Olivia Fisher 
Many of New Jersey’s towns trace back to Lenape people, an Indigenous community who first inhabited the state. From Passaic to Hoboken, these place names carry meanings rooted in Lenape language, reflecting the natural features, wildlife, and cultural practices of the region. The Local Girl is exploring the origin of Lenape place names throughout the Garden State. Read on and learn about 25 Lenape namesakes in New Jersey.
Behind the Name
Determining the “correct” meaning behind Lenape placenames in New Jersey can be challenging. Lenape people did not have a traditional writing system before European colonization. Instead, languages were passed orally. Without any standardized phonetic system, early European settlers to New Jersey, like the Dutch, English, and Swedish, transcribed Lenape words based on how they sounded to foreign ears.
This often led to wildly inconsistent spellings and interpretations. Over time, the same place name might appear in multiple forms across different maps, deeds, treaties, and documents. It might even cause the same place name to look wildly different from source to source, causing more confusion. Some European recorders lacked knowledge of Lenape grammar and meaning, resulting in mistranslations and over-simplified definitions. Some interpretations of Lenape-derived place names are educated guesses and pieced together from linguistic reconstructions, oral histories, and the work of Lenape speakers and scholars striving to preserve and revitalize the language. Others are more concrete and straightforward.
Lenape communities in New Jersey spoke Munsee and Unami, two closely related Lenape languages of the Algonquian language family. In 2002, the Lenape Language Preservation Project received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to produce a resource dictionary database of Lenape. A talking dictionary that developed from the project can be found here. Even more Lenape words can be found here on the Official Site for the Delaware Tribe of Indians. TLG’s guide sources from this project, an 1888 Lenape-English dictionary, The Origin of New Jersey Place Names from 1945, and several others.
Read More: The Stories Behind Old Hoboken Signage
Awosting
Awosting comes from the Lenape word òs’hakame, meaning “heaven”. The name is found in Awosting, a small lake community in Passaic County’s West Milford. Click here to hear a pronunciation of the word òs’hakame.
Cinnaminson
Cinnaminson is said to derive from the Lenape word ahsënamèsink, which means “rocky place where there are fish”. A notable namesake includes Cinnaminson Township in Burlington County. Click here to hear a pronunciation of the word ahsënamèsink.
Hackensack
Hackensack likely comes from the word ahkin’kèshaki, meaning “place where the ground is sharp” and is the Dutch derivation of the Lenape word. Over time, it has had various spellings, like Hackinkesack, Hockquindachque, Ackinsack, and Achkinckeshacky. Namesakes include Hackensack, South Hackensack, and the Hackensack River in North Jersey. Click here to hear the pronunciation ahkin’kèshaki.
Hoboken
Hoboken derives from the Lenape word hupokàn or hupokahakink, meaning “a pipe for smoking” or “land of the tobacco pipe.” Namesakes include Hoboken and the Hoboken Terminal in Hudson County. Click here for a pronunciation of hupokàn and here for hupokahakink.
Ho-Ho-Kus
Ho-Ho-Kus likely comes from pëpxòkwës, the Lenape word for “red cedar”. The name can be found in the Bergen County community of Ho-Ho-Kus. Click here to hear a pronunciation of the word pëpxòkwës.
Hopatcong
The exact origin of the name Hopatcong in Lenape is unknown. Some theories believe it could mean “stone water,” or “stone over water.” It may be a derivative of the Lenape word hapakonoesson, meaning “pipe stone,” which likely is a compound word of hupokàn meaning “a pipe” and ahsën meaning “stone ” or “rock.” The second theory would mean that Hopatcong and Hoboken have a similar naming origin. Place names include Hopatcong and Lake Hopatcong in North Jersey.
Kittatinny
Kittatinny comes from the Lenape word kitahtëne, meaning “big mountain”. The most notable place name is the Kittatinny Mountains which run through the northwestern portion of the state. Click here for a pronunciation of the word kitahtëne.
Lackawanna
Lackawanna comes from the Lenape word lekaohane, meaning “sandy creek”. Lèkaw means ‘sand’, and hane is a suffix meaning ‘creek’ or ‘river’. Namesakes include Lackawanna Terminal in Montclair, Lake Lackawanna in Byram Township, and Lackawanna Place in Bloomfield. Click here to hear the pronunciation of the word lekaohane.
Mahwah
The name Mahwah is derived from the Lenape word mawewi or mawewigawan, which means “meeting place” or “meeting house”. The world is preserved in the Bergen County community of Mahwah.
