States That Start With M (And Why They Start With M)

Basically, M is popular all the way from Maine to Montana.

So, here are all of the M states in the U.S. and how they got their M names.

Maine

Maines name origin is entirely up in the air.

It also might have been named after an existing Maine.

There were Maines in both France and England at the time of the states exploration.

In France, Maine was a province.

In England, Maine was a town.

Since the origin of Maine is unclear, so is the names meaning.

But it does likely relate in some way to main.

Maryland means exactly what it says Mary Land.

Officially, the name proposed by Charles I was Terra Mariae, Latin for Marys Land.

Naming states after words that were already around in the territories (i.e.

Native American words) was a popular choice when most of the U.S. states were founded.

And Massachusetts was no exception.

It took its name directly from a Native American tribe the Massachusett tribe.

Given the tribes location, the great hill almost certainly referred to Great Blue Hill.

The word Mishigamaw is Ojibwe for big lake or large/great water.

This time, it was the Minnesota River.

Historians know the word mni means water in Dakota, but sota could mean either sky blue or cloudy.

Maybe it was both, depending on the day.

Mississippi is taken from what is believed to have been an Ojibwe word Misi-ziibi.

In their own language, the Missouri tribe referred to themselves as the Niuachi.

Alphabetically last of the M states in the U.S. is Montana.

Montana is an anglicized version of the Spanish word montana.

It comes from Montana del Norte, which Spanish explorers used to describe the mountains of the American Northwest.

Montana, it probably comes as no surprised, means mountain.