Arkansas – History of the Name

Meaning of Arkansas

Origin of Name: French version of Sioux “acansa,” meaning “downstream place” or “south wind.” - According to the US Mint.

Origin of Name: “The name is derived from a word used by the Quapaw Indians to designate the territory that now comprises the state. The Jesuit missionary and explorer, Pere Jacques Marquette and his confreres recorded the term as Alkansas and as Akamsea. No meaning for the Algonquin word itself has been found.” – According to the US Navy, from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

 

 

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The History of State of Arkansas’ Name:

Native peoples of Arkansas and the origin of the state’s name.

Like many place names in the state, the word “Arkansas” has its roots in a Native American term, transliterated into French, then transformed again by English-speaking settlers and developers of the 19th Century.

When French explorers first visited this region in the late 17th century, they encountered a native nation living in the Mississippi delta country whose members called themselves “Ugakhpa,” meaning “the downstream people.” The French variously rendered this name as “Kappa,” “Cappa” or “Quapaw,” this last becoming today’s accepted transliteration of the original Dhegilan Siouan name.

Another term applied to the Quapaw came from Algonkian-sp[e]aking natives who accompanied early French expeditions into the Mississippi country. These guides called the Quapaw “Akansa,” or “people of the wind.” French, then Spanish and finally English-speaking travelers and settlers rendered this name as “Acansae,” “Arcansa,” and otherwise. An 18th-century French map first styles the Arkansas River as such; the same map refers to the Quapaw as “les Akansas.”

After the province of Louisiana was bought by the United States in 1803, the name and, apparently, its pronunciation remained fluid for some decades. In 1811, American soldier and explorer Zebulon Pike dubbed the area and river “Arkansaw,” likely reflecting common pronunciation. Others, after Pike, insisted on pronouncing the name stressing the middle syllable and the final consonant, as “Ar-KANSAS.” In 1881, over four decades after statehood, the General Assembly ultimately resolved that the state’s name should be spelled “Arkansas” but pronounced as “Arkansaw.”

Source: Arkansas Secretary of State

 

 

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Arkansas Legislation – Pronunciation of state name

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in
oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing
the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final “s” silent, the “a” in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of “a” in “man” and
the sounding of the terminal “s” is an innovation to be discouraged.

Source: Arkansas Code of 1987, Updated: Februrary 23, 2009
History. Concurrent Resolution No. 4, Acts 1881, p. 216; C. & M. Dig., § 9181a; Pope’s
Dig., § 11867; A.S.A. 1947, § 5-102.

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