US Place Names ~ Rabbit Ears
Mountains, Colorado to Ridgeway, New York
Rabbit Ears; mountain of the Park Range, Colorado, so
named on account of its resemblance to a rabbit ear.
Rabun; county in Georgia, named for William Rabun, an
early governor of the State.
Raccoon; creek in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. A
corruption of the Indian arrath-kune or arathcone, the
procyon lotor of the naturalist.
Racine; county, and city in same county, in Wisconsin,
situated at the mouth of Root River. A French word
meaning "root."
Radersburg; town in Broadwater County, Montana, named
for William Rader, one of the early settlers.
Radford; village in Christian County, Illinois, named
for George Radford, a land-holder.
Radford; city in Montgomery County, Virginia, named for
William Radford, a prominent citizen.
Radnor; village in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, named
from the town in Wales.
Radom; village in Washington County, Illinois, named
from the province of Russia in Poland.
Ragged; mountain in Knox County, Maine, so named on
account of its ragged appearance.
Rahway; river in New Jersey. Said to be derived from the
Indian word nawakwa, meaning "in the middle of the
forest."
Rahway; city in Union County, New Jersey, named for the
Indian sachem, Rahwack.
Rainier; town in Columbia County, Oregon, and mountain
in Washington, named for Rear-Admiral Rainier, of the
British navy.
Rains; county in Texas, named for Emory Rains, who was
prominent in the politics of the Republic and later in
those of the State.
Rainsville; town in Warren County, Indiana, named for
the proprietor Isaac Rains.
Rainy; lake in Minnesota. A translation of the original
French name, lac de la pluie, "lake of the rain."
Raisin; river in Michigan, so named on account of the
abundance of grapes which formerly grew upon its banks.
Raleigh; town in Smith County, Mississippi, city in Wake
County, North Carolina, town in Shelby County,
Tennessee, and county in West Virginia, named for Sir
Walter Raleigh.
Ralls; county in Missouri, named for John Ralls, member
of the State legislature, 1820-1821.
Ralston; village in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, named
for Matthew C. Ralston.
Ramseur; town in Randolph County, North Carolina, named
for Gen. Stephen Ramseur.
Ramsey; township and village in Fayette County,
Illinois, and counties in Minnesota and North Dakota,
named for the war governor of Minnesota, Hon. Alexander
Ramsey, afterwards United States Senator.
Ranchita; towns in Los Angeles and Riverside counties,
California. A Spanish term, meaning "little ranch."
Randall; county in Texas, named for Horace Randall, a
brigadier-general of the Confederacy.
Randalls; island in New York, named for Jonathan
Randall, who owns it.
Randleman; town in Randolph County, North Carolina,
named for a prominent citizen.
Randolph; counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and
Missouri; towns in Coos County, New Hampshire,
Cattaraugus County, New York, and Orange County,
Vermont; named for John Randolph, of Roanoke, Virginia.
Randolph; county in Illinois, named for Beverly
Randolph, governor of Virginia, 1788-1791.
Randolph; township in McLean County, Illinois, named for
Gardner Randolph, an early settler.
Randolph; county in Indiana, named for Thomas Randolph,
killed at Tippecanoe.
Randolph; town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, and
county in North Carolina, named for Peyton Randolph, of
Virginia.
Randolph; village in Dakota County, Nebraska, named for
the first mail carrier between Sioux City and Elkhorn
Valley, Jasper Randolph.
Randolph; township in Portage County, Ohio, named for
Henry Randolph Storrs, its original proprietor.
Randolph; county in West Virginia, named for Edmund
Randolph, an early governor.
Randsburg; mining town in Kern County, California, named
from the town in South Africa.
Rangeley; town and plantation in Franklin County, and
chain of lakes in Franklin and Oxford counties, Maine,
named for an Englishman, an early settler and large
landowner.
Rankin; county in Mississippi, named for Christopher
Rankin, congressman from that State.
Ransom; village in Lasalle County, Illinois, named for
Gen. Thomas E. G. Ransom, an Illinois officer of the
civil war.
Ransom; village in Hillsdale County, Michigan, named for
Epaphroditus Ransom, former governor of the State.
Ransom; county in North Dakota, named for Fort Ransom.
Ransomville; village in Niagara County, New York, named
for Clark Ransom, one of the first settlers.
Rantoul; township and village in Champaign County,
Illinois, named for Robert Rantoul, a railroad
incorporator.
