Many names of Florida places evoke fantastic images: Caloosahatchee, Okeechobee, Loxahatchee, Everglades, Miami—to mention only a few. Did you know that Florida's places were often named to honor prominent local citizens such as postmasters, landowners, or war heroes? Jacksonville, for example, was named for Florida's first American governor, Andrew Jackson. Later the state's interest in attracting new residents produced names that suggested pleasant places to live, such as Belle Glade and Avon-by-the-Sea. From Alachua (from the Seminole for "jug") to Zolfo Springs (from the Italian for "sulphur"), Florida Place Names delights and educates with a rich and varied offering of Florida lore.

His writings spanned five decades and have been instrumental across a wide range of academic disciplines. Most importantly, Read devoted a good portion of his research to the meaning of place names in the southeastern United States—especially as they related to Indian word adoption by Europeans. This volume includes his three Louisiana articles combined: Louisiana: Louisiana Place-Names of Indian Origin (1927), More Indian Place-Names in Louisiana (1928), and Indian Words (1931). Joining Alabama's reprint of Indian Places Names in Alabama and Florida Place Names of Indian Origin and Seminole Personal Names, this volume completes the republication of the southern place name writings of William A. Read.

This volume combines historical research and linguistic fieldwork with native speakers from across the United States to present the first comprehensive, up-to-date, scholarly dictionary of American placenames derived from native languages." "Linguist William Bright assembled a team of twelve editorial consultants - experts in Native American languages - and many other native contributors to prepare this lexicon of eleven thousand placenames along with their etymologies. New data from leading scholars make this volume an invaluable reference for students of American Indian culture, folklore, and local histories. Bright's introduction explains his methodology and the contents of each entry. This comprehensive, alphabetical lexicon preserves native language as it details the history and culture found in American indian placenames.

Have you ever driven through a small town with an intriguing name like Wyandotte or Cuyamungue and wondered where that name came from? Or how such well-known placenames as Tucson, Waco, or Tulsa originated? Native American placenames like these occur all across the American Southwest. This user-friendly guide—covering Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas—provides fascinating information about the meaning and origins of southwestern placenames. With its unique regional approach and compact design, the handbook is especially suitable for curious travelers. Written by distinguished linguist William Bright, the handbook is organized alphabetically, and its entries for places—including towns, cities, counties, parks, and geographic landmarks—are concise and easy to read. Entries give the state and county, along with all available information on pronunciation, the name of the language from which the name derives, the name’s literal meaning, and relevant history.In their introduction to the handbook, editors Alice Anderton and Sean O’Neill provide easy-to-understand pronunciation keys for English and Native languages. They further explain basic linguistic terminology and common southwestern geographical terms such as mesa, canyon, and barranca. The book also features maps showing all counties in each of the southwestern states, a list of Native languages and language families, and contact information for tribal headquarters throughout the Southwest.