List of place names of Native American origin in Michigan facts for kids

Many places throughout the state of Michigan take their names from Native American indigenous languages. This list includes counties, townships, and settlements whose names are derived from indigenous languages in Michigan. The primary Native American languages in Michigan are Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi, all of which are dialects of Algonquin. Some other places names in Michigan are found to be derived from Sauk, Oneida, Wyandot, Abenaki, Shawnee, Mohawk, Seneca, Seminole, Iroquois, and Delaware, although many of these tribes are not found in Michigan.

The name of Michigan itself is derived from Ottawa "mishigami" meaning "large water" or "great water" in reference to the Great Lakes.

Counties

• Cheboygan County – Ojibwe word "zhaabonigan" meaning "sewing needle" or "chabwegan" meaning "a place of ore".
• Chippewa County – after the Ojibwe tribe.
• Genesee County – Seneca word "jenishiyeh" meaning "beautiful valley".
• Gogebic County – Native American word "agogibing" meaning "water-mold lake", in reference to Lake Gogebic.
• Kalamazoo County – see Etymology of Kalamazoo.
• Keweenaw County – Ojibwe word "gakiiwe-wewaning" meaning "portage" or "where portage is made".
• Mackinac County – Odawa word "michilimaciknac" meaning "great turtle", in reference to Mackinac Island.
• Manistee County – after the Manistee River, originally called "ministigweyaa" in Ojibwe meaning "river with islands at its mouth".
• Mecosta County – after Potawatomi chief Mecosta.
• Menominee County – after the Menominee people who inhabited the region.
• Missaukee County – after Chief Nessaukee, which also means "large mouth of the river" in Odawa.
• Muskegon County – after the Muskegon River, called "mashkig" by the Ojibwe, meaning "swamp" or "marsh".
• Newaygo County – named either for an Ojibwe leader who signed the Saginaw Treaty of 1819 or for an Ojibwe word meaning "much water".
• Ogemaw County – Ojibwe word "ogimaa" meaning "chief".
• Ontonagon County – after the Ontonagon River, called "nantounaging" meaning "my bowl is lost".
• Osceola County – after Chief Osceola of the Seminole.
• Otsego County – Mohawk word meaning "clear water".
• Ottawa County – after the Odawa (Ottawa) people who inhabited the region.
• Saginaw County – Ojibwe word "sagenong" meaning "place of the outlet".
• Sanilac County – Chief Sanilac of the Wyandot people.
• Shiawassee County – named after the Shiawassee River, which itself derives its name from the Chippewa word "shia-was-see" meaning "the river straight ahead."
• Washtenaw County – Ojibwe word "washtenong" meaning "far away waters".

Schoolcraft neologisms

Ten counties in Michigan have names created by Henry Schoolcraft, who combined Native American words with roots from Greek, Arabic, and Latin. Schoolcraft's made-up words have disputed sources. While he was a devotee of Native American words and culture, some of his words may have originated with tribes from other areas of the country, such as New York or the Northeast, from which many settlers to Michigan came from. Real Native words were eradicated, and he substituted made-up words, sometimes with a kernel of Indian language or sound in them. Below are the ten counties with names Schoolcraft has created and their meanings:

• Alcona County – "the good plain".
• Allegan County – "the front" or "the mound builders".
• Alpena County – "the good partridge country".
• Arenac County – "a sandy place for good footing".
• Iosco County – Unknown Meaning
• Kalkaska County – after Schoolcraft's family name, Calcraft (K's added later).
• Leelanau County – after a Native American woman in Schoolcraft's writings, meaning "delight of life".
• Lenawee County – "man".
• Oscoda County – "pebbly prairie".
• Tuscola County – "flat lands".

Former county names

Many counties in Central and Northern Michigan have former names that were either Native Americans or Schoolcraft neologisms. Below are these former county names derived from Native American languages:

• Aischum County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Kanotin County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Kautawbet County – Potawatomi expression meaning "broken tooth".
• Kaykakee County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Keskkauko County – After Chief Resh-kanko of the Ojibwe.
• Mikenauk County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Meegisee County – Ojibwe word meaning "eagle".
• Negwegon County – Ojibwe word meaning "little wing".
• Notipeskago County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Okkuddo County – Indian word meaning "sickly water".
• Omeena County – Ojibwe expression "o-me-nah" meaning "is that so?".
• Shawano County – Ojibwe word "zhaawanong" meaning "southern".
• Tonedagana County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Unwattin County – after Chief Unwattin of the local Ottawa people.
• Wabbassee County – Indian word with unknown origin, possibly neologism.
• Wyandot County – after the Wyandot people.

Townships

Below are the townships in Michigan whose names are derived from Native American words. The counties whose names are derived from counties, settlements, or geographical features are not listed here.