Rapho; township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A
corruption of an Indian word, meaning "a fort of tents."
Rapidan; river in Virginia, named for Anne, Queen of
England, ''rapid Anne."
Rapides; parish in Louisiana. A French word meaning
"rapids," and given this parish on account of the rapids
or falls in the Red River.
Rappahannock; river and county in Virginia. An Indian
word meaning "stream with an ebb and flow," or "river of
quick-rising water."
Raquette; river in Hamilton County, New York, from the
French word meaning "snowshoe."
Raritan; stream and a town in Somerset County, New
Jersey. An Indian word meaning "forked river."
Raspberry; island, one of the Apostles, in Lake
Superior. A translation of an Indian word, meaning
"raspberries are plentiful here."
Rathbone; town in Steuben County, New York, named for
Gen. Ransom Rathbone, an early settler.
Raton; village in Las Animas County, Colorado. A Spanish
word meaning "mouse."
Raumaug; lake in Litchfield County, Connecticut. A
corruption of the Indian word wonkemaug, meaning
"crooked fishing place."
Ravalli; county in Montana, named for the noted Jesuit
missionary.
Ravenna; village in Portage County, Ohio, named for the
city in Italy.
Ravenswood; substation in Long Island City, New York,
because of the thousands of crows who made their home in
the surrounding woods.
Ravenswood; town in Jackson County, West Virginia, named
for the Ravensworths, a family of England, but
misspelled by the engravers in making the first maps and
never corrected.
Rawhide; creek in Nebraska, said to be so named because
a white man was flayed upon its banks by a party of
Pawnee Indians.
Rawlins; county in Kansas and city in Carbon County,
Wyoming, named for John A. Rawlins, secretary of war
under President Grant.
Ray; creek in California, named for an early settler.
Ray; county in Missouri, named for John Ray, a member of
the convention which formed the State constitution.
Raymond; village in Madera County, California, named for
Raymond Whitcomb, who organized a party of tourists to
make the trip to the Yosemite by stages from this point.
Raymond; town in Cumberland County, Maine, named for
Capt. William Raymond.
Raymond; town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, named
for John Raymond, a grantee.
Raymondville; village in St. Lawrence County, New York,
named for Benjamin Raymond, first agent.
Raymore; town in Cass County, Missouri, named for two
railroad men of St. Louis, Messrs. Ray and Moore.
Raynham; town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, named
from the parish of Rainham, Essex County, England.
Raysville; village in Henry County, Indiana, named for
Governor Ray.
Reading; town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, named
for Col. John Read, an early settler.
Reading; town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and
city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, named from the town
in Berkshire, England.
Readsboro; town in Bennington County, Vermont, named for
John Read, one of the original patentees.
Readstown; village in Vernon County, Wisconsin, named
for its founder.
Reagan; county in Texas, named for John H. Reagan, a
member of the Confederate cabinet.
Rector; town in Clay County, Arkansas, named for Wharton
or Elias Rector, distinguished in the early Indian
affairs of the State.
Red; range of mountains in Alabama, so called on account
of its hematite ores.
Red; river in Arkansas, so named on account of the color
of the sediment with which it is freighted.
Red; lake in Beltrami County, Minnesota. The name is a
translation of the Ojibway name, referring to the
unruffled surface of the lake reflecting the red sunset.
Red; group of mountains in Wyoming, so named because
formed of porphyry, which becomes dark red when exposed
to the sun.
Red Bank; towns in Marshall County, Mississippi, and
Monmouth County, New Jersey, so named on account of the
reddish appearance of the river banks.
Red Bluff; township and city in Tehama County,
California, so named from the reddish color of a high
bank of the Sacramento River, near which the city is
located.
Redbud; villages in Walker County, Alabama, and Gordon
County, Georgia, city in Randolph County, Illinois, and
village in Cowley County, Kansas, so named because of
the presence of the redbud, a small ornamental tree.
Bed Cap; creek in California, named for a near-by mine.
Red Cedar; river in Iowa, so named from the abundance of
cedar trees which formerly grew along its banks.
Bed Cloud; city in Webster County, Nebraska, named for
the celebrated Sioux Indian chief.
Redden; village in Sussex County, Delaware, named for
Col. William O. Redden.
Redding; city in Shasta County, California, named for
Major Bedding, one of the earliest American pioneers.
