While exploring Utah many interesting names of places come up and sometimes I have to wonder where they came from.
On this page I will be adding those as I think of them over time, sorted by categories and alphabetically inside those.
Original Indian Names Still in Use:
- Ibapah (Indian word is Avinpa, means creek with white clay banks)
- Kanab (means willows)
- Koosharem (pronounced by Indians koo-shar-omp. means edible roots)
- Mukuntuweap (orginal name for what is now Zion National Park, means “place of the Gods.”)
- Pahvant (means close to water)
- Panguitch (means big fish)
- Paragoonah (means muddy water)
- Paria (means Elk)
- Parowan (means mean water or evil water)
- Parunuweap (Pa-run-o-weap, east of Mukuntuweap)
- Timpanogos (Indian name was Pa-ak-ar-et Kaib which means very high mountain.)
- Toquerville (Indians called it Toquer, their word for black because of the black rocks)
- Utah (also Ute-ahs)
- Wah-weap (little valleys)
- Wasatch and Wasatch Mountains (pronounced by Indians Wah-sats. means fork)
Indian Names Given by Whites:
- Kanarra
- Kanosh
- Navajo Lake
- Piute
Names from the Bible:
- Ephraim
Names from the Book of Mormon:
- Moroni
- Nephi
Names from the Emigrant’s Home Areas:
- Wales