney Bridge, Montana, named after Charles Leon Ancen(n)ey (Anxionnaz)(1826-1895)
- Belle Creek community (and Belle Creek river)
- Cascade County ("waterfall")
- Choteau
- Chouteau County, named after Pierre Chouteau, Jr., an American fur trader of French Canadian origin
- Dupuyer
- Froid ("Cold")
- Havre (from Le Havre, France)
- Joliet
- Laurin
- Lozeau
- Portage
- Prairie County
- St. Marie
- St. Xavier
- Sonnette
- Teton County ("Teat")
- Valmy (from Valmy, France)
- Virgelle
- Wibaux County
Nebraska
[edit]- Barada (named after Antoine Barada, whose father was French fur trapper and interpreter Michel Barada)
- Bayonne (named for the city)
- Bellevue ("Beautiful Sight")
- Bordeaux (named for the creek, below)
- Bordeaux Creek (named for a fur trader)
- Cabanné's Post
- Chadron, Nebraska
- Decatur
- Du Bois ("of the Woods")
- Fontanelle, Fontenelle Forest, Fontenelle Boulevard, Hotel Fontenelle, Logan Fontenelle Housing Project (Named after Logan Fontenelle, Omaha Tribe chief who was the son of a Creole and Omahan mother)
- Fremont (named for John C. Frémont, French-American pioneer and politician)
- Grand Island
- La Platte
- Loup County, Loup River ("Wolf", named after the Skidi Pawnee people who called themselves the Wolf People)
- Louisville
- Loup River
- Lyons
- Papillion (from papillon, "butterfly")
- Platte County
- Platte River ("flat river")
- Robidoux Pass
- Sarpy County (named after Peter Abadie Sarpy, a fur trader of French origin born in New Orleans, Louisiana)
- St. Deroin (named after a family called Du Roins).
- St. Paul
Nevada
[edit]- Frenchman
- Frenchman Flat
- Lamoille
- Montreux
- Pioche, named after François Louis Alfred Pioche, a financier who purchased the town in 1869.
- Primeaux
- Reno, named after Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed in the American Civil War. (Reno's family name was a modified version of the French surname "Renault")
- Valmy, named after the place in France of a famous battle during the Revolutionary period.
New Hampshire
[edit]- Belmont (named for August Belmont, German-born financier who changed his name to Belmont upon arriving in the United States)
- Bretton Woods
- Fremont (named for John C. Frémont, French-American pioneer and politician)
- Pinardville (named for Edmond Pinard, Québec native and early resident[67])
New Jersey
[edit]- New Jersey and Jersey City (after the Bailliage de Jersey, the largest of the Anglo-Norman Channel Islands near the coast of northwest France)
- Audubon
- Bayonne (according to tradition, from Bayonne, France)
- Belleplain
- Belleville ("Beautiful town")
- Lavallette (named for Elie A. F. La Vallette, U.S. naval captain of French family origin)
- Port Liberté ("Freedom Port")
- Montclair ("Bright Mountain")
New Mexico
[edit]- Bayard (named for George Dashiell Bayard, Union general in the Civil War of French ancestry)
- Clovis (named for Clovis, first Christian King of the Franks)
- Lamy, New Mexico (named for the French born and educated Santa Fe, New Mexico Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy (1814 - 1888)
- Ledoux, New Mexico (named for Abraham Ledoux (1784-1842) and Antoine Ledoux (1779 - ?), two French brothers born in Québec, who became trappers and settled in Mora, New Mexico and Taos, New Mexico)
- Antoine Leroux, New Mexico (named for Antoine Leroux (1801 - 1861), a famous trader and scout, born from French - Canadian parents, who settled in Taos, New Mexico)
- St. Vrain, New Mexico (named for Ceran St. Vrain (1802 - 1870), a Western American trader of French descent.