Redfield; town in Dallas County, Iowa, named for Colonel
Redfield.
Redfield; township and city in Spink County, South
Dakota, named for J. B. Redfield, a director of the
Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
Redford; village in Wayne County, Michigan, so named
because it was a fording place on the river Rouge.
Red Hook; town in Dutchess County, New York. A
translation of the original Dutch name, Roode Hoeck,
which was given it on account of a near-by marsh covered
with cranberries.
Red Jacket; village in Erie County, New York, named for
a chief of the Seneca Indians, who derived his name from
the brilliant red jacket which he wore, given him by a
British officer.
Red Lake; county in Minnesota, named from the lake in
Beltrami County.
Red Oak; city in Montgomery County, Iowa, so named on
account of a nearby grove of trees of this species.
Redondo Beach; city in Los Angeles County, California,
named from a Spanish word meaning "round."
Red River; parish in Louisiana, and county in Texas,
named from the Red River, which borders Texas on the
north.
Red River of the North; rises in Elbow Lake, Minnesota,
and enters Lake Winnipeg. Named from Red Lake in
Minnesota.
Red Rock; town in Douglas County, Minnesota, so named on
account of a nearby granite boulder painted red by the
Indians.
Red Rock; village in Columbia County, New York, named
for a red rock, surmounted by a wooden column 10 feet
high bearing the date 1825.
Redstone; branch of the Monongahela River in
Pennsylvania, derived from the Indian word machkachsen,
meaning "red stone creek."
Redwillow; county in Nebraska, so named on account of
the abundance of trees of this species.
Redwing; city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, named for an
Indian chief.
Redwood; city in San Mateo County, California, so named
because of the abundance of redwood timber in the
vicinity.
Redwood; river in Indiana. Derived from the Indian words
musqua me tig, meaning "redwood tree river."
Redwood; river in Minnesota, draining into the Minnesota
River. The name is a translation of the Dakota (Sioux),
name referring to the abundant growth along the river of
cornel, a bush with a red bark.
Redwood; county in Minnesota, named from the river.
Read; township in Butler County, Nebraska, named for
David Reed, a pioneer.
Reed City; village in Osceola County, Michigan, named
for its founder, James M. Reed.
Reedsburg; city in Sauk County, Wisconsin, named for D.
C. Reed, an early settler.
Reedy; town in Roane County, West Virginia, named for a
creek where reeds grow abundantly.
Reese; valley and river in Nevada, named for a guide.
Reese; stream in Lander County, Nevada, named for an
early settler.
Reeseville; village in Dodge County, Wisconsin, named
for Samuel Reese, the first settler.
Reeves; county in Texas, named for George H. Reeves.
Reesesville; town in Dorchester County, South Carolina,
named for a prominent family of the vicinity.
Refugio; town in Santa Barbara County, California. The
Spanish form of "refuge."
Refugio; county, and town in same county, in Texas,
named for a Mexican missionary establishment on the
Mission River.
Rehoboth; town in Sussex County, Delaware, given this
scriptural name because it was first established as a
place for yearly camp meetings. A Hebrew word meaning
"room," or "enlargements."
Rehoboth; town in Bristol County, Massachusetts; a
Hebrew word meaning "ample room." Said to have been
founded by William Blackstone and so named by him as
significant of his aim: "Room outside of the narrow
confines of Puritan intolerance." Another authority
ascribes the name to Rev. Samuel Newman, who established
a church there and gave the town this name because "the
Lord hath made room for us."
Reidsville; village in Knox County, Nebraska, named for
Charles J. Reid, the first settler.
Reidsville; town in Rockingham County, North Carolina,
named for David S. Reid, a former governor.
Remsen; town in Oneida County, New York, named for Henry
Remsen, a patentee.
Rennert; town in Robeson County, North Carolina, named
for a prominent resident.
Rene; county in Kansas, town in Washoe County, Nevada,
and village in Venango County, Pennsylvania, named for
Gen. Jesse L. Reno.
Renovo; borough in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Derived
from the Latin, re, "again," and novua, "new."
Rensselaer; city in Jasper County, Indiana, named for
John Van Rensselaer, of New York State.
Rensselaer; county in New York;
Rensselaerville; town in Albany County, New York. Named
for Kilian van Rensselaer, who planted a colony on his
lands to be known as Rensselaerwyck, now as above.
