History: How did Louisiana cities like Baton Rouge, New Orleans get their names?

Keymonte Avery
·2 min read
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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Ever wondered where the name of the Louisiana cities came from?

According to National Geographic, Louisiana was claimed in 1541 by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. By 1682, France took ownership of the state before the United States bought it in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Louisiana was named after French King Louis XIV in 1682.

So with Louisiana being part of European origin, some city names come from French words or people.

Baton Rouge means “Red Stick” in French. It references the red sticks found in 1699 by French explorers with animal heads attached as a sign of sacrifice and to acknowledge the hunting boundaries between the Houma Indian Tribe and the Bayou Goula Tribe.

New Orleans comes from the French term Nouvelle-Orléans to honor the Duke of Orleans, who was France’s ruling regent before King Louis XV could take over. It was founded in 1718 by French explorer Sieur de Bienville, according to Explore Louisiana.

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According to Explore Louisiana, some cities in Louisiana get their name from their original American Indian residents, such as Natchitoches, Houma, Opelousas, Ponchatoula, Bogalusa and Bayou Goula.

Natchitoches was founded in 1714 and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. Natchitoches means “the place of the Paw-paw” in the native American language, but according to the official tourism site of Natchitoches, Spanish writer Jose Antonio Pichardo, was told that it was from a native word “nacicit” which means “a place where the soil is the color of red ochre.”

The city of Lafayette was originally named Vermilionville in honor of the community that lived near Bayou Vermilion. The city was renamed Lafayette in 1823 after French military officer Marquis de Lafayette, according to Lafayette Travel. Lafayette is home to the Festival International de Louisiane, the largest international music festival in the United States.

Monroe is indirectly named after the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe. According to information from the city of Monroe, the town was originally known as the Fort Miro Settlement. In 1819, a steamboat transporting goods through the trading post made such a difference that the town was renamed Monroe. By 1820, Monroe was incorporated as a city.

Shreveport gained its name from a steamboat captain named Henry Miller Shreve, according to information from the Caddo Parish Police Jury site. Shreve was acknowledged for clearing a 165-mile logjam along the Red River, called the Great Raft, in the 1830s.

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