ToponymicaUS City Name Origins
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Indigenous

Seattle

Washington (WA)est. 1851pop. 755,078/see-AT-uhl/

The meaning

“Anglicization of the personal name Si'ahl”

How it got the name

Settlers at Alki Point first called their claim New York-Alki — 'New York by and by' in Chinook Jargon, a joke about their ambitions. Doc Maynard pushed instead to honor Si'ahl, the Duwamish and Suquamish leader who had kept the peace with the newcomers. Si'ahl reportedly disliked the idea: his people held that speaking a dead person's name disturbed their rest, and he asked for compensation in advance.

Former names

  1. New York-Alki
  2. Duwamps
  3. Seattle