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French Place Names In The USA And Canada

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Many towns, rivers, and other geographical features in the United States and Canada have French names. This page offers the translations into English of a few of these. Where a French word has multiple meanings in English I have only included that which seems most likely to apply to a place name.

This list is only a small selection and is naturally very far from being complete. A complete list would of course be enormous. However, I would greatly welcome any suggestions for additional entries (you can email me using the link at the bottom of this page).

Many other place names in the USA and Canada come from Native American cultures or from other nationalities of immigrants such as British, Dutch, German, Russian and Spanish.

French	English	Comments
A la, Au, Aux	At the, to the
Baie	Bay
Bayonne, New Jersey		From the town of the same name in France.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Red Stick	Said to come from a red cypress tree that stood in the middle of a Native American village on the site of the city in the early eighteenth century.
Belleville, Illinois	Beautiful Town
Bellevue, Washington State	Beautiful View
Belmont, California	Beautiful Mountain
Beloit, Wisconsin	Beautiful Strait	From bel (beautiful) and detroit (strait or channel).
Boise, Idaho	Wooded	The name was first applied to the tree-lined Boise River by French-Canadian fur trappers in the early nineteenth century.
Buffalo, New York State		Possibly from beau fleuve ("beautiful river"), referring to a nearby stream.
Calais, Maine		Named after Calais, France.
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho	Heart of Awl, or Sharp-hearted.	From a name given to a Native American tribe by French traders.
Dauphin Island, Alabama
De, Du, Des	Of, from
De Pere, Wisconsin		From the nearby cataracts on the Fox River, which were called the Rapides des Peres ("rapids of the fathers") by French Jesuits, who established a mission in the area in 1671.
Des Moines, Iowa	Middle, or "of the monks"	There are several theories. The name may have been derived from "Moingonas", the Native American name for the Des Moines river (or a tribe which lived in the area), or from the French "de moyen" (middle) because of the city's location between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, or from the French for "of the monks", referring to Trappist monks who lived in the area.
Detroit, Michigan	Strait	From d'etroit ("of the strait"), taken from the original settlement's full name of Pontchartrain d'Etroit, referring to the strait between Lake Huron and Lake Erie
Eau Claire, Wisconsin	Clear Water	Taken from the name given to the Eau Claire River by early fur trappers.
Est	East
Florissant, Missouri		From the original name of Fleurissant ("flowering" or "flourishing").
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin	End Of The Lake	From the town's location at the southern tip of Lake Winnebago.
Frenchville, Maine
Gros Ventre River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming	Great Belly	From the name given to the Gros Ventre tribe of Montana and Wyoming by French traders.
Ile	Island
La Crosse, Wisconsin		From the Native American name of lacrosse, played in the area by eighteenth century French traders. Lacrosse was originally called baggataway but the French-Canadians called the head of the stick used in the game la crosse because it is similar to a bishop's crosier or cross and in time that name came into use for the game itself.
Lac	Lake
Lachine, Province of Québec		The French explorer Robert Cavelier set off from the area in 1669 in a futile attempt to search for a route to China. As a result his former estate became known as La Chine, and hence the name of the city.
Lake Champlain, New York State		Named after Samuel de Champlain, the first European to visit the lake in 1609.
Lake L'Homme Dieu, Minnesota
Laramie, Wyoming		From the French fur trapper, Jacques La Ramie.
Le, La, Les	The
Little Canada, Minnesota		Not a French name itself but a town inhabited by those of French Canadian heritage.
Louisiana		The state's name comes from the former French territory lying west of the Mississippi River, which was named Louisiane by the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, in honour of King Louis XIV of France.
Moline, Illinois		Thought to probably be a corruption of moulin ("mill").
Montpelier, Vermont		Named after the town of the same name in France.
Montreal	Mount Royal	From Mont Real, a hill or mountain located in the centre of the city.
Nord	North
Ouest	West
Outremont, Province of Québec		Name for its location on the far (in French, "outre") side of Montreal.
Ozark Mountains		Derived from aux arcs, ("to the arcs").
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba		Presumably the city lies on the route of a portage, where boats had to be carried overland.
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin	Prairie Of Dog	When the first French explorers reached the area it was occupied by a group of Fox Indians led by a chief whose name meant "chien" in French (or "dog" in English). There is also a theory that the name was derived from "prairie dogs" but that appears to be incorrect.
Racine, Wisconsin		Probably from the French word for "root", referring to a large number of roots on the river bank in the area.
Sainte or Ste.	Saint
Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan and Ontario	Saint Mary's Rapids	From rapids on the Saint Mary's River.
Sept-Iles, Province of Québec	Seven Islands	From the seven islands which surround the city's harbour.
Sud	South
Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia	Yellowhead's Store	Shares its derivation with Yellowhead Pass and the Yellowhead Highway, from the nickname given to Pierre Bostonais, an Iroquois guide and fur trapper of the early 1800's who had light coloured hair.
The Dalles, Washington State	The Flagstones	From the name given to rocks in the Columbia River by French-Canadian explorers.
Terre Haute, Indiana	High Ground
Trois-Rivieres, Province of Québec	Three Rivers	The name refers to the three channels through which the Saint-Maurice River joins the Saint Lawrence River.
Vermont	Green Mountain	From vert mont ("green mountain").

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Most recently modified 3-Sep-06