The following list includes settlements, geographic features, and political subdivisions of Ohio whose names are derived from Native American languages.
Listings State Ohio – from Seneca ohi:yo’, "beautiful river".Froman, Francis & Keye, Alfred J. "English-Cayuga/ Cayuga-English Dictionary", 2014. Ohio River
Counties
Ashtabula County – from Lenape ashtepihəle, 'always enough (fish) to go around, to be given away'; contraction from apchi 'always' + tepi 'enough' + həle (verb of motion). City of Ashtabula Ashtabula River Coshocton County – derived from Unami Lenape Koshaxkink 'where there is a river crossing', probably adapted as Koshaxktun 'ferry' ('river-crossing device'). Coshocton Cuyahoga County – originally Mohawk Cayagaga 'crooked river', possibly related to kayuha 'creek' or kahyonhowanen 'river'. Cuyahoga River Erie County Geauga County – Onondaga jyo’ä·gak, Seneca jo’ä·ka’, 'raccoon' (originally the name of the Grand River).Historical Society of Geauga County, O. (1880). Pioneer and General History of Geauga County: With Sketches of Some of the Pioneers and Prominent Men. Historical Society of Geauga County. p. 24.Chafe, Wallace L. "Handbook of the Seneca Language". 2007Beuchel, Eugene & Manhart S. J., Paul "Lakota Dictionary: Lakota-English/ English-Lakota". 2002Johnson, Basil "The Manitous: The Spiritual World of the Ojibwe". 2001Bruchac, Joseph "The Wind Eagle & Other Abenaki Stories". 1985 Hocking County Licking County Mahoning County Miami County Great Miami River Muskingum County – Shawnee Mshkikwam 'swampy ground' (mshkikwi- 'swamp' + -am 'earth');"Shawnees Webpage". Shawnee's Reservation. 1997. Retrieved 2013-04-26. Muskingum River Ottawa County Pickaway County - Shawnee. Variant of the name of one of their subtribes, Pekowi.John E. Kleber (18 May 1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 815. . Retrieved 16 February 2013. Sandusky County – from Wyandot saandusti meaning 'water (within water-pools)' or from andusti 'cold water'. City of Sandusky Sandusky Bay Sandusky River Scioto County – derived from Wyandot skɛnǫ·tǫ’, 'deer' (compare Shenandoah, also derived from the word for deer in a related Iroquoian language). Scioto River Seneca County Senecaville Tuscarawas County – after the Iroquoian Tuscarora people, who at one time had a settlement along the river of that name. Tuscarawas Tuscarawas River Wyandot County
Settlements
Catawba Island - Name of a Siouan speaking tribe from North Carolina who participated in many wars and conflicts, some of which being in Ohio.palmettohistory.org/archaeology/CatawbaProject.pdf Chickasaw - name of a tribe from Kentucky and Tennessee. Chillicothe - Shawnee. Chalakatha, one of the Shawnee bands. Chippewa Lake Choctaw Lake - name of a tribe from Mississippi. Conneaut Guyan - Shortened from French name for an Iroquoian Native tribe from West Virginia who were later absorbed into the Ohio Seneca—the Guyandotte (Also Little Mingo, Tiontatecaga. Not to be confused with Wyandot.) Metamora - Wampanoag?. Name comes from a play about a Native American from the Wampanoag people of New England. Mingo Junction - Mingo is common nickname for the Ohio Seneca people. Variant of Mingwe, what the Lenape once called the related Susquehannock Indians of Pennsylvania. Mississinawa - Miami. Name of a river tributary to the Wabash. From nimacihsinwi, "it lies on a slope." Montezuma - named for the last Tlatoani (Emperor) of the Aztec Empire, Moctezuma II. Nimishillen - Lenape. from Ni + Missilla, or Waters of the Black Alder. Ontario - Huron/ Wyandot. Named for Lake Ontario. Comes from Huron word which means Lake. Pataskala - Lenape. Unknown (May be of Siouan origin?) Piqua – Shawnee Pekowi, name of one of the five divisions of the Shawnee. Pusheta - Shawnee. Named after a local Chief.Sutton, Robert (1880). History of Auglaize County, Ohio: with the Indian history of Wapakoneta, and the first settlement of the county, p. 169. Pusheta Creek Powhatan Point - name of an Algonquian tribe from Virginia. The first Shawnee split away from them in the mid-1600s. Shawnee - Named for the Shawnee people Shawnee Hills (Greene County) Shawnee Hills (Delaware County) Texas - Named for the state, which derives its name from taysha, in Caddoan Native American language. Allegedly means friend. Tontogany - Named after a local Chief. Most likely of Wyandot origin. Tymochtee - Wyandot. Allegedly means 'stream around the plains.'Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 527. . Wabash - Common name of a tribe from Indiana Wabash River Wapakoneta – from Shawnee Wa·po’kanite 'Place of White Bones' (wa·pa 'white'+(h)o’kani 'bone'+-ite locative suffix)."bone: hoʔkani" Wick R. Miller, "An Outline of Shawnee Historical Phonology" International Journal of American Linguist Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1959), pp. 16-21 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1263919 Ohio Historical Society, 2005, "Treaty of Wapakoneta (1831)", Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History. Wauseon - Odawa. Named for Chief among the Potowatomi."Ohio History Central, Wauseon, Ohio". Retrieved 28 March 2016.
Bodies of water
Kinnikinnick Creek - Algonquian origin, multiple Tribes. Word refers to a person's personal smoking tobacco mix, or any plant someone would mix with their own tobacco for flavor, medicinal purposes or to extend the life of their personal tobacco supply. Can also refer to a specific plant in English, known As Kinnikinnick in the Eastern US, Bear berry in Canada and Manzanita on the West Coast. Kokosing River - Lenape. From Gokhos + -ing, generally translating to "Owl, here." Lake Erie Lake Mohawk - Named after tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy. Mahoning River - Lenape. Allegedly means "Upon here is a deer lick," but this may be incorrect. May come from Ma + aney + -ing, or, roughly, "There is the path." Mahoning Valley Maumee River - Miami. A nickname or spelling variant for the Miami people.Hale, Horatio "The Iroquois Book of Rites." (1883) pgs 10-15. Mohican River - Name of an Algonquian tribe from New York who were closely related to the Lenape. Olentangy River - Lenape. Allegedly, river of red paint. Pymatuning Lake – Lenape. Either corruption or variation on the word, "Pemuteneyig." Likely translation could be, "Upon this place, Towns are near." Or it could be a reference to the sweat-lodge of a hunting camp. According to etymologist August C. Mahr it's from the Munsee dialect of Lenape word Piim/'attoon/'nk meaning 'sweating oneself, it is put here,' or, in idiomatic English 'here are facilities for sweating oneself.' Mahr, August C. (1957). "Indian River and Place Names in Ohio". Ohio History. 66 (2). Ohio Historical Society: 137–158. The Moravian missionary John Heckewelder gives a similar etymology for Pomonkey Creek in Maryland.Heckewelder, John, and Peter S. Du Ponceau. “Names Which the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians, Who Once Inhabited This Country, Had Given to Rivers, Streams, Places, &c. &c. within the Now States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia: And Also Names of Chieftains and Distinguished Men of That Nation; With the Significations of Those Names, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Those Men. By the Late Rev. John Heckewelder, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Communicated to the American Philosophical Society April 5, 1822, and Now Published by Their Order; Revised and Prepared for the Press by Peter S. Du Ponceau.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 4, 1834, pp. 351–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1004837. Shenango River – Seneca. Possibly from gesho:ne:gwa:h (keh-s-hoh-ney-g-wah) which means something along the lines of "It's right behind me."Chafe, Wallace "English-Seneca Dictionary". Walhonding River - Lenape. Unknown
See also List of place names in the United States of Native American origin List of placenames of indigenous origin in the Americas List of Indiana placenames of Native American origin List of Michigan placenames of Native American origin List of place names of Native American origin in Pennsylvania
References Citations