List of Minnesota county name etymologies
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This is a list of Minnesota county name etymologies. Many of Minnesota's 87 counties are either named after pioneers in the region the county is now a part of, or after people who served in Minnesota's first governments. Other counties are named after prominent 19th century Americans, or after geological features, like lakes and rivers, that can be found within the county's boundaries.
- Aitkin County is named after William Alexander Aitkin.
- Anoka County is named after a Dakota word meaning "on both sides."
- Becker County is named after George Loomis Becker.
- Beltrami County is named after Giacomo Beltrami.
- Benton County is named after Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.
- Big Stone County is named after Big Stone Lake.
- Brown County is named after Joesph Renshaw Brown.
- Carlton County is named after Rueben B. Carlton.
- Carver County is named after Jonathan Carver.
- Cass County is named after statesman Lewis Cass.
- Chippewa County is named after the Chippewa River, which flows through the county.
- Chisago County is named after Chisago Lake, the largest lake in the county.
- Clay County is named after statesman Henry Clay.
- Clearwater County is named after the Clearwater River and Clearwater Lake, which are both located within the county.
- Cook County is named after Major Michael Cook, a Civil War soldier.
- Cottonwood County is named after the Cottonwood River, which flows through the county.
- Crow Wing County is named after an island shaped like a raven's wing at the junction of the Crow Wing River and Mississippi River.
- Dakota County is named after the Dakota tribe of Native Americans.
- Dodge County is named after father and son politicians Henry Dodge and August Caesar Dodge.
- Douglas County is named after Stephen Arnold Douglas, the famous Illinois statesman.
- Faribault County is named after Jean Baptiste Faribault.
- Fillmore County is named after Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth president of the United States.
- Freeborn County is named after William Freeborn, the second mayor of Red Wing.
- Goodhue County is named after James Madison Goodhue.
- Grant County is named after Ulysses Simpson Grant, the eighteenth president of the United States
- Hennepin County is named after Father Louis Hennepin.
- Houston County is named after Sam Houston, the Texas politician.
- Hubbard County is named after Lucius Frederick Hubbard, the governor of Minnesota.
- Isanti County is named after the tribal name of the area.
- Itasca County is named after Lake Itasca.
- Jackson County is named after Henry Jackson, a member of the first Minnesota territorial legislature.
- Kanabec County is named after the Snake River, which flows through the area. Kanabec is Ojibwa for snake.
- Kandiyohi County is named after a Dakota word meaning "where the buffalo fish come."
- Kittson County is named after Norman Wolfred Kittson, a former mayor of St. Paul.
- Koochiching County is named after a Cree word of uncertain meaning given by Ojibwas to Rainy River, which flows through the county, forming a border with Canada.
- Lac qui Parle County is named after a French phrase meaning "lake which talks."
- Lake County is named after Lake Superior.
- Lake of the Woods County is named after Lake of the Woods, which forms the county's northern border.
- Le Sueur County is named after Pierre Charles Le Sueur.
- Lincoln County is named after Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States.
- Lyon County is named after General Nathaniel Lyon.
- Mahnomen County is named after the Ojibwa word for wild rice.
- Marshall County is named after former Minnesota Governor William Raine Marshall.
- Martin County is named after Henry Martin.
- McLeod County is named after Martin McLeod.
- Meeker County is named after Bradley B. Meeker.
- Mille Lacs County is named after the lake the French called thousand lakes.
- Morrison County is named after William Morrison.
- Mower County is named after John El. Mower.
- Murray County is named after William Pitt Murray.
- Nicollet County is named after Joseph Nicolas Nicollet.
- Nobles County is named after William H. Nobles.
- Norman County is named after the early Norwegian, also known as Norman, settlers.
- Olmsted County is named after David Olmsted.
- Otter Tail County is named after the Otter Tail Lake and Otter Tail River. The river was named by the Ojibwa for its long sandbar shaped like an otter's tail.
- Pennington County is named after Edmund Pennington.
- Pine County is named after the giant forests of Eastern White Pine and Red (Norway) Pine that flourish in the county.
- Pipestone County is named after the red pipestone, or catlinite, rock that was used for pipes and effigies by Native Americans who lived in the area.
- Polk County is named after former U.S. President James K. Polk.
- Pope County is named after General John Pope.
- Ramsey County is named after former Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey.
- Red Lake County is named after the Red Lake River, named by the Ojibwa for its reddish sand and water.
- Redwood County is named after the Redwood River, which flows through the county.
- Renville County is named after Joseph Renville.
- Rice County is named after Henry Mower Rice.
- Rock County is named after a large rocky plateau located within the county, known as "the mound."
- Roseau County is named after the Roseau Lake and Roseau River.
- St. Louis County is named after the St. Louis River.
- Scott County is named after General Winfield Scott.
- Sherburne County is named after Moses Sherburne.
- Sibley County is named after former Minnesota Governor Henry Hastings Sibley.
- Stearns County is named after Charles Thomas Stearns.
- Steele County is named after Franklin Steele.
- Stevens County is named after Isaac Ingalls Stevens.
- Swift County is named after former Minnesota Governor Henry Adoniram Swift.
- Traverse County is named after Lake Traverse, which is located within the county, and forms a border with South Dakota.
- Wabasha County is named after a three-generation line of Sioux chiefs named Wabasha.
- Wadena County is named after the Wadena Trading Post, built in this county along the old Crow Wing-to-Pembina Trail.
- Waseca County is named after a Sioux word meaning "fertile."
- Washington County is named after former U.S. President George Washington.
- Watonwan County is named after a Dakota named believed to signify "where fish bait abounds."
- Wilkin County is named after Colonel Alexander Wilkin.
- Winona County is named after a Dakota woman of distinction, Winona, who was a cousin of the last of three chiefs named Wabasha.
- Wright County is named after Silas Wright.
- Yellow Medicine County is named after the Yellow Medicine River, which flows through the county.
Source
- Minnesota Secretary of State county name origin page (http://www.sos.state.mn.us/student/coorigan.html)