New York
[edit]- Au Sable, New York Au Sable
- Ausable River ("sand river")
- Barre
- Bellerose
- Belle Terre
- Boquet or Bouquet River
- Buffalo (One theory holds that the city gets its name from an English corruption of the French "beau fleuve" ("beautiful river").)
- Chateaugay (named after Chateauguay, Québec)
- Chateaugay River
- Champlain (named after French explorer Samuel de Champlain)
- Chaumont
- Chaumont Bay
- Chaumont River
- Chazy
- Clermont
- Decatur
- Delaware County
- Dunkirk (named after the city of Dunkirk or Dunkerque, France, because of the similar harbor.)
- Esperance
- Fayette
- Fayetteville
- Fremont
- Fremont Center (named after John C. Frémont, Franco-American explorer, military officer and politician)
- Gouverneur
- Grand Island
- Granville
- Grasse River (named after the Comte de Grasse, a French admiral who decisively defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake in September 1781 during the American Revolution)
- Huguenot
- Jacques Cartier State Park (park located along the St. Lawrence River and named after 16th-century French explorer Jacques Cartier)
- La Chute River
- LaFayette
- LaGrange
- Lake Champlain (lake named after French explorer Samuel de Champlain)
- Le Ray
- Le Roy
- Lorraine
- Louisville
- Maine
- Marion
- Massena (named after André Masséna, one of Napoleon's field marshals.)
- Montague
- Montour
- New Paltz (named by French Huguenots)
- New Rochelle (founded by French Huguenots and named after La Rochelle, France.)
- Orleans
- Orleans County
- Portage
- Raquette River
- Rouses Point (named after early settler Jacques Rouse.)
- Point Au Roche State Park (park located on the shores of Lake Champlain)
- St. Armand
- St. Lawrence County (for the Saint Lawrence River, English form of Fleuve Saint-Laurent.)
- Valcour Island (island located in Lake Champlain)
North Carolina
[edit]- Belvoir
- Camp Lejeune US Marine Corps base ("The Youth" or "The Young Man")
- Charlotte
- Fayetteville
- Faison
- Fremont
- La Grange
- Lenoir
- Lenoir County
- Peletier
North Dakota
[edit]- Almont
- Belcourt
- Bois de Sioux River
- Bordulac ("Edge of the Lake")
- Bottineau (named for Pierre Bottineau, Métis pioneer, hunter, and trapper)
- Cavalier (from "chevalier", knight)
- Charbonneau
- Chateau de Mores State Historic Site (home and ranch built in the 1880s by the French cattle baron and nobleman Marquis de Morès)
- Coteau des Prairies ("slope of the prairies")
- Missouri Coteau
- Coulee
- De Lamere
- Des Lacs River("of the Lakes"), also Des Lacs
- Gascoyne (from the French region "Gascogne")
- Grand Forks (from the French "les Grandes Fourches" or the great forks)
- Granville (from "grand" = big, "ville" = city)
- Joliette (maybe from "jolie" = pretty)
- LaMoure
- Medora (named by the French nobleman Marquis de Morès for his wife Medora)
- Merricourt
- Montpelier (named after Montpellier, France)
- Renville County
- Rolette
- Russo Original family named Rousseau
- Verendrye (named for Pierre de La Vérendrye, French-Canadian officer and explorer)
- Voltaire (named for Voltaire, French Enlightenment philosopher)
Ohio
[edit]- Auglaize River (corruption of the French eau glaise, meaning "muddy water")
- Auglaize County
- Belfort (named for a town in France)
- Bellaire
- Bellefontaine ("Beautiful Fountain")
- Bellevue ("Beautiful View")
- Belmont County (Anglicized "Beautiful Mountain")
- Belmont
- Belpre ("Beautiful Meadow")
- Champaign County
- Chardon
- Cheviot
- Clermont County (from the city Clermont, France. "Clair" = clear, "mont" = mount)
- Conneaut
- Decatur
- Delaware County
- Duchouquet Township
