Episode 11: European Names for American States

America defeated the British Empire to guarantee its independence. Yet, seven of the states have names that honor European royalty. Learn about these seven states and give some thought to why the earliest American leaders left their royal names in place. 

Transcript

Welcome to Donald’s English Corner podcast. This podcast is dedicated to helping people express themselves in English in a relaxed and fun environment. Together, we will learn more about what the language has to offer: by expanding your vocabulary, strengthening your grammar, and sometimes investigating American culture. 

Welcome to Episode Eleven: Foreign Names and American States. 

There are fifty states in the US as of 2024. You probably have heard of many of them: California, Texas, New York, etc… But in this episode we are going to focus on 7. The states we’ll talk about today are: Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland. Why these 7?  Because these 7 status are interesting because of how they got their names. As always, context is important. And that’s where we will start: the context. We will start in the American colonial period. 

The United States became a country *after* declaring itself independent from the British Empire. Before independence, the states were English colonies. There were 13 of them. Each colony had its own government and rules but all of them were legally owned by the British crown. The government in London was the ultimate authority in the American colonies. The leaders of American independence did not like this situation at all. They disliked European royalty and nobility. Why? 

For most of its history, royalty, nobility,  or religious groups had controlled Europe. In contrast, the people who would create the United States believed that all men were created equal. They wanted every male citizen of the future United States to be equal to that of every other male citizen. This idea is called egalitarianism. It means that everyone in a group is equal - they have the same rights and responsibilities - that no one person y can be better or worse than another in the eyes of the law. 

The Founding Fathers believed that the absolute power of royal. noble, and religious groups would always lead to corruption and evil. This certainly happened in the American colonies. The relationship between the 13 colonies and Britain worsened over time until the colonies declared themselves an independent country in the year 1776. They called their new country The United States of America. 

King George III was not happy about this.  But the leaders of the new nation couldn't have cared less what their now-former king thought. The Revolutionary War (the name that we Americans call this conflict)  began in 1775 and lasted for eight years. In the end, the Americans defeated the British Empire — which was most powerful nation on Earth at the time. The American leaders had created a constitution and a new government that would not allow any kind of nobility, royalty,  or religious supremacy.

The United States is the first country in the world to reject royalty and nobility as a form of government. But... did you know that the 7  American states that  we’re going to talk about today were named after European royalty? It’s true! That’s pretty ironic for a new nation that defeated an empire. So, what the hell, America? What is going on here?

Let’s take a look at the names of these 7 states. 

North Carolina and South Carolina. The name Carolina, you might think, is a female name. And it is! Caroline — with an E at the end —  is a common female name in English. The short version of it is Carol. However, the Carolina we use in the states’ names comes from a man. Actually — two different men from two different countries with the same name! The first was King Charles I of England. The second man who inspired Carolina was yet another king: Charles IX of France. Both names become 'Carolus’ when written in Latin — and Latin was very important back then. It was the official language of the Catholic Church. So, the name Carolina comes out of the Latin version of Charles. 

Maryland. Maryland’s name definitely comes from a woman. In this case, the state got its name for Queen Mary of England. Queen Mary was incredibly important. She was the wife of King Charles I and the daughter of King Henry IV of France. But, Maryland was not the name that the owner of the colony wanted to give it. The colony owner, Lord Baltimore of Ireland, wanted to call his new land “Crescentia” — which, in Latin, means “the land of growth” (probably referring to the many farms and fishing waters). But, King Charles I hated the name. He suggested to Lord Baltimore that he call this new colony Maryland. That name would honor the woman who was both an English Queen and a French princess. Lord Baltimore was not a stupid man. He gave the new colony its official name of Maryland. However — Lord Baltimore did get a small piece of revenge on King Charles. The name of Maryland’s largest city would take his name: Baltimore. 

Georgia. Ah, the Peach State. Georgia was the youngest of the original American colonies. Like Carolina, you might think that the name Georgia is a female name. And, again, it is! And again — like the Carolinas —Georgia gets its name from a man: King George II of Britain. The suffix -ia was often added to the names of important people and given to honor men.   It was sign of great honor and respect. In this case, the person being honored was the British king of the time. Here’s a fun fact: King George II died in 1760, so he did not see the colony named for him become a state. His grandson became King George III. It was George III who would royally piss off the Americans and eventually spark the Revolutionary War.

The two Virginias.  Virginia (and subsequently West Virginia) was settled by the English Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584. And - fun fact - the capital of Virginia today is Raleigh. He named this new land after the English monarch of the time, Queen Elizabeth I. But how did he get 'Virginia' out of Elizabeth?

Elizabeth I was crowned Queen in 1559 and died in 1603. During her 44 years on the British throne she never married or had children. The people gave her the nickname of the "Virgin Queen." That is how the Virginia's got their name. Whether the monarch was true in her virginity is a matter of much debate and speculation that we will not discuss here.

In 1671, French explorers claimed a large portion of central North America for France. They named the area in honor of King Louis XIV, who was on the French throne from 1643 until his death in 1715.

The name 'Louisiana' contains with a clear reference to the king. This size of lands was absolutely huge. It stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The Louisiana Territory covered 2,144,510.16 square km. That area was larger than the entire United States at the time. It is about the same size as Saudi Arabia today.  

However, the French were not really in control of the Territory when the American Revolution took place in the 1770’s and 1780’s. They had given control mostly to Spain. But, that changed when Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself the first French Emperor. He had plans to revive the French empire in the New World. His plans may have been large, but they did not go the way he had hoped. The French government was practically bankrupt. To raise money, Bonaparte sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803 — for $15 million dollars. In today’s money, that would be around $420 million. That still sounds like a lot of money — until you compare it with what the United States spends  in 2024. I looked at the Federal Budget for this year and found that the closest expense I could find in comparison with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory — was the federal court system in Washington DC. In other words, the United States purchased land larger than itself in 1803 for the same amount that it currently spends on one court system in one city. That is crazy.  

From the Louisiana Territory, the United States would eventually add 13 more states. The one we are concerned with, Louisiana, became a state in 1812. Louisiana is the only state in the Union which legally recognizes both English and French in legal terms.

Now you know the history and the origin of seven American states. They come from European royalty and nobility -- and this is very ironic for a country that had rejected that very idea. So, I can't help but wonder -- why did the early Americans keep those names? Why didn't they change them? They certainly had the legal ability and the legal right to do so. I tend to think that -- when it comes to names, people get used to them. They don't really like to change things. While the Founding Fathers created a new nation, they kept the old names. Some things we like to change and some things we like to stay the same. 

You've made it to the end of the eleventh episode of Donald's English Corner Podcast.