• Onota Township, Alger County – after the Oneida people of nearby Wisconsin.
• Chikaming Township, Berrien County – Indian word "chickaming" meaning "lake".
• Weesaw Township, Berrien County – after Chief Weesaw of the Potawatomi.
• Ontwa Township, Cass County – after an Indian maiden who lived in Detroit.
• Nunda Township, Cheboygan County – Seneca word meaning "where the valley meets the hill".
• Tuscarora Township, Cheboygan County – after the Tuscarora people.
• Waucedah Township, Dickinson County – Ojibwe word meaning "talking stream".
• Oneida Township, Eaton County – after the Oneida people.
• Wawatam Township, Emmet County – after Wawatam, an Odawa chief.
• Osceola Township, Houghton County – after Osceola, a Seminole chief.
• Onondaga Township, Ingham County – after the Onondaga people or Onondaga County, New York.
• Otisco Township, Ionia County – Indian word or unclear origin.
• Sebewa Township, Ionia County – Indian word meaning "little creek".
• Chippewa Township, Isabella County – after the Isabella Chippewa Indian Reservation.
• Nottawa Township, Isabella County – Algonquin word meaning "Iroquois".
• Oshtemo Township, Kalamazoo County – Potawatomi word meaning "headwaters".
• Wakeshma Township, Kalamazoo County – Potawatomi word of unknown meaning.
• Seneca Township, Lenawee County – after the Seneca people.
• Cohoctah Township, Livingston County – Indian word meaning "many trees in water".
• Oceola Township, Livingston County – after Osceola, a Seminole chief.
• Unadilla Township, Livingston County – Iroquois word meaning "meeting place".
• Chippewa Township, Mecosta County – after the Ojibwe people in the area.
• Kenockee Township, St. Clair County – Ojibwe word meaning "long-legged".
• Nottawa Township, St. Joseph County – Algonquin word meaning "Iroquois".
• Delaware Township, Sanilac County – after the Delaware people.
• Hiawatha Township, Schoolcraft County – after Hiawatha.
• Juniata Township, Tuscola County – Iroquois word meaning "standing rock".

Settlements

• Ahmeek – Ojibwe word "amik" meaning "beaver".
• Cheboygan – Ojibwe word "zhaabonigan" meaning "sewing needle" or "chabwegan" meaning "a place of ore".
• Chesaning – Ojibwe word meaning "big rock place".
• Cohoctah – Indian word meaning "many trees in water".
• Dowagiac – Potawatomi word "dewje'og" meaning "fishing waters".
• Escanaba – Ojibwe word meaning "land of the red buck" or "flat rock".
• Ishpeming – Ojibwe word "ishpiming" meaning "on air".
• Kalamazoo – see Etymology of Kalamazoo
• Kawkawlin – Ojibwe word "ogohcawning" meaning "place of pike fish".
• Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City – Odawa word "michilimackinac" meaning "land of the great snapping turtle".
• Manistee – after the Manistee River, originally called "ministigweyaa" in Ojibwe meaning "river with islands at its mouth".
• Manistique – originally "Monistique", Indian word "onamanitikong" meaning "vermillion" or "yellow thunder" after the hue of the Manistique River.
• Meauwataka – Potawatomi word meaning "halfway", as the location is about halfway between Lake Mitchell and the Manistee River.
• Menominee – after the Menominee people who inhabited the area.
• Michigamme – Ojibwe word "mishigamaa" meaning "great water", also etymology for state of Michigan.
• Munising – Ojibwe word "miinising" meaning "at the island".
• Muskegon – after the Muskegon River, Odawa word "masquigon", meaning "marshy river or swamp".
• Nahma – Ojibwe word "nami" meaning "sturgeon".
• Neahtawanta – Odawa word "neahtawauta" meaning "placid waters".
• Negaunee – Ojibwe word "nigani" meaning "pioneer".
• Newaygo – named either for an Ojibwe leader who signed the Saginaw Treaty of 1819 or for an Ojibwe word meaning "much water".
• Nottawa – Algonquin word meaning "Iroquois".
• Okemos – Ojibwe word "ogimaa" meaning "chief", also etymology of Ogemaw County.
• Omena – Ojibwe expression "o-me-nah" meaning "is that so?".
• Onaway – Indian word "onawa" meaning "awake".
• Onekama – Ojibwe word "onigama" meaning "singing water".
• Onondaga – after the Onondaga people or Onondaga County, New York.
• Ontonagon – after the Ontonagon River, called "nantounaging" meaning "my bowl is lost"
• Oshtemo – Potawatomi word meaning "headwaters".
• Ossineke – Indian word "zhingaabewasiniigigaabawaad" meaning "where the image stones stood".
• Otsego – Mohawk word meaning "clear water".
• Owosso – after Chief Wasso of the Ojibwe.
• Petoskey – Odawa word "petosega" meaning "where the sun shines through the clouds".
• Pewamo – after Chief Pewamo.
• Pinconning – Ojibwe word "opinikaaning" meaning "place of potatoes".
• Pokagon – after Chief Pokagon of the Potawatomi.
• Ponshewaing – Indian word meaning "peaceful waters" or "winter home".
• Pontiac – after Chief Pontiac of the Odawa.
• Quinnesec – Ojibwe word "bekweneseg" meaning "smoky".
• Saginaw – Ojibwe word "sagenong" meaning "place of outlet".
• Sandusky – Wyandot word "saundustee" meaning "water".
• Saranac – Abenaki word "zalônák:tégw" meaning "staghorn sumac cone river".
• Saugatuck – Indian word "so'hktuk" meaning "river that pours out".
• Sebewaing – Ojibwe wird "ziibiiweng" meaning "river place".
• Seneca – after the Seneca people.
• Tawas City and East Tawas – after Chief O-ta-was.
• Tecumseh – after Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee.
• Tekonsha – Potawatomi word "tekonsho" meaning "resembling caribou".
• Topinabee – after Chief Topinabee of the Potawatomi.
• Wabaningo – after Wabiwindego of the Grand River Odawa.
• Wequetonsing – Odawa word meaning "at the head of the little bay".
• Zeba – Ojibwe word "ziibi" meaning "river".