List of Hudson County, New Jersey placename etymologies

This is a list of locales in Hudson County, New Jersey categorized by origin of their name.

Municipalities

1. Bayonne (Bynne)
2. Jersey City (JC)
3. Hoboken (Hbkn)
4. Union City (UC)
5. West New York (WNY)
6. Guttenberg (Gtbg)
7. Secaucus (Sec)
8. Kearny (Kearny)
9. Harrison (Har'sn)
10. East Newark (EN)
11. North Bergen (NB)
12. Weehawken (Whkn)

Lenape

The Lenape people who lived in the region spoke an Algonquian language from which the current names are derivative through Dutch and English.

Name	Municipality	Origin	Comments
Caven Point	JC	peninsula[1]	through Dutch kewan (see:cay)	Road
Communipaw	JC	gamunk, on the other side of the river, and pe-auke, water-land, meaning big landing-place from the other side of the river.[2]	Upper New York Bay before land reclamation at turn of the 20th century current: gamuck meaning other side of the water or otherside of the river[3] or landing place at the side of a river [4]	Terminal Station Junction Cove Avenue
Hackensack	JC, Sec Whkn	place of stony ground[5] or place of sharp ground [6]	exonym for Hackensack (Native Americans) and the terrain around main village at Overpeck Creek near a ridgefield	River Plank Road
Harsimus	JC	sea marsh or sea grass, possibly crow's marsh	salt marsh cove along the North River before landfilling in the 19th century current: ahas meaning crow [7]	Cove
Hoboken	Hob	hoopookum or hupoken meaning smoking pipe,[6] from Hopoghan Hackingh [8] or place of stone for pipes	serpentinite rock found at the outcropping of Castle Point current: Hopoakan meaning pipe for smoking	Terminal Cemetery
Lackawanna		stream that forks	Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, originally the Lackawanna and Western Railroad, consolidated with the Erie Railroad to become the Erie Lackawanna Railway, travelled through the region of the Lackawanna River and across NJ to the waterfront	Hoboken Terminal
Manhattan	UC	island of many hills[9]	From the word Manna-hata, as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, a first mate on Henry Hudson's yacht Halve Maen, while anchored at Weehawken Cove.[10] A 1610 map depicts the name Manahata twice, on both the west and east sides of what became the Hudson River
Pamrapo	JC Bay	rock	Natural break in Bergen Hill where the east-west crossing of Morris Canal was later built and city line established.	Station Avenue Court
Passaic		pahsaayeek,[6] pasayak or pahsayèk meaning valley or water that flows through the valley [11]	Current: Pachsa'jeek[6]
Secaucus	Sec	sukit meaning black and achgook meaning snake,[12] hence black snakes.[4]	Snake Hill	Road
Weehawken	Whkn	at the end of[13]	emergence of Hudson Palisades at King's Bluff	Cove Cemetery

Dutch

New Netherlanders established a factorij in 1617 at Communipaw, a patroonship in 1630 at Pavonia, and New Jersey's first independent gemeente, or municipality, in 1661 as Bergen.

Name	Municipality	Origin	Comments
Bergen	county-wide	bergen meaning hills or mountain ridge, alternatively from the verb to save, recover, keep safe [14]	speaks to the terrain of Bergen Hill or the establishment of a stockaded village to which settlers could withdraw if needed	Square Point Bergenline, etc
Constable Hook	Bynne	Konstapel's Hoeck constable & hoek or hoeck meaning cape or peninsula.	land grant to Jacob Jacobsen Roy, chief gunner or constable in at Fort Amsterdam in New Amsterdam in 1646 [15]
Cromakill Creek	Sec, NB	kromme kill meaning crooked creek	border between Secaucus and North Bergen in Hackensack Meadowlands
Paulus Hook	JC	variously Paulus Hoeck, Powles Hoek, Powles Hook hoek or hoeck[16]	originally a tidal island, site of ferry and factorij operated by Micheal Paulus on behalf of the patroon[15]
Pavonia	JC, Bynne	latinized pauw meaning peacock	from surname of absentee patroon Michiel Reyniersz Pauw, as was common for educated men in Dutch Golden Age to take a Latin name
Kill van Kull	Bynne	channel from the ridge from kille meaning water channel and col meaning mountain pass or ridge	Achter Kol described the terrain behind, or west, of the Hudson Palisades. Arthur Kill is an anglicisation of achter kill meaning back channel, which would speak to its location behind Staten Island.
North River	In maritime usage, the Hudson River between Hudson County and Manhattan In relation to another of the great rivers in New Netherland, the Delaware or South River.[17] Alternatively, the "North" River and "East" River were so named for the direction of travel they permitted once having entered the harbor.[18]			Tunnels
Robbins Reef	Bynne	rob or robyn meaning seal	collections of seals would sometimes lay on the reef at low tide[19]
Suydam	JC	south dam	once part of the village of Communipaw	Street

