U.S. county etymology map

Many US states have counties named after presidents such as Washington, Madison, Polk, Jefferson, etc. Counties are also commonly named after famous individuals, local Native American tribes once in the area, cities located within the county, and land or water features.

Etymology map placing all 3,000 + into seven broad categories
US counties categorized by the language of origin

Reddit user: BroIBeliveAtYou

Reddit user: uvbseventysix

Light green — Public Figure: After 1830 (“Lincoln County”, “Pershing County”)
Dark green — Public Figure: 1775–1830 (“Washington County”, “Perry County”)
Light Blue — Public Figure: Before 1775 (“San Juan County”, “Pitt County”
Brown — Non-Geographic Words (“El Paso County”, “Union County”)
Yellow — Geographic Worlds (“Lake County”, Petroleum County”)
Purple — Native American Words (“Cherokee County”, “Honolulu County”
Blue — “Old World” Locations (“Switzerland County”, “Medina County”
Gray — Unknown / Disputed

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Originally published at https://www.vividmaps.com on December 3, 2018.