As a result of former Spanish and, later, Mexican sovereignty over lands that are now part of the United States, there are many places in the country, mostly in the southwest, with names of Spanish origin. Florida and Louisiana also were at times under Spanish control, as were California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and portions of western Colorado. There are also several places in the United States with Spanish names as a result of other factors. Some of these names have retained archaic Spanish spellings.
Authenticity and origin
Not all Spanish place name etymologies in the United States originate from the Spanish colonial period or from the Spanish language. Spanish-sounding place names are classified into four categories:
Colonial: Spanish names that were given during the Spanish colonial period, or adaptations of names originally given in the colonial period to the same place or to nearby related places. (Ex: Los Angeles, Salamanca, or California) Post-colonial: Spanish place names that have no history of being used during the colonial period for the place in question or for nearby related places. (Ex: Lake Buena Vista, Florida, named in 1969 after a street in Burbank, California) Non-Spanish: Place names originating from non-Spaniards or in non-historically Spanish areas. Faux: Fabricated Spanish place names, typically by non-Spanish speakers. (Ex: Sierra Vista)
States
Arizona Either from árida zona, meaning "Arid Zone", or from a Spanish word of Basque origin meaning "The Good Oak" California (from the name of a fictional island country in Las sergas de Esplandián, a popular Spanish chivalric romance by Garci Rodríguez de Mon talvo) Colorado (meaning "red [colored]", "ruddy" or "colored" in masculine form. Named after Colorado City; now called Old Colorado City.) Florida Meaning ""Flowery" or "Florid", because it was discovered by Ponce de León on Easter Sunday, called Pascua Florida to distinguish this holiday, which occurs in springtime when flowers are abundant, from other Christian holidays called Pascua in Spanish, such as Christmas and Epiphany. Montana from Latinized Spanish meaning "mountainous", also in Spanish "montaña" is the name of "mountain" Nevada comes from the Spanish Sierra Nevada (which is also a mountain range in Spain), meaning snowy mountain range (Nevada is the Spanish feminine form of snowy). New Mexico, named after the Valley of Mexico. Oregon comes from "Orejón", "big ear" or could come from "Aragón". Texas, from the Spanish name for the Caddo, derived from the word meaning 'friend'. Utah derives from the Spanish name given to the Ute People by early explorers to the area. The Utes refer to themselves as Noochee, which in Spanish was changed to Yuta.
Territories
North Mariana Islands (after queen Mariana, regent at the time) Puerto Rico (Spanish for "Rich Port") US Virgin Islands (Christopher Columbus named the Virgin Islands after Santa Ursula y las Once mil Virgenes (English: St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins), shortened to las Vírgenes (the Virgins))