I saw a thread on this while scanning Reddit this morning and it got my curiosity. I know how California was named after the mythical queen Califa. New Mexico is obvious. How about some of the others?
If you observe carefully, you will find that many states have been named after dukes, kings, queens, presidents, islands, and other places that the travelers and explorers fancied. But most names were christened by native Indians. These names mostly described the place and characteristics of the land. One of the states was even named after an Aztec God!
Do you know how your state got its name?
Check it out @ The Nitty-gritty of How the 50 US States Got Their Names
As for the second part of the question, the answers to that can be found @ How Did the States Get Their Shapes?
