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Have you ever wondered why Chicago is named after a smelly garlic? Well, let me shed some light on this intriguing story. The official origin of the name “Chicago” is that it is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word “shikaakwa,” which translates to “Stinky Onion.”
For example, the Potowatomi variation, zhegagoynak, means “place of wild onion,” while the Ojibwe word, zhigaagong, means “on the skunk.” “I don't believe that there is any one way to pronounce Chicago,” Indigenous educator Starla Thompson said.
Searching for the big US city on the shores of Lake Michigan, you would find the name "Stink Onions" instead of Chicago. That is because this particular atlas attempts to reveal the...
What does the word “Chicago” mean? The official origin is that “Chicago” is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa (“Stinky Onion”), named for the garlic plant (not onion) Allium tricoccum common along the Chicago River.
The most-accepted meaning of “Chicago” comes from the Algonquin language: “shikaakwa,” which means “striped skunk” or “onion.” Early explorers noted that the lakes and streams around Chicago were abundant with wild onions, leeks, and ramps.
Yes, Chicago is named after a wild, smelly onion, one that — more than three centuries ago — grew in abundance at the mouth of the Chicago River.
The most-accepted meaning of the word “Chicago” is that it comes from the Algonquin language word “shikaakwa,” which translates to “striped skunk” or “onion.” Early explorers noted that the lakes and streams around Chicago were filled with wild onions, leeks, and ramps.
The name was later given to the city that sprung up around settler Jean Baptiste Point du Sable’s trading post, established near Lake Michigan perhaps as early as 1779 but likely in the 1780s. Whether there were onions growing on the site, we will likely never know.
The most-accepted Chicago meaning is a word that comes from the Algonquin language: “shikaakwa,” meaning “striped skunk” or “onion.” According to early explorers, the lakes and streams around Chicago were full of wild onions, leeks, and ramps.
English accounts tracing the name to a "wild onion" date from after 1800, when different groups of Indians, mainly Potawatomi, had displaced the original Miami. In the Potawatomi language, chicago meant both the native garlic and the wild onion.