My mom asked where the name Virginia came from. I am learning more about the history of naming states and cities from my Mom wanting to know. Found the naming of Virginia interesting. The name Virginia is the oldest designation for English claims in North America. In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to explore what is now the North Carolina coast, and they returned with word of a regional king (weroance) named Wingina, who ruled a land supposedly called Wingandacoa. The latter word may have inspired the Queen to name the colony Virginia, noting her status as the Virgin Queen. On the next voyage, Raleigh was to learn that, while the chief of the Secotans was indeed called Wingina, the expression wingandacoa heard by the English upon arrival actually meant What good clothes you wear! in Carolina Algonquian, and was not the name of the country as previously misunderstood. Initially, the term Virginia was applied to the entire eastern coast of North America from the 34th parallel (near Cape Fear) north to the 48th parallel, including the shorelines of Acadia and a large portion of inland Canada.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 23:38:48 +0000