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by Anonymous on September 3rd, 2009

Anonymous

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What is the story behind the name" kentucky"?

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  • by BigDaddyBS on September 3rd, 2009

    BigDaddyBS

    from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky#Origin_of_name

    The origin of Kentucky's name (variously spelled Cane-tuck-ee, Cantucky, Kain-tuck-ee, and Kentuckee before its modern spelling was accepted)[6] has never been definitively identified, though some theories have been debunked. For example, Kentucky's name is unlikely to mean "dark and bloody ground" as is commonly believed, because it does not occur with that meaning in any known Native American language. It also is not a combination of "cane" and "turkey". The most likely etymology is that it comes from an Iroquoian word for "meadow" or "prairie" (c.f. Mohawk kenhtà:ke, Seneca këhta'keh). Other possibilities also exist: the suggestion of early Kentucky pioneer George Rogers Clark that the name means "the river of blood", a Wyandot name meaning "land of tomorrow", a Shawnee term possibly referring to the head of a river, or an Algonquian word for a river bottom.

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