List of Mississippi county name etymologies

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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.

Source

[The Origin of Certain Place Names in the State of Mississippi]

List of Mississippi county name etymologies

Source

See also