Name the five oldest US state names?

star_gazer

When the going gets tough the tough gets going! Through common sense any educated American should be able to think of most of them. Feb 13 09, 9:46 PM

queproblema

Do you want the names of the first five states, or the names that existed the longest? That would be almost impossible with the Native American names. I'll go with "New" Jersey, Hampshire, York, and Mexico, since obviously there were original ones. Then, why not Delaware? The name for Jersey itself is sourced from a Viking heritage: the Norse suffix -ey for island can be found in many places around the northern European coasts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey Hampshire was one of the first Saxon shires, recorded in 755, but for two centuries represented the western end of Saxon England, as advances into Dorset and Somerset were fought off by the Britons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hampshire Around the year 1000, the city became known as York. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York The name of Mexico entails the origin, history, and use of the name Mexico, which dates back to 14th century Mesoamerica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toponymy_of_Mexico Thomas West, 3rd (or 12th) Baron De La Warr (July 9, 1577 – June 7, 1618), was the Englishman after whom the bay, river, American Indian tribe, and U.S. state, all later called "Delaware", were named. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_West,_3rd_Baron_De_La_Warr I still think the Native American names are older, but there are more about twenty-five: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0854966.html Feb 13 09, 11:24 PM

star_gazer

Good effort quepoblema! New Mexico doesn't work because though "Mexico" is an old word it wasn't applied to the South Western terrority that became New Mexico untill 1912. Good thinking about the Native American words but also think of states that were named in honor of British royalty. Might Alaska be one? Feb 13 09, 11:41 PM

queproblema

The name Nuevo México was first used by a seeker of gold mines named Francisco de Ibarra who explored far to the north of Mexico in 1563 and reported his findings as being in "a New Mexico".[8] Juan de Oñate officially established the name when was appointed the first governor of the new Province of New Mexico in 1598. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico#History If you just want the first five colonies, they were, in this order, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York. http://www.timepage.org/spl/13colony.html States named for British sovereigns are Virginia, for QEI, Maryland, for Queen Henrietta Maria, consort of Chas. I, and Georgia, for King Geo. II. http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/ncsites/english1.htm#Introduction http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/kingqueen.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Georgia http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/kingqueen.asp And then, Louisiana was named for the King of France. http://www.shgresources.com/la/symbols/names/ Alaska is a Native American name. Feb 14 09, 1:52 AM

star_gazer

Very good, and certainly please include Pennsylvania. In 1681, Charles II granted a land charter[18] to William Penn, to repay a debt of £20,000 (around $30,000,000 in 2007[19]) owed to William's father, Admiral Penn. This was one of the largest land grants to an individual in history.[20] It was called Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's Woods", in honor of Admiral Penn. William Penn, who had wanted his province to be named "Sylvania", was embarrassed at the change, fearing that people would think he had named it after himself, but King Charles would not rename the grant. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania Feb 14 09, 7:39 AM