The Literal Translation

The multicultural history of the United States is evident from maps of the country. French, English, Spanish, Hawaiian, and Algonquian are just a handful of the languages you would need to speak in order to understand the literal meanings of every American place name. Fortunately you don’t need to be a polyglot to read a U.S. map like a book; just take a take a look at the graphic below for the English translations of capital city and state names.

Click to see in full size map

What is the translation of your state and capital city?

Cool map, thanks for posting it. @Jazzy

Mine is Indian City and the state means land of Indians. I could guess at most of them, but the capitol of Florida I wouldn't have guessed.

I never realized Carolina came from king Charles.
And I'd forgotten there's Bismarck among state capitals. I guess not the worst German to name a city after, but...

Pity there's no clear origin for Suomi/Finland or Helsinki. I find most credible the view that there was a person named Hälsing or Helsing (which in turn comes from a historical area in Sweden).

State: Green Mountains

Capital City: Naked Hill