• Illinois cities have a rich Native American name history.illinois outline image by Kim Jones from Fotolia.com
  
  The state of Illinois is rich in Native American history. The name itself comes from a group of related tribes that inhabited the area before they declined in numbers. Most often Native American city names come from the name of the people who inhabited the area or a name they gave to a geographical feature such as a body of water.
  
  

Algonquin

• Algonquin, Illinois is named for one of the largest Native American tribes in North American history. A group of tribes related by language and living structure, it included several sub groups. The Patawatomi, a large Algonquin tribe, left monikers such as "Chicago," meaning garlic field, and "Waukegan," meaning little fort. Kankakee is the city named after a nearby river and means beautiful land. Mokena, Illinois is named for the Algonquin word for turtle, because so many species of them are also native to the area. Names such as Ottawa distinguish an entire tribe of people that inhabited the area where the city now stands.
  
  

Cahokia

• The Cahokia Mounds are a state historic site that encompasses one of the largest cities that ever existed in the world. In 1250, Cahokia was larger than London. The people and the area declined after French settlement, but the site, the history and the name remain as a marker for one of the most established urban centers in the ancient world.
  
  

Peoria

• An easily recognized city name, Peoria, Illinois is named for the group of Native Americans who settled along the river in this location. A nomadic tribe, they also were as far west as Kansas. Illinois eventually became home to a group of Native Americans that encompassed several consolidated tribes under the Peoria moniker.
  
  

Skokie

• The name Skokie has some mystery behind its origin. The marshy swamps in the area were burned to drive out game by the Native Americans living there. It is believed that the name Skokie is attributed to either the Mascouten tribe whose name means "people of fire" or the Algonquin word "sloutay" or "scoti," which means fire.
  
  

Oswego

• This Illinois city of Oswego is actually named for a New York river named by the Iroquois. Settlers coming to the area from New York carried the Native American name with them, settled by a river and named the town the same as the one they had left.