- Fayette County (after the Marquis de Lafayette)
- Fayette
- Fremont
- Gallia County (Latin for Gaul, Roman name for France)
- Gallipolis, Ohio, largest city of Gallia County
- Girard
- Grand Prairie Township
- Guernsey County
- Huron County (French name for the Wyandot tribe)
- Lafayette
- Lagrange ("The Barn")
- LaRue ("The Street")
- Leroy Township, Lake County ("The King")
- Lorain County (for the French province of Lorraine)
- Lorain
- Louisville
- Marietta (to honor Marie Antoinette)
- Marion County
- Marne (named after a river in France)
- Marseilles (from the French city of Marseille)
- Martel ("Hammer")
- Massillon (after Jean Baptiste Massillon, French bishop)
- Moraine
- Oregon
- Paris Township, Portage County, Ohio
- Paris Township, Stark County, Ohio
- Paris Township, Union County, Ohio
- Portage County
- Vermilion River (Red River)
- Versailles
Oklahoma
[edit]- Achille ("Achilles")
- Avant ("Before" or "ahead")
- Ballard (a common French surname)
- Belfonte
- Bellevue ("Beautiful View")
- Boise City (from Boisé, "Wooded")
- Cache
- Chouteau
- Delaware County
- Durant (The French surname of the town's founding French/Choctaw family)
- El Reno (Named after Civil War officer Jesse L. Reno - descended from "Renault")
- Guymon
- Lucien (A common French given name)
- Poteau ("Stake")
- Remy
- Sans Bois Mountains ("Without forest")
- Verdigris "Green Gray"
- Verdigris River
Oregon
[edit]- Oregon (possibly from "le fleuve aux ouragans", French for "river of the hurricanes", referring to the windiness of the Columbia River)
- Bonneville (named after Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796–1878), a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer)
- Charbonneau (named after Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau son of Sacajawea and Toussaint Charbonneau a French-Canadian trapper member of the Lewis & Clark expedition)
- Coquille ("Shell")
- Deschutes County ("of the falls")
- Deschutes River (from rivière des chutes meaning river of the falls)
- Deschutes National Forest (Waterfalls National Forest)
- Detroit ("Strait")
- Gervais (A French given name)
- Grand Ronde ("Big ring")
- Lafayette
- La Grande ("The Big / Great One")
- Langlois (French surname. From "L'Anglais" = the Englishman)
- La Pine ("The Pine")
- Malheur County ("Misfortune")
- Marion County
- Maupin
- Nonpareil ("Unparalleled")
- Rainier
- Ruch ("Hive")
- Saint Louis
- Saint Paul
- Sauvie Island
- Terrebonne ("Good ground")
- The Dalles (from les dalles meaning "slabs" or possibly a type of rapids)
- Willamette River (French pronunciation of a Clackamas Indian village name)
- Willamette Valley
Pennsylvania
[edit]- Belle Vernon
- Bellefonte ("Beautiful Fountain")
- Bellevue
- Boquet
- Calumet, Pennsylvania
- Charleroi ("Charles King"—in reference to King Carlos II of Spain)
- Chartiers Township
- Dauphin County
- Decatur Township
- Delano (after a scion of the famous Delano Family, originally Huguenots named "De Lannoye")
- DuBois ("Of the Woods")
- Duquesne, named after the Marquis Duquesne, governor of New France
- Eau Claire
- Fayette City
- Fayette County, named to honor the Marquis de LaFayette
- Fort Duquesne, original name of what is now Pittsburgh
- Fort Le Boeuf
- Fort Machault
- Fort Presque Isle
- Laporte ("The door")
- Ligonier, named after Field Marshal John Ligonier, a British noble and officer with French ancestry
- Luzerne County
- Luzerne Township
- Mercer Township
- Montour County
- North Versailles Township
- Paris
- South Versailles Township
- Versailles, named after the Palace of Versailles
