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Massachusetts

State Names & Nicknames

A list of US state slogans is available, as well as a list of US state State Name, origin of the state names, and the state resident's names.

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Massachusetts Symbols

Massachusetts Greeting

Massachusetts Symbols

Beans, Berry, Beverage, Bird, Building & Monument Stone, Cat, Ceremonial March, Children's Author and Illustrator, Children's Book, Citizenry, Cookie, Dessert, Dog, Donut, Explorer Rock, Fish, Flag, Flower or Floral Emblem, Folk Dance, Folk Hero, Folk Song, Fossil, Fruit, Game Bird, Gem, Glee Club Song, Heroine, Historical Rock, Horse, Insect, Marine Mammal, Mineral, Motto, Muffin, Nicknames, Ode of the Commonwealth, Patriotic Song, Poem, Polka, Rock, Seal, Shell, Soil, Song, Tree, Veterans of Southwest, Asia War Monument, Vietnam War Memorial

Massachusetts State Names

Massachusetts Name Etymology and State Nicknames

Northeast

Bay State
Old Bay State
Old Colony
Pilgrim State
Puritan State
Baked Bean State
The Spirit of America
The Codfish State

Origin of Massachusetts State Name

Massachusetts takes its name from the Massachusetts tribe of Native Americans, who lived in the Great Blue Hill region, south of Boston. The Indian term supposedly means "at or about the Great Hill," an apparent reference to the tallest of the Blue Hills, a recreation area south
of the town of Milton.

There are, however, a number of interpretations of the exact meaning of the word. The Jesuit missionary Father Rasles thought that it came from the word Messatossec, "Great-Hills-Mouth": "mess" (mass) meaning "great"; "atsco" (as chu or wad chu) meaning "hill"; and sec (sac or saco) meaning "mouth". The Reverend John Cotton used another variation: "mos" and "wetuset", meaning "Indian arrowhead", descriptive of the Native Americans hill home. Another explanation is that the word comes from "massa" meaning "great" and "wachusett", "mountain-place"

Nicknames

Massachusetts is a commonwealth, and is usually known as the Bay State, a nickname that goes right back to its early settlers in 1789.

She is also occasionally referred to as the Old Colony State, the Puritan State, and the Baked Bean State.

Bay State

Alludes to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628 and Massachusetts Bay.

Old Bay State

Alludes to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, founded in 1628 and Massachusetts Bay. Old Bay State appearing some 50 years later after the nickname Bay State

Old Colony

Plymouth colony. The earlier Plymouth settlement gave Massachusetts Old Colony, a name which first appeared around 1798,

Pilgrim State

First colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Pilgrim State.

Puritan State

First colonists also led to the state sometimes being known as the Puritan State.

Baked Bean State

There are reports of it also being called the Baked Bean State, an allusion to the fact that the puritans would serve baked beans on Sundays.

The Spirit of America and The Codfish State

But Massachusetts license plates declare The Spirit of America or The Codfish State

Slogans

Make It Yours (on its license plate)

The Spirit of America

You're more likely to live here (billboard on the side of Fenway Park)

Massachusetts Postal Code

MA

Massachusetts Resident's Name

Bay Staters

State Names

State Names & Nicknames

The etymologies of some US state names are more obvious than others, derived from the Spanish or French tongue. Though, more than half of the US state names come from Native American tribal languages, with several still a mystery to scholars and historians.

name \ˈnām\
noun

Etymology:Middle English, from Old English nama; akin to Old High German namo name, Latin nomen, Greek onoma, onyma

Date: before 12th century

a: a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or thing

b: a word or symbol used in logic to designate an entity

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