Mantoloking
Mantoloking likely means “sand place” in Lenape and comes from lèkaw, meaning “sand” and unk for “place”. This origin is shared with other names such as Mantua Township in Burlington County, which may stem from lèkao, also meaning “sand,” and possibly with Lackawanna, which carries similar linguistic roots. Mantaoloking is located in Ocean County.
Moonachie
Moonachie likely comes from the Lenape word munhake, meaning “badger”. Local tradition also sources the town name from a Lenape chief named Sachem Monaghie. The most notable place name is Moonachie in Bergen County. Click here for a pronunciation of munhake.
Musconetcong
The Musconetcong name likely comes from the Lenape words mushpèkàt, meaning “clear water,” and hane, a word commonly used to refer to a “river” or “creek”. Place names include the Musconetcong River, which stretches from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware River. Click here to hear a pronunciation of the word mushpèkàt.
Paramus
Paramus comes from the Lenape word used to refer to Saddle River. Scholars believe Paramus means “land of the turkeys”, “turkey river”, or “pleasant stream”. Versions of the name include Peremessing, Peramsepus, Peremesse, or Wearimus. Namesakes include Paramus and Paramus Park Mall in Bergen County. Another namesake is Wearimus Road in the Township of Washington, which borders Paramus.
Passaic
Passaic derives from the Lenape word pahsayèk, meaning “valley” or “place where the land splits.” Namesakes include the Passaic River, which forms Essex County’s eastern and western borders, as well as Passaic County. Click here to hear the pronunciation of the word pahsayèk in Lenape.
Peckman
Peckman derives from the word pakim, which means “cranberry” in Lenape. One namesake is the Peckman River, a tributary of the Passaic River and Pakim Pond in Burlington County. Another namesake is Peckmantown Road in Cedar Grove, a lasting reminder of the Peckmantown settlement, which predated the name Cedar Grove. Click here to hear the pronunciation of pakim.
Pompton
The Pompton, also spelt Pamapon, Pumpton, Opings, or Wampings, were a community of Lenape. Its name is thought to mean “a place where they catch soft fish”. It might also come from the word pemuteneyik, which means “towns round about”. Some namesakes include Pompton Lakes and Pompton Plains.
Rockaway
Rockaway likely comes from the Lenape word rechouwakie, meaning “place of sands” coming from lèkaw, meaning “sand” and unk for “place”. Place names include Rockaway Township, Rockaway Borough, Rockaway Creek, and the Rockaway River.
Secaucus
Secaucus might come from the Lenape words sukit or sëkapi, meaning “black” and achgook, meaning “snake”. It could also come from sëkëxkuk, which means “black snake”. Click here for a pronunciation of sëkëxkuk. Namesakes include Secaucus and Secaucus Junction in Hudson County.
Sicomac
Sicomac likely comes from the Lenape word òs’hakame, meaning “heaven”. Oral tradition holds that Sachem Oratam, a chief of the Hackensack tribe, was buried in the Sicomac area of present-day Wyckoff. Several sources describe this area as a “resting place for the departed” or “happy hunting ground,” which closely relates to òs’hakame. Click here to hear a pronunciation of the word òs’hakame.
Signac
Signac likely comes from the Lenape word sinkhakèk, meaning “flat place” which comes from the word shinkàskwe, meaning “swamp” or “boggy meadow”. The name perfectly describes the flat, landed neighborhood in Little Falls, which experiences floods from the Passaic River. The earliest recorded reference to the land comes from a 1696 deed describing it as a “Spring book, called by the Indians Singanck.” Click here for a pronunciation of sinkhakèk and click here for a pronunciation of shinkàskwe.
Succasunna
Succasunna likely means “black stones” in Lenape and comes from the words “sukit” or “sëkapi” meaning black and ahsën meaning “stone” or “rock”. It is probably also closely associated with the Lenape word sëkahsën, meaning “iron”. Place names include the Succasunna neighborhood of Roxbury Township in Morris County. Click here for a pronunciation of sëkahsën.
Watchung
Watchung comes from the Lenape word òhchunk, meaning “hilly place.” Namesakes include Watchung Elementary School and Watchung Train Station in Montclair, Watchung in Union County, and the Watchung Mountains, which run through North Jersey. Click here to hear the pronunciation of the word òhchunk in Lenape.
Weehawken
Weehawken is generally considered to have evolved from the Lenape language. It likely comes from xwiiahkiing or xinkhòki, which means “big land”. Other theories behind the name include “maize land”, “place of gulls”, or “rocks that look like trees”. Other ways Weehawken has been spelt include Wiehacken, Whehockan, Weehacken, Wiehake, and