- Wilkes-Barre (Barre was a British politician with Huguenot ancestry, favorable to the cause of US colonies)
Rhode Island
[edit]- Lafayette Village, a historic district in North Kingstown, RI
- Louisquisset, a neighborhood and major parkway in Providence, RI
- Marieville, a neighborhood in Providence, RI
South Carolina
[edit]- Abbeville (from Abbeville, France)
- Abbeville County, South Carolina
- Bonneau (from bonne eau, "good water")
- Bordeaux (from Bordeaux, France)
- DeBordieu
- Eau Claire ("Clear Water")
- Fort Motte
- Gaston (A common French given name)
- Gourdin
- La France
- Pacolet
- Port Royal Sound
- Ravenel
- Sans Souci ("No Worries", the French name of chateau of Frederick the Great, famously Francophile)
- Turbeville
- Vaucluse (from the Vaucluse, France)
South Dakota
[edit]- Belle Fourche ("Beautiful Fork")
- Belle Fourche Reservoir
- Belle Fourche River
- Big Sioux River
- Bois de Sioux River ("Woods of the Sioux" River)
- Bon Homme County ("Good Man" County)
- Burdette
- Conde (maybe from the noble French family of Condé)
- Corsica
- Coteau des Prairies ("Slope of the Prairies")
- Missouri Coteau ("Slope of the Missouri")
- East Sioux Falls, a ghost town
- Edgemont
- De Smet, named for Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Belgian priest
- Dupree (maybe from "du pré")
- Flandreau, named for Charles Eugene Flandrau, judge of Huguenot ancestry
- Fort Pierre
- Jerauld County
- Joubert (a common French surname)
- Lake Traverse
- La Plant
- LeBeau
- Mellette County
- Montrose (possibly from "pink mountain")
- Moreau River
- North Sioux City
- Pierpont
- Pierre, named for Pierre Chouteau, Jr., an American fur trader of French Canadian origin
- Platte
- Roubaix, a ghost town named for the French city of the same name
- Roubaix Lake, a lake located in the Black Hills (from the French city of Roubaix)
- St. Francis
- Sioux Falls
- Vermillion
- West Branch Lac qui Parle River ("Lake that Speaks" River)
Tennessee
[edit]- Decatur
- Decatur County
- Decaturville
- Fayette County
- Gallatin
- Lafayette
- La Follette
- La Grange
- La Vergne
- Lenoir City (named for William Lenoir, Revolutionary War general of Huguenot ancestry, and his son)
- Macon
- Macon County
- Marion County
- Paris
- Sevier County
- Sevierville (named for John Sevier, Tennessee governor of Huguenot ancestry)
Texas
[edit]- Austin-named for Stephen F. Austin, whose surname is of Norman French origin.
- Bayou Vista
- Biloxi
- Blanchard
- Burnet County (named after early Texas leader David Gouverneur Burnet)
- Castroville (founded by Henri Castro, a French diplomat)
- Colmesnil
- Crockett County (Davy Crockett's ancestors were Huguenots named Croquetagne, one of whom was captain in the Royal Guard of Louis XIV)
- Dallardsville
- DeBerry
- Decatur
- Doucette
- Dumas, named after its founder Louis Dumas
- Duval County
- Fayette County (named after the Marquis de Lafayette)
- Gary City
- Grand Prairie
- LaBelle
- La Grange (named after the Marquis de Lafayette's chateau)
- La Marque
- La Porte ("The Door")
- La Salle County (named after explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle)
- Lamar County (named after early Texas leader Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar)
- Marion County
- Mauriceville
- Menard
- Menard County
- Mont Belvieu
- Montague County
- Paris
Utah
[edit]- Ballard
- Bonneville Salt Flats (named after Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796–1878), a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper and explorer)
- Cache County
- Cache Junction
- Duchesne
- Duchesne County
- Fayette
- Fort Duchesne
- Grand County
- Henrieville
