Do locals know the meaning of their city name? (live in, wealthy)

[KathrynAragon]

Well, the name of my town is an Anglo name and it's named after one of the first Anglo settlers in this region.

[Marie Joseph]

Erie was named for the Erie people, an American Indian group that used to live in the region.

The word "Erie" is a shortened form of erielhonan which means 'long tail' in Iroquois language.

The long tail refers to Lake Erie.

[ASJackson814]

Somerset- Named after the county of Somerset in England

North Brunswick- Named after Braunschweig, Germany, & the Duke of Brunswick- King George III

Rahway- Named after Rahwack, a Native American chief who settled in the area

Newark- Named after Newark-On-Trent

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by SunGrins

In New Mexico, Albuquerque (1706) was originally Alburquerque named after the 10th Duke of Alburquerque, one-time Viceroy of New Spain. Sometime, probably with the arrival of the railroad, the first 'r' was dropped..

And the Duke of Alburquerque's name reflected his dominion over the town of Alburquerque in the region of Badajoz in Spain.

The pop etymology of the name of the Spanish town is that it means 'white oak', in Latin (Alba Quercus), but linguists suggest that it is a corrupted spelling of the Arabic, al-Barkuk, meaning 'Apricot', referring to the orchards that existed in the area during the Moorish occupation of Spain.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Chicago is named from its river from a native American word that roughly means “wild onions” which grew along its banks

Thought it was "smelly onion" not "wild onion" due to the smell of the river.

[R1070]

"Dallas" was a local Native American word for pretentious.

[westsaeed]

Sacramento was named after the Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santisimo Sacramento (Most Holy Sacrament), referring to the Catholic Eucharist.

[TheTimidBlueBars]

It's at least not rare for Chicagoans to know that Chicago means "wild onion", but I doubt that most do.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by R1070

"Dallas" was a local Native American word for pretentious.

Dallas is from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning 'meadow dwelling'.

[pnwguy2]

Seattle was named after Indian Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish Tribe, located just south of current downtown Seattle. His name changed to Chief Seattle, and the city was known as that from the beginning.