Benville; county in Minnesota, named for Joseph
Renville, an Indian trader and prominent citizen.
Represa; town in Sacramento County, California. A
Spanish word meaning "milldam."
Republic; county in Kansas, named from the Pawnee
Republic, a principal division of the Pawnee Indians
formerly located in this county.
Republic; township, and town in Marquette County, in
Michigan, named from the iron ore mines in the Marquette
Range.
Republican; village in Harlan County, Nebraska, named
from the Republican River.
Revere; town in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, named for
Paul Revere.
Revillagigedo; group of islands off the coast of Alaska,
named for Conde Revila Gigedo, viceroy of New Spain.
Reynolds; county in Missouri, named for Thomas Reynolds,
a former governor.
Rreynoldsburg; village in Franklin County, Ohio,
probably named for Jeremiah N. Reynolds.
Reynoldsville; borough in Jefferson County,
Pennsylvania, named for Thomas
Reynolds, an old citizen. Rhea; county in Tennessee,
named for John Rhea, congressman-elect at the time the
county was organized.
Rhinebeck; town in Dutchess County, New York. A
combination of the names of the man who founded the
town, William Beekman, and his native town, Rhineland.
Rhinecliff; town in Dutchess County, New York, so named
by the early settlers who came from the Rhine River in
Germany.
Rhinelander; city in Oneida County, Wisconsin, named for
F. W. Rhinelander, president of the Milwaukee, Lake
Shore and Western Railway.
Rhode Island; one of the original thirteen States, said
to have received its name from a small island in
Narragansett Bay named Roode Eylandt "red island;"
according to another authority, named for the island of
Rhodes.
Rib; river in Wisconsin. A translation of an Indian
word.
Rice; county in Kansas, named for Brig. Gen. Samuel A.
Rice.
Rice; county in Minnesota, named for Senator Henry M.
Rice, a pioneer.
Rice Lake; city in Barron County, Wisconsin, so called
because situated on a lake where wild rice is abundant.
Riceville; town in Mitchell County, Iowa, named for
three brothers.
Rich; county in Utah, named for Apostle Charles C. Rich,
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day
Saints.
Richardson; town in Monterey County, California, named
by settlers from Richard-son County, Nebraska.
Richardson; county in Nebraska, named for William A.
Richardson, former governor of the Territory.
Richburg; town in Allegany County, New York, named in
honor of Alvan Richardson, the first settler who went
there from Otsego County in 1819.
Richburg; town in Chester County, South Carolina, named
for a prominent family.
Richfield; city in Morton County, Kansas, so named
because it was thought it would prove a "rich field.*'
Richfield; township in Summit County, Ohio. The name
originated from a weed which grew abundantly, known as
richweed, corrupted to richfield, and applied to the
settlement.
Richfield Springs; village in Otsego County, New York,
so named because of the excellent character of the soil
and the abundance of springs.
Rich Hill; city in Bates County, Missouri, so named
because of the fertile hill lands around it.
Richland; county in Illinois, named by the first
settlers from Richland County, Ohio.
Richland; parish in Louisiana, and counties in North
Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, so named
because of the rich character of the soil.
Richmond; town in Contra Costa County, California, and
cities in Wayne County, Indiana, and Madison County,
Kentucky, named from Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond; county in Georgia, town in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, and counties in New York and North
Carolina, named for Lennox, Duke of Richmond.
Richmond; town in Washington County, Rhode Island,
thought to have been named for Edward Richmond,
attorney-general of the colony.
Richmond; county, and city in Henrico County, Virginia,
so named on account of the resemblance to Richmond,
Surry County, England.
Richthofen; mountain in Colorado named for the
geologist.
Richville; village in St. Lawrence County, New York,
named for Salmon Rich, an early settler.
Richwood; village in Union County, Ohio, so named
because of the fertility of the soil and the heavy
growths of timber.
Rickreal; river and village in Polk County, Oregon. A
corruption of the French la Creole, meaning "the
Creole."
Ridgefield; borough in Bergen County, New Jersey;
Ridge Spring; town in Saluda County, South Carolina;
Ridgeville; town in Dorchester County, South Carolina;
Ridgeway; towns in Orleans County, New York, and
Fairfield County, South Carolina. So named on account of
the presence of ridges nearby.
US Place Names
Source: The Origin of Certain
Place Names the United States, Second Edition, Henry
Gannett, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1906.
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