- Lapoint
- Portage
- Provo (named after Étienne Provost)
- Sevier County
- Sevier
- St. George
Vermont
[edit]- Vermont (probably translated from "Green Mountain" in the 1770s)
- Barre (named after Isaac Barré)
- Belmont (origin unknown)
- Calais (named for Calais, France)
- Grand Isle County ("big island")
- Isle La Motte (named after a French soldier, Pierre La Motte in 1666)
- Lake Champlain (named by Samuel de Champlain in 1662)
- Lamoille (possibly named by French settlers as La Mouette)
- Montpelier (named after Montpellier, France)
- Orleans County and Orleans (named after Orléans, France)
- Vergennes (named for Frenchman Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, who aided the rebels in the American Revolutionary War)
Virginia
[edit]- Amissville
- Barboursville
- Basye
- Bavon
- Belmont
- Belle Isle State Park
- Belvoir
- Bertrand (A common French given name)
- Boissevain
- Bon Air
- Botetourt County
- Capron
- Caret
- Cedon
- Champlain
- Chantilly, named after Chantilly, France
- Clary
- Crozet
- Delaplane
- Fauquier County
- Fort Belvoir ("see well")
- Fremont
- La Crosse
- Lagrange
- Macon
- Manquin
- Mauzy
- Montpelier
- Orlean
- Paris
- Raphine
- Renan
- Richmond, from "riche mont", a name given first to the castle founded in North Yorkshire by a Breton family, and from there to Richmond near London
- Rochelle
- Sabot
- Turbeville
Washington
[edit]- Beaux Arts Village (from "fine arts")
- Bellevue ("Beautiful View")
- Belfair
- Belmont ("Beautiful Mountain")
- Blanchard (Old French for "Whitish")
- Boistfort
- Brier
- Coulee City
- Coupeville
- Decatur Island
- Deschutes ("of the Falls")
- Des Moines ("of the Monks")
- Doty
- Dupont
- Duvall
- Esperance ("Hope")
- Fauntleroy (Old French for "Child of the King")
- Guerrier ("Warrior")
- Grand Coulee (from coulée or couler, meaning "to flow")
- La Center
- La Crosse
- La Grande
- Lamont
- La Push (Clallam County, along the Quileute River on the Olympic Peninsula. Home to the Quileute Indian Tribe. From la bouche, meaning "mouth", as infused into Chinook trading jargon)
- Laurier (Named after Sil Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian Prime Minister)
- Loup Loup (from loup, "wolf")
- Malo
- Maury Island
- Mount Rainier (named after Captain Peter Rainier, grandson of the Huguenot refugee Daniel Regnier)
- Normandy (named after Normandy, France)
- North Bonneville (named after Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796–1878), a French-born officer in the United States Army, fur trapper, and explorer)
- Ozette
- Palouse (from pelouse, meaning "lawn")[c]
- Pend Oreille County (named after the Pend d'Oreilles tribe. French for "earring" and a reference to heavy earrings and distended lobes of the people of the same name)
- Pomeroy (Old French for "Apple Orchard")
- Portage
- Portage Island
- Puget Sound named after Peter Puget, an officer in the Royal Navy of Huguenot descent
- Quimper Peninsula
- Roche Harbor
- Touchet
- Touchet River
- Vashon
- Vashon Island named after James Vashon, an officer in the Royal Navy of Huguenot descent
West Virginia
[edit]- Bayard
- Belle
- Belmont
- Despard
- Fayette
- Fayette County
- Fayetteville
- Granville
- Guyandotte River (a river in southern West Virginia, running from Wyoming County near Beckley, to the Ohio River near Huntington. Guyandotte is the French spelling of the name of an Indian tribe also known as the Wyandot.)
- Marion County
- Montcalm (named for Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander in the French and Indian War).
- Ronceverte (Name is derived from two words meaning "Greenbrier.")
