Allamakee

English

Etymology

The origin of the name is uncertain, with local lore ascribing it to a Native American trader named Allan Makee[1] and other sources suggesting that it derives from an Algonquian language term for the Thunder clan of the Sac/Fox people; compare Fox nenemehkiwa (“thunder”) and Ojibwe animikii (“thunderer”) (alternation of l and n is common in Algonquian languages and in words borrowed into or from them).[2]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /æ.lə.mə.ki/, /ɑ.lə.mə.ki/

Proper noun

Allamakee

  1. The northeastern-most county in the state of Iowa in the United States.

References
  1. Henry Gannett, in The origin of certain place names in the United States, writes "the Iowa Historical Society says it was named for Allen Makee, an Indian trader"
  2. William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States
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