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This is a list of Indiana county name etymologies. Many Indiana counties are named for United States Founding Fathers and personalities of the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and Battle of Tippecanoe; early leaders of Indiana Territory and Indiana, as well as surrounding states like Michigan and Kentucky; plus Native American tribes, and geographical features.
[edit] Adams - Crawford
- Adams County: Adams is named for U.S. President John Quincy Adams.
- Allen County: Allen is named for Kentucky Col. John Allen, killed during the War of 1812 Some sources say he died at the siege of Fort Wayne, others the Battle of the River Raisin.
- Bartholemew County: Bartholemew is named for Lt. Col. Joseph Bartholomew, wounded at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Benton County: Benton is named for Thomas H. Benton, U.S. Senator from Missouri.
- Blackford County: Blackford is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, the first Speaker of the Indiana General Assembly.
- Boone County: Boone is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone.
- Brown County: Brown is named for Gen. Jacob Brown, who defeated the British at the Battle of Sackett's Harbor the War of 1812.
- Carroll County: Carroll is named for Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
- Cass County: Cass is named for Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory. Cass was Secretary of State just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War.
- Clark County: Clark is named for George Rogers Clark, who captured the Northwest Territory for Virginia during the Revolutionary War.
- Clay County: Clay is named for Kentucky Congressman and U.S. Speaker of the House Henry Clay.
- Clinton County: Clinton is named for Governor of New York DeWitt Clinton.
- Crawford County: Crawford is named for either U.S. Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford or for Col. William Crawford, who fought in the French and Indian War and Revolutionary War, and who was burned and scalped by Indians in 1782 in what is now Wyandot County, Ohio.
[edit] Daviess - Huntington
- Daviess County: Daviess is named for Maj. Joseph Hamilton Daviess, U.S. District Attorney for Kentucky, killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
- Dearborn County: Dearborn is named for U.S. Secretary of War Henry Dearborn.
- Decatur County: Decatur is named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, naval officer in the War of 1812.
- De Kalb County: De Kalb is named for Johann de Kalb, a German national who fought with the Continentals during the American Revolutionary War.
- Delaware County: Delaware is named for the Delaware Native American people.
- Dubois County: Dubois is named for Toussaint Dubois, a Frenchman who fought in the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812.
- Elkhart County: There are many stories for the origin of this name. The most common is that it was named for the Elkhart tribe, no reference to which can be found. Another is that there was an island in the St. Joseph River that was shaped like the heart of an elk, so that the French named the place "heart of the stag", which became "elkhart" in English. Another story is that it was named for Chief Elkhart, who is usually described as being Shawnee, but sometimes Potawatomi.
- Fayette County: Fayette is named for the Marquis de la Fayette, a French hero of the Revolutionary War.
- Floyd County: Floyd is named for either Col. John Floyd of Virginia or for either early settler Davis Floyd or early settler John Floyd.
- Fountain County: Fountain is named for Kentucky Maj. James Fontaine who was killed at Harmar's Defeat on October 22, 1790, near modern Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
- Franklin County: Franklin is named for Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.
- Fulton County: Fulton is named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.
- Gibson County: Gibson is named for John Gibson, a secretary of the Indiana Territory.
- Grant County: Grant is named for Captains Samuel and Moses Grant of Kentucky.
- Greene County: Greene is named for Gen. Nathanael Greene, who commanded the southern theater in the Revolutionary War, eventually forcing Cornwallis to retreat to Yorktown.
- Hamilton County: Hamilton is named for Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
- Hancock County: Hancock is named for president of the Continental Congress John Hancock.
- Harrison County: Harrison is named for William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory and later U.S. President.
- Hendricks County: Hendricks is named for Governor of Indiana William Hendricks.
- Henry County: Henry is named for Patriot Patrick Henry.
- Howard County: Howard is named for Gen. Tilghman Howard, a U.S. Representative from Indiana.
- Huntington County: Huntington is named for Samuel Huntington, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and became President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation.
[edit] Jackson - Morgan
- Jackson County: Jackson is named for Andrew Jackson, who defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, and later became President.
- Jasper County: Jasper is named for Sgt. William Jasper, a famous scout for the Continentals during the Revolutionary War.
- Jay County: Jay is named for John Jay, co-author of the Federalist Papers, Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation, and first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
- Jefferson County: Jefferson is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
- Jennings County: Jennings is named for the first Governor of Indiana, Jonathan Jennings.
- Johnson County: Johnson is named for John Johnson, a judge of the Indiana Supreme Court.
- Knox County: Knox is named for U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox.
- Kosciusko County: Kosciusko is named for Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish ally of the Americans during the Revolutionary War.
- Lagrange County: Lagrange is named after Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de la Fayette's home outside of Paris, France.
- Lake County: Lake is named for its location on Lake Michigan.
- LaPorte County: LaPorte means the door or the port in the French language.
- Lawrence County: Lawrence is named for Capt. James Lawrence, who uttered the famous words "Don't give up the ship" after being mortally wounded during the War of 1812.
- Madison County: Madison is named for U.S. President James Madison.
- Marion County: Marion is named for Gen. Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" of the American Revolutionary War.
- Marshall County: Marshall is named for U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall.
- Martin County: Martin is named for Maj. John T. Martin of Kentucky
- Miami County: Miami is named for the Miami, a Native American people.
- Monroe County: Monroe is named for U.S. President James Monroe.
- Montgomery County: Montgomery is named for Gen. Richard Montgomery, killed during the Battle of Quebec (1775) during the Revolutionary War.
- Morgan County: Morgan is named for Gen. Daniel Morgan, who defeated the British at the Battle of Cowpens in the Revolutionary War.
[edit] Newton - Switzerland
- Newton County: Newton is named for Sgt. John Newton, who served under Francis Marion in the Revolutionary War.
- Noble County: Noble is named for James Noble, the first U.S. Senator from Indiana.
- Ohio County: Ohio is named for the Ohio River.
- Orange County: Orange is named for Orange County, North Carolina. The name derives from the Dutch Protestant House of Orange, which acquired the English throne with the accession of King William III in 1689, following the Glorious Revolution.
- Owen County: Owen is named for Abraham Owen, a colonel who died at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Parke County: Parke is named for Benjamin Parke, a delegate of Indiana Territory to the U.S. Congress.
- Perry County: Perry is named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry who defeated the British squadron in the decisive Battle of Lake Erie in 1813.
- Pike County: Pike is named for Zebulon M. Pike, mostly famous for the Pike Expedition, exploring the southwest portion of the Louisiana Purchase. Pike also fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and was killed in the War of 1812.
- Porter County: Porter is named for Capt. David Porter, naval officer during the War of 1812.
- Posey County: Posey is named for Thomas Posey, a governor of Indiana Territory.
- Pulaski County: Pulaski is named for Kazimierz Pułaski, an ally of the Americans during the Revolutionary War.
- Putnam County: Putnam is named for American Revolutionary War general Israel Putnam.
- Randolph County: Randolph is named for either Thomas Randolph, said to be a soldier killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe, or for Randolph County, North Carolina.
- Ripley County: Ripley is named for Gen. Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, an officer in the War of 1812.
- Rush County: Rush is named for Dr. Benjamin Rush, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
- St. Joseph County: St. Joseph is named for the St. Joseph River, which flows through it toward Lake Michigan.
- Scott County: Scott is named for Charles Scott, who was a general in the Revolutionary War, and in the Northwest Indian War. Gen. Scott served as Governor of Kentucky from 1803 until 1812.
- Shelby County: Shelby is named for Gen. Isaac Shelby, who defeated the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780, became Governor of Kentucky, and defeated the British at the decisive Battle of the Thames in 1813.
- Spencer County: Spencer is named for Capt. Spier Spencer, killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.
- Starke County: Starke is named for New Hampshire Gen. John Stark, who defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington in 1777 in the Revolutionary War.
- Steuben County: Steuben is named for Baron Frederick von Steuben, an officer of the American Revolutionary War.
- Sullivan County: Sullivan is named for Daniel Sullivan, a soldier killed by Indians while carrying a dispatch between Fort Vincennes and Louisville during the Revolutionary War.
- Switzerland County: Switzerland is named for the home country of many of the early settlers, Switzerland.
[edit] Tippecanoe - Whitley
- Tippecanoe County: Tippecanoe is named for the Tippecanoe River and the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Tipton County: Tipton is named for John Tipton, a soldier of the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Union County: Union is so named because it is the product of a union of parts of Fayette, Franklin and Wayne counties, as united into one county in 1821.
- Vanderburgh County: Vanderburgh is named for Henry Vanderburgh, a judge for Indiana Territory.
- Vermillion County: Vermillion is named for the Vermillion River.
- Vigo County: Vigo is named for Francis Vigo, an Italian tradesman from St. Louis who assisted George Rogers Clark's campaigns during the American Revolutionary War.
- Wabash County: Wabash is named for the Wabash River.
- Warren County: Warren is named for Dr. Joseph Warren, killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in which he fought as a private, because his commission as a General had not yet taken effect.
- Warrick County: Warrick is named for Capt. Jacob Warrick, killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Washington County: Washington is named for U.S. President George Washington.
- Wayne County: Wayne is named for Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne.
- Wells County: Wells is named for Capt. William A. Wells, who was once a Native American scout for Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and who was killed at the Fort Dearborn Massacre in 1812.
- White County: White is named for Capt. Isaac White of Equality, Illinois who was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
- Whitley County: Whitley is named for Col. William Whitley, who was killed at the decisive American victory at the Battle of the Thames in the War of 1812.
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