Wisconsin
[edit]- Wisconsin (anglicized from the French "Ouisconsin", which in turn is a corruption of the Ojibwe "Meskonsing")
- Allouez (after Claude-Jean Allouez)
- Apple River (corruption of the French Rivière Pomme de Terre des Cygnes, which in turn is a translation from the Ojibwe Waabiziipinikaani-ziibi, "River abundant with swan potatoes")
- Argonne (from the Argonne Forest in France)
- Ballou
- Belle Plaine ("beautiful plain")
- Bellevue ("beautiful view")
- Benoit
- Bois Brule River ("burnt wood")
- Butte des Morts ("hill of the dead")
- Calumet County (French for Menominee peace pipe)
- Cassel (a town in France)
- Couderay (from lac courte oreilles, "short ears")
- Dell Prairie
- De Pere (from les rapides des pères, "the rapids of the fathers")
- Dovre
- Eau Claire ("clear water")
- Eau Claire County
- Eau Galle ("gall water")
- Eau Pleine ("full water")
- Flambeau ("torch")
- Fond du Lac ("bottom of the lake")
- Fond du Lac County
- Grand Chute ("great fall")
- Green Bay (anglicized from the French baie verte, previously "Baie des Puants" - "Bay of Stinks")
- Juneau County ("Named for Solomon Juneau, born in Quebec")
- La Crosse ("the crozier")
- La Crosse County
- La Farge
- Lafayette County
- La Grange (originally "La Grane" after the native place of General La Fayette)
- La Pointe (from la pointe de Chequamegon, the area around Chequamegon Bay)
- La Valle ("the valley")
- Lac Courte Oreilles ("lake short ears")
- Lac du Flambeau ("lake of the torch")
- Lac La Belle ("Lake the beautiful or beautiful lake")
- Lake Butte des Morts ("hill of the dead")
- Langlade County
- Marinette County
- Marquette (after Father Jacques Marquette)
- Marquette County
- Montreal ("Royal Mountain", after Montréal, Québec)
- Nicolet National Forest (after Jean Nicolet)
- Pepin County
- Portage (originally named for the Fox-Wisconsin portage)
- Portage County
- Prairie du Chien ("dog prairie")
- Prairie du Sac ("prairie of the Sac people")
- Presque Isle (from presqu'île, "peninsula")
- Racine ("root", after the Root River)
- Racine County
- Radisson ("radish")
- Roche a Cri
- St. Croix Falls (after the St. Croix ("Holy Cross") river, named c. 1689)
- St. Croix County
- Superior (from Lake Superior / Lac Supérieur - meaning "upper" in this context)
- Theresa
- Trempealeau River (from "trempe à l'eau", "plunge into the water")
- Trempealeau County
Wyoming
[edit]- Belle Fourche River
- Bondurant
- Calpet
- Cheyenne (from the French pronunciation and spelling of the Dakota word Sahi'yena, a diminutive of Sahi'ya, a Dakotan name for the Cree people.[69])
- Cheyenne River
- Dubois (named after U.S. Senator Fred Dubois, of French-Canadian ancestry)
- Fontenelle
- Fort Laramie
- Fremont County (named for John C. Frémont, French-American pioneer and politician)
- Grand Teton National Park (from French grands tétons, "large teats" - presumably referring to the mountains' shape)
- Gros Ventre Range
- Gros Ventre River
- La Barge
- La Grange
- Laramie (named from Jacques LaRamie, a French-speaking Canadian trapper who disappeared in the Laramie Mountains in the late 1810s)
- Laramie County
- Laramie Mountains
- Laramie River
- Little Laramie River, as well as the North, South, and Middle Fork Laramie Rivers
- North Laramie River
- North Platte River
- Platte County
- Ranchettes
- Rozet
- Sublette County
- Teton County
- Teton Range
- Teton Village
- Saint Croix ("Holy Cross")
See also
[edit]- List of U.S. state name etymologies
- Lists of U.S. county name etymologies
- List of place names of German origin in the United States
- List of U.S. place names of Spanish origin
- List of Chinook Jargon placenames
- List of non-US places that have a US place named after them
Notes
[edit]- ^ Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 1 suggests that this town is named for a French settler.
- ^ Gudde 1998, p. 263 suggests this town was named from German, which also has "Nord" as its word for "North."
- ^ This is disputed; Palús is the name of the aboriginal people who lived at the mouth of the river and the name has been connected to a group of rocks at the same area. French fur traders referred to the river as pavillon (flag).[68]
References
[edit]- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 13.
- ^ Kaetz, James P. (July 16, 2014). "Bayou La Batre". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Foscue 1989, p. 15.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 1.
- ^ Holmes, Jack D.L. (1967). "Dauphin Island's Critical Years: 1701-1722". Alabama Historical Quarterly. 29 (1): 40 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ a b c Foscue 1989, p. 46.
- ^ a b Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 2.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 62.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 64.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 76.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 3.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 91.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 93.
- ^ a b Foscue 1989, p. 94.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 4.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 95.
- ^ Foscue 1989, p. 125.
- ^ Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 6.
- ^ a b Orth, Donald J. (1967). Dictionary of Alaska Place Names (PDF). Washington: Government Printing Office. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 8.
- ^ a b c Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 9.
- ^ a b Coulet du Gard & Coulet de Gard 1974, p. 11.
- ^ Coulet du Gard & Coulet de Gard 1974, p. 12.
- ^ Granger, Byrd Howell (1983). Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place. Tucson: Falconer Publishing Company. p. 474. ISBN 0918080185.
- ^ "peridot". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/8349623216. Retrieved August 16, 2024. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet de Gard 1974, p. 13.
- ^ Branner 1899, p. 34.
- ^ a b Branner 1899, p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Branner 1899, p. 39.
- ^ a b c d e f Branner 1899, p. 36.
- ^ Branner 1899, pp. 36–37.
- ^ a b c d e Branner 1899, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet de Gard 1974, p. 14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Branner 1899, p. 38.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet de Gard 1974, p. 16.
- ^ a b Branner 1899, p. 40.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 17.
- ^ a b Gudde 1998, p. 31.
- ^ a b c Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 18.
- ^ a b c Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 19.
- ^ Gudde 1998, p. 104.
- ^ Gudde 1998, pp. 137–138.
- ^ Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 20.
- ^ Gudde 1998, p. 141.
- ^ a b c d e f Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 22.
- ^ Gudde 1998, p. 261.
- ^ a b c Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 23.
- ^ Gudde 1998, p. 289.
- ^ a b c Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 24.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 16.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 17.
- ^ Bright 2004, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b Bright 2004, p. 28.
- ^ a b c d Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 25.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 69.
- ^ a b c d e f Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 26.
- ^ a b Bright 2004, p. 108.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 120.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 142.
- ^ Bright 2004, p. 156.
- ^ a b c d e Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 28.
- ^ a b Coulet du Gard & Coulet du Gard 1974, p. 29.
- ^ "Bee Branch Creek History | Dubuque, IA - Official Website". www.cityofdubuque.org. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
- ^ "An Indian Legend". Bellevue Herald Leader. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
- ^ "Crapo". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Pinardville NH Home Page". Retrieved June 2, 2010.
- ^ Thompson, Albert W. (1971). "The Early History of the Palouse River and Its Names". The Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 62 (2): 69–76. ISSN 0030-8803.
- ^ "Cheyenne | Origin and meaning of the name cheyenne by Online Etymology Dictionary".
Bibliography
[edit]- Branner, John C. (1899). "Some Old French Place Names in Arkansas". Modern Language Notes. 14 (2): 33–40 – via JSTOR.
- Bright, William (2004). Colorado Place Names (3rd ed.). Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Printing Company. ISBN 1555663338.
- Coulet du Gard, René; Coulet du Gard, Dominique (1974). The Handbook of French Place Names in the U.S.A. Chicago: Adams Press.
- Foscue, Virginia O. (1989). Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 081730410X.
- Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). California Place Names (4th ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520213165.