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
- The northeastern-most county in the state of Iowa in the United States.
References
- 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"
- William Bright, Native American Placenames of the United States