Arkansas State Names

Arkansas Nicknames and Resident's Name

South

• The Natural State

• Bowie State

• Toothpick State

• Hot Water State

• The Land of Opportunity

• Bear State

• Wonder State

• Razorback State

• What a State!

The Natural State

Official: Adopted as the Arkansas official nickname by the Eightieth General Assembly of 1995. Arkansas is known throughout the country for its natural beauty, clear lakes and streams and abundance of natural wildlife.

Bowie State

Refer to Bowie knives

Toothpick State

Refer to Bowie knives handles.

Hot Water State

Reference to hot springs.

Origin of Arkansas State Name

Arkansas is the name of an Indian tribe. At the time of the early French exploration, a tribe of Indians, the Quapaws, lived West of the Mississippi and north of the Arkansas River. The Quapaws, or OO-GAQ-PA, were also known as the downstream people, or UGAKHOPAG. The Algonkian-speaking Indians of the Ohio Valley called them the Arkansas, or "south wind."

The French Jesuits learned of a tribe probably called Quapaw, or Oo-gaq-pa, which the Algonquins pronounced Oo-ka-na-sa, and Marquette wrote Arkansoa; LaSalle wrote Arkensa; DeTonti, Arkancas; and LaHarpe, Arkansas.

When the state was admitted to the Union in 1836, it was spelled Arkansas. During the early days of statehood, Arkansas' two U.S. Senators were divided on the spelling and pronunciation. One was always introduced as the senator from "ARkanSAW" and the other as the senator from "Ar-KANSAS." In 1881, the state's General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that the state's name should be spelled "Arkansas" but pronounced "Arkansaw."

The pronunciation, Ark-an-Saw, preserves the memory of the Indians who were the original inhabitants of our state, while the spelling clearly dictates the nationality of the French adventurers who first explored this area.

Arkansas Postal Code

AR

Arkansas Resident's Name

Arkansan