Many places throughout the state of Michigan take their names from Native American indigenous languages. This list includes counties, townships, and settlements whose names are derived from indigenous languages in Michigan.
The primary Native American languages in Michigan are Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi, all of which are dialects of Algonquin. Some other places names in Michigan are found to be derived from Sauk, Oneida, Wyandot, Abenaki, Shawnee, Mohawk, Seneca, Seminole, Iroquois, and Delaware, although many of these tribes are not found in Michigan.
Municipalities
State
Michigan – derived from Ottawa "mishigami" meaning "large water" or "great water" in reference to the Great Lakes. Village of Michigan Center Lake Michigan
Counties
Alcona County – "the good plain". Allegan County – "the front" or "the mound builders". City of Allegan Township of Allegan Alpena County – "the good partridge country". Arenac County – "a sandy place for good footing". Township of Arenac Cheboygan County – Ojibwe word "zhaabonigan" meaning "sewing needle" or "chabwegan" meaning "a place of ore". City of Cheboygan Cheboygan River Cheboygan State Park Cheboygan Point Chippewa County – after the Ojibwe tribe. Chippewa Township in Chippewa County Chippewa Township in Isabella County Chippewa Township in Mecosta County Chippewa River Chippewa Nature Center Genesee County – Seneca word "jenishiyeh" meaning "beautiful valley". Village of Genesee Township of Genesee Hamlet of Genesee Gogebic County – Native American word "agogibing" meaning "water-mold lake". Lake Gogebic Lake Gogebic State Park Gogebic Range Huron County – named after the Huron people. Lake Huron Little Huron River Huron River (Lower Peninsula) Huron River (Upper Peninsula) Iosco County – "water light". Kalamazoo County – see Etymology of Kalamazoo. City of Kalamazoo Kalamazoo River Keweenaw County – Ojibwe word "gakiiwe-wewaning" meaning "portage" or "where portage is made". Keweenaw Peninsula Leelanau County – after a Native American woman in Schoolcraft's writings, meaning "delight of life". Township of Leelanau Lenawee County – from the Shawnee word lenawai, meaning "man". Mackinac County – Odawa word "michilimaciknac" meaning "great turtle", in reference to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island Manistee County – originally called "ministigweyaa" in Ojibwe meaning "river with islands at its mouth". City of Manistee Township of Manistee Little Manistee River Manistee River Manistee Lake Mecosta County – after Potawatomi chief Mecosta. Mecosta Township Menominee County – after the Menominee people who inhabited the region. City of Menominee Menominee River Missaukee County – after Chief Nessaukee, which also means "large mouth of the river" in Odawa. Lake Missaukee Muskegon County – after the Muskegon River, called "mashkig" by the Ojibwe, meaning "swamp" or "marsh". City of Muskegon Little Muskegon River Muskegon River Muskegon Lake Newaygo County – named either for an Ojibwe leader who signed the Saginaw Treaty of 1819 or for an Ojibwe word meaning "much water". City of Newaygo Ogemaw County – Ojibwe word "ogimaa" meaning "chief". Township of Ogemaw Village of Ogemaw Springs Ontonagon County – from "nantounaging" meaning "my bowl is lost". Village of Ontonagon Ontonagon Township Ontonagon River Osceola County – after Chief Osceola of the Seminole. Township of Osceola (Houghton County). Township of Osceola Township Oscoda County – from the Ojibwa words ossin and muskoda, meaning "prairie of pebbles". Otsego County – Mohawk word meaning "clear water". City of Otsego Township of Otsego Township of Otsego Lake Village of Otsego Lake Otsego Lake Ottawa County – after the Odawa (Ottawa) people who inhabited the region. Ottawa River Lake Ottawa Saginaw County – Ojibwe word "sagenong" meaning "place of the outlet". City of Saginaw Saginaw River Sanilac County – Chief Sanilac of the Wyandot people. Shiawassee County – from the Chippewa word "shia-was-see" meaning "the river straight ahead." Township of Shiawassee Village of Shiawasseetown Shiawassee River Tuscola County – portmanteau of the Chippewa word "desakamigaa" ("flat land"), and the Latin word colonia ("colony"). Tuscola Township Washtenaw County – Ojibwe word "washtenong" meaning "far away waters".