DETROIT – Have you ever noticed Michigan’s county names are all over the place?
Michigan’s 83 counties carry names that range from presidential tributes to geographic descriptions to words that were simply invented.
Famous, important people
Some of Michigan’s counties honor well-known figures from American history -- presidents, generals, politicians and Native American leaders.
And then you’ve got the Cabinet Counties -- counties named to flatter Andrew Jackson’s cabinet during the Toledo War.
| County | Who? | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Barry | William T Barry | Postmaster General |
| Berrien | John M Berrien | Attorney General |
| Branch | John Branch | Secretary of the Navy |
| Calhoun | John C Calhoun | Vice President |
| Cass | Lewis Cass | Second Secretary of War (he was Michigan Governor at the time, though) |
| Eaton | John Eaton | Secretary of War |
| Ingham | Samuel D Ingham | Secretary of the Treasury |
| Jackson | Andrew Jackson | The President |
| Livingston | Edward Livingston | Second Secretary of State |
| Van Buren | Martin Van Buren | Secretary of State |
Named for the land itself
Some Michigan counties wear their geography plainly. Iron County sits in iron country. The Saginaw River winds through Saginaw County. These names do exactly what they say.
Others stretch the logic a bit. Lake County had the audacity to take ownership of lakes -- which is very common in the state -- and Oakland County is not unique in having oak trees.
Rooted in Indigenous language
Several Michigan county names trace back to real Native American words or honored Indigenous leaders.
Washtenaw, Genesee and Shiawassee are among the counties whose names began as genuine words from local tribal languages -- names that carry actual meaning and cultural history.
The fake ones though
Henry Schoolcraft, a 19th-century researcher and government official, took a different approach when he helped create county names across Michigan.
Rather than borrowing real words from Native languages, he invented new ones -- blending pieces of Native languages with European sounds to create names that felt Indigenous without actually being so.
Alcona, Allegan, Alpena, Arenac, Iosco, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Lenawee, Oscoda and Tuscola are the Schoolcraft-named counties.
These were not words used by local tribes. They were not traditional place names passed down through generations.
It was pieces of words cut and pasted together to evoke a sense of native identity without actually doing so. The result is a set of county names that can sound authentic without being authentic.
Just for the vibes, I guess.