Odonyms

Places bearing eponymous names.
(Streets with names of US presidents, more than half of whom are honored, are not included.)[20]

Place	Municipality	Origin of Name	Comments
Barrow Street	JC	Dr William Barrow	Prominent early 19th century resident of Van Vorst Barrow Mansion
Bartholdi Avenue	JC	Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi	French sculptor and designer of the Statue of Liberty
Bedloe's Island	JC	Issac Bedloo	original name of Liberty Island
Bentley Avenue	JC	Peter Bentley, Sr.	Fifth Mayor of Jersey City
Black Tom	JC	Black Tom	resident of the island[21]
Bloomfield Avenue	Hbkn	Joseph Bloomfield	Twice Governor of New Jersey
Bonn Place	Whkn	John H. Bonn [22]	Founder of North Hudson County Railway
Boyle Plaza	JC	John F. Boyle	Director interstate commission which built Holland Tunnel
North Hudson -James J. Braddock Park	NB	James J. Braddock	World heavyweight champion
Burr Place	Whkn	Aaron Burr	Third Vice President of the United States
Bulls Ferry	NB WNY	Bull family	18th century ferry operators
Clinton Street	Hbkn	De Witt Clinton
Colden Street	JC	Cadwallader D. Colden	Mayor of New York & President of the Morris Canal Company
Coles Street	JC	John B. Coles	New York State Senator (1799-1802) who initiated the plan for a public park in Jersey City to be named for Alexander Hamilton and whose land the park was built upon.[23]
Colgate Street	JC	William Colgate	Colgate-Palmolive long a fixture in Paulus Hook
Cornelison Avenue	JC	John M. Cornelison	Director of the Hudson and Bergen Plank Road Company Sixth Governor of New York.
Celia Cruz Plaza	UC	Celia Cruz	Singer and performer
Curries Woods	JC Bynne	James Currie[24]	Early settler and prominent citizen of Greenville
Danforth Avenue	JC		HBLR station
Pietro di Donato Square	UC	Pietro di Donato	Italian-American writer
Dixon Mills	JC	Joseph Dixon	Inventor and manufacturer
Duer Place	Whkn	William Duer, son-in-law of Lord Stirling
Ellis Island	JC	Samuel Ellis	Colonial merchant and one time owner of island[25]
Fulton	Whkn JC	Robert Fulton	Introduced world's first steamboat ferry service at Paulus Hook in 1812
Gangemi Drive	JC	Thomas Gangemi	35th Mayor of Jersey City
Garfield Avenue Station	JC	James A. Garfield	20th President of the United States
Gates Avenue	JC	Horatio Gates	British soldier turned American general in Revolutionary War.
Gracie Lane	Whkn	Gracie family
Gregory Avenue	Whkn	Dudley S. Gregory	1st Mayor of Jersey City, Congressman 5th congressional district-NJ
Greene Street	JC	Nathanael Greene	Major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.
J. Owen Grundy Park	JC	J. Owen Grundy	City historian and writer
Hamilton	Whkn JC	Alexander Hamilton	Founding Father and first United States Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton Plaza Hamilton Park
Harrison		William Henry Harrison	Ninth President of the United States
Holland Tunnel	JC	Clifford Milburn Holland	First chief engineer on the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel project, who died before the completion of the project.
Hudson	used county-wide	Hudson River for Henry Hudson	Sea-captain and explorer of estuary and river in 1609
Arthur Imperatore Drive	NB	Arthur Edward Imperatore, Sr.	Trucking magnate and founder of New York Waterway Port Imperial
Journal Square	JC	Jersey Journal	Newspaper with headquarters located on square
Jeanette Street	UC	Joe Jeanette	African-American heavyweight boxer
Johnston	Bynne JC	John Taylor Johnston	President of the Central Railroad of New Jersey Port Johnston Johnston Ave
Town of Kearny	Kearny	Philip Kearny	Civil War General
Kennedy Boulevard	Bynne, JC, North Hudson	John F. Kennedy	35th President of the United States
King Avenue	Whkn	James Gore King	Congressman New Jersey's 5th congressional district
Lafayette Park	JC	Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette	French general who served in Continental Army
McAdoo Avenue	JC	William McAdoo	Congressman New Jersey's 7th congressional district and New York City Police Commissioner
Manischewitz Plaza	JC	Manischewitz	Company which built its factory at location in 1932
Martin Luther King Drive	JC	Martin Luther King Jr.	Clergyman, activist, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement
Marin Boulevard	JC Hbkn	Luis Muñoz Marín	Puerto Rican poet, journalist, and politician HBLR station
Mercer Street	JC	Hugh Mercer	Brigadier General in the Continental Army
Merseles Street	JC	Jacob M. Merseles	Founder the Bergen Point Plank Road Company
Monastery Place	UC	Monastery and Church of Saint Michael the Archangel
Montgomery Street	JC	Richard Montgomery or James Montgomery Jr.	Brigadier General in the Continental Army Director of Hudson and Bergen Plank Road Company
Morgan Street	JC	Daniel Morgan	Colonel in Continental Army
Nungessers	NB	Family Nungesser	Nungesser's Guttenberg Racetrack
Ogden Avenue	JC	Aaron Ogden	5th Governor of New Jersey
Paulus Hook	JC	Michael Paulez	Agent of patroon Michiel Pauw and Dutch West India Company[16]
Pavonia	JC Bynne	Michiel Reyniersz Pauw	Patroon of first European settlement, latinized version of name meaning peacock PATH, HBLR stations Pavonia Court
Pershing	Whkn JC	John J. Pershing	General of the Armies in World War I Pershing Road Pershing Field
Peter Street	UC	William Peter	Founder Peter's Brewery[26]
Prior Street	JC	John Prior	Owner of Prior's Mill in 18th century Jersey City[27]
Pulaski Skyway	JC Kearny	Kazimierz Pułaski	Polish General in Continental Army during American Revolutionary War.
Randolph Avenue	JC	Theodore Fitz Randolph
Ristaino Drive	JC	John Ristaino	Candle and furniture-maker, champion speed-skater and Korean War Vet
Frank E. Rodgers Blvd.	Har'sn	Frank E. Rodgers	Mayor of Harrison for 48 years from 1947 to 1995
Roosevelt	JC UC	Franklin D. Roosevelt	32nd President of the United States Roosevelt Stadium (Jersey City) Roosevelt Stadium (Union City)
Schuyler Avenue	Kearny	Arent Schuyler	Early settler and member of the prominent Schuyler family, who developed mines in the region[28]
Shippen Street	Whkn	William W. Shippen.[22]	President Hoboken Land and Improvement Company
Sinatra Drive	Hbkn	Frank Sinatra	Actor, entertainer and famous son
Steuben Street	JC	Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben	Prussian who served as inspector general of the Continental Army
Sterling Avenue	whkn	Lord Stirling	William Alexander, American general in Revolutionsry War
Tonnelle Avenue	JC NB	John Tonnele	Early settler to Hudson City Tonnelle Circle HBLR station
Teurs Avenue	JC	Jane Teurs[29]	Instrumental in foiling Benedict Arnold plot to sell West Point to British during the American Revolution
Van Vorst Park	JC	Van Vorst family including Cornelius Van Vorst	Early settlers to Pavonia, New Netherland 12th Mayor of Jersey City Van Vorst Street
Van Wagenen Avenue	JC	Van Wagenen family	Early settlers to Bergen, New Netherland Van Wagenen House
Varick Street	JC	Richard Varick	Mayor of New York City and a founder of City of Jersey[30]
Warren Street	JC	Joseph Warren	Sons of Liberty and Major General of Continental Army
Wayne Street	JC	Anthony Wayne	American Revolutionary War brigadier general
Westervelt	JC	Westervelt family including Jacob Aaron Westervelt	Early settlers to Bergen, New Netherland Ship builder and Mayor of New York City
Wittpenn Bridge	JC, Kearny	H. Otto Wittpenn	28th Mayor of Jersey City
Wright Street	JC	Edwin R. V. Wright	Congressman New Jersey's 5th congressional district and Mayor of Hudson City
Audrey Zapp Drive	JC	Audrey Zapp	Environmentalist influential in the development Liberty State Park

See also

• Toponymy of Bergen, New Netherland
• List of New Jersey county name etymologies

References

1. Ferretti, Fred (June 10, 1979), "Jersey City Hopes to Save Caven Point", New York Times
2. "Four chapters of Paterson history: I. The war for independence. II. The early white settlers. III. Struggle for industrial supremacy. IV. Municipal administration". 1919 – via archive.org.
3. The Lenape/English Dictionary http://www.gilwell.com/lenape
4. "Indian Place Names".
5. "Indigenous Population". www.bergencountyhistory.org. Archived from the original on 2004-08-15.
6. "Woodland Indians Forum / Indian placenames in and around Paterson, NJ". Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
7. "Lenape Spelling System". Archived from the original on 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
8. HM-hist "The Abridged History of Hoboken", Hoboken Museum Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
9. Holloway, Marguerite. "Urban tactics; I'll Take Mannahatta", The New York Times, May 16, 2004, accessed June 30, 2009. "He could envision what Henry Hudson saw in 1609 as he sailed along Mannahatta, which in the Lenape dialect most likely meant island of many hills."
10. Full Text of Robert Juet's Journal: From the collections of the New York Historical Society, Second Series, 1841 log book Archived 2009-05-18 at the Wayback Machine, Newsday. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
11. Lenape Language / Pronunciation Archived 2007-02-27 at the Wayback Machine.
12. Anthony, Rev A.S and Binton D.G. (editors) Lenape-English Dictionary, 1888, (Historical Society of Penn)
13. Weehawken, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, accessed June 13, 2007. "A township in Hudson County, N.J., seven miles northeast of Jersy [sic] City. The name was originally an Algonquin Indian term and later changed by folk-usage to a pseudo-Dutch form. Its exact meaning is unclear, but variously translated ... at the end (of the Palisades)..."
14. Grundy, J. Owen (1976). "A Dutch Legacy". The History of Jersey City (1609–1976). Jersey City, New Jersey: Walter E. Knight, Progress Printing Co. p. 5.
15. Joan F. Doherty, Hudson County The Left Bank, ISBN 0-89781-172-0 (Windsor Publications, Inc., 1986)
16. NJCU: Jersey City A to Z/Paulus Hook
17. Steinhauer, Jennifer."F.Y.I",The New York Times, May 15, 1994.
18. Dougherty, Steve. "MY MANHATTAN; Away From the Uproar, Before a Strong Wind", The New York Times, May 31, 2002. Accessed January 17, 2008. "'Because it's the river you sail to go north,' Captain Freitas explained. 'To sail east, to Long Island Sound, you would take the East River.'"
19. Roberts, Bruce and Jones, Ray, Lighthouses of New York, Globe Pequot Press, Guilford CT, 2008
20. Hudson County New Jersey Street Map. Hagstrom Map Company, Inc. 2008. ISBN 978-0-88097-763-0.
21. "NJCU JC A to Z: Black Tom". Archived from the original on 2010-12-05. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
22. Sherman, Lauren; Gaulkin, Ellen Robb (February 2009). Weehawken (paper). Images of America (1st ed.). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-6268-1.
23. "Hamilton Park". New Jersey City University: Jersey City Past and Present. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
24. JC Past and Present Archived 2009-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
25. Moreno, Barry (2001) "Ellis Island Chronology Timeline (1674–2001)". National Park Service, Ellis Island Library. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
26. History of Peter Family and Brewery Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
27. NJCU JC A to Z:Prior's Mill
28. "Arent Schulyer family". Archived from the original on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
29. "Jane Tuers (Jannetje van Reypen Tuers)". Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
30. NJCU: Associates of Jersey