Arizona

Meaning & origin /ˌæɹɪˈzoʊnə/

Uncertain. Possibly from O'odham alĭ ṣonak (literally “small spring”) (traditionally through the Spanish intermediary form Arizonac; compare modern Arizona), a name initially applied to an area around a silver-mining camp in Sonora. Alternatively, perhaps from Basque haritz ona (literally “good oak”), as the area had many Basque herders, and a descendant of them established the ranchería of Arizona (circa 1735) in Sonora. Suggestions of derivation from *arizuma, supposedly a Nahuatl word meaning “silver-bearing”, are considered implausible,

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.