ToponymicaUS City Name Origins
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French

Little Rock

Arkansas (AR)est. 1821pop. 202,591/LIT-uhl ROK/

The meaning

“The little rock (la petite roche)”

How it got the name

In 1722 the French explorer Bernard de la Harpe noted a small rock outcropping on the south bank of the Arkansas — la petite roche — the first stone visible to boats coming up from the flat delta. It marked the crossing point. A larger bluff two miles upstream became, inevitably, Big Rock.

Former names

  1. La Petite Roche
  2. Arkopolis
  3. Little Rock