U.S. States by Alternate Etymology

Can you guess these states based on a totally made up explanation of their name?

Answer must correspond to the yellow box

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Last updated: January 8, 2021

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First submitted	January 8, 2021
Times taken	11,358
Average score	44.4%
Rating	3.55

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Name meaning	Country
Named for a country in Asia	Georgia
Honors the rapper who recorded the #1 hit "Low"	Florida
Because it's a land filled with Christmas spirit	Maryland
Founded by Japanese settlers who named it "good morning" in their language	Ohio
Named for the state's most famous invention - a new type of sports uniform	New Jersey
Named after a 1943 Broadway play	Oklahoma
Because ten different states are visible from the highest point in this one	Tennessee
Another way of saying "viewed a farm implement"	Idaho
Land of very small carbonated beverages	Minnesota
Spanish for "a dry area"	Arizona
Because the people there are very depressed	Missouri
Honors a hero who did 2,000 pounds of laundry	Washington
Children in this state are allowed to talk back to teachers and parents	Kansas
The people in this state cause irritation to the unwell	Illinois
Named for the wife of Mr. Ippy	Mississippi
Because the original colonists of this state never had sex	Virginia
Named in honor of a Harrison Ford movie character	Indiana
A genie with a speech impediment granted the original colonists one wish. When they asked for good weather he said "wish again".	Michigan

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38 Comments

+20

Level 88

Jan 10, 2021

Residents of the Carol-inas also can claim to be filled with Christmas spirit.

Level ∞

Jan 11, 2021

Good point. Changed the question to add "land" which also makes it easier.

+12

Level 90

Jan 10, 2021

Reply to "What do you think she wants?" (Alaska,)

Level 73

Jan 11, 2021

"How you doin'?": Hawaii. "Principal": Maine. "I'm the prostitute": Idaho. I could go on. (But I won't.)

Level 81

Jan 11, 2021

I prefer "Viewed a farm implement" for Idaho.

Able to speak for Kentucky. My grandfather's pun was "I got a horse in Detroit and no Kentucky".

Level ∞

Jan 11, 2021

Good one! Changed one of the least-guessed answers to your Idaho suggestion.

Level 65

Mar 2, 2025

I don't get the joke could you please explain

Level 80

Jan 11, 2021

I got 5/18. This one was brutal, I guess my brain just doesn't work that way.

Level 94

Jan 11, 2021

Are we just going to pretend Indiana wasn't named for India?! ;)

Level 89

Jan 12, 2021

In a sense it was. The Native Americans were named Indians because Columbus thought he was in the Indies, then Indiana was named after the Native Americans.

Level 78

Jan 12, 2021

My love of both geography and puns awarded me a perfect score on this one. After seeing the scoring breakdown, i'm pretty proud of this one.

Level ∞

Mar 9, 2021

Well done!

Level 53

Jan 12, 2021

Oregon- Named after a pink Mexican Plant(Oregano)

Pensylvania- State full of writing tools(something along those lines

Level 53

Jan 19, 2021

Colorado- the ultimate cholera place

Level 82

Jan 12, 2021

Florence the jockey Florida.

Hit Sith lord with patella. Nevada

Alternatively he has departed. Oregon

Northern motor vehicle or cruise ship. North Carolina

Figure out IT. Texas

Question choice of pigeon. Wyoming

Hair on lions neck. Maine

Man severed ice cream cone. Conneticut

County of recently made cold meat. New Hampshire

Listen to Anne cutting wood. Arkansas

Former presidents brother Alexander. Alabama

Northern water foul oh thank you. North Dakota

Beat eggs or milk when being naughty. Wisconsin

Formal address to very tall 15th letter. Ohio

He comes round to hit her with his patella. California

Louis please dont be too harsh on your wife. Louisiana

Delroy knows about it. Delaware

I'm in her debt. Iowa

Formal shirt hurts my neck. Colorado

Level 72

Jan 14, 2021

I could've used more time on this one. Slow going for me.

Level 75

Jan 23, 2021

This quiz just kicked my butt.

Level 65

Mar 9, 2021

I always thought that was the actual etymology of Arizona. It is so glaringly obvious that it never occured to me it could be something else.

Level 73

Mar 9, 2021

i don't understand the idaho one

Level 88

Mar 9, 2021

"eyed a hoe"

Level 71

Mar 9, 2021

Haha, I loved the clue for Virginia :') In a sense though it is sex-related, since it's named after Elizabeth, the (alleged) "Virgin Queen."

Level 79

Mar 9, 2021

When Dad Jokes and Trivia collide

Level 72

Mar 9, 2021

I spent way too much time trying to figure out which state had "Han" or "Solo" in its name, and never thought to consider any other character he played. Whoops.

Level 82

Mar 10, 2021

Why is this quiz only rated 3 stars? It's great!

Level 44

Mar 10, 2021

Only got four 😞

Level 82

Mar 12, 2021

Got 16!

Level 67

Mar 10, 2021

Only missed my home state - though it's also the least guessed

Level 39

Mar 10, 2021

Fun Quizzz!!

Level 58

Mar 11, 2021

Oklahoma is not named after the play... the play is named after the state.

Level 82

Mar 12, 2021

Yew shore about that?

Level 67

Mar 11, 2021

I still don't get the Missouri and Kansas ones. This quiz is a bit weird.

Level 54

Mar 11, 2021

Like kansas is like "can sas" and missouri is like misery

Level 59

Mar 11, 2021

I was at a total loss of what this quiz is about, tried multiple answers, no good. Finally gave up and saw... how easy it was if I had understood the question !

Level 79

Apr 8, 2021

The real tragedy is that, in my home state of Minnesota, we call it Minnepop.

Level 76

Jan 17, 2022

The answer for new type of sports uniform made me laugh out loud

Level 56

Jan 25, 2022

I am shocked that the one about smack talk is the one most people miss. THat one immediately jumped out for me personally.

Level 83

Mar 15, 2025

Can't believe no-one's mentioned the state with lots of large teeth ....

Level 73

Sep 10, 2025

Why does it say "Country" instead of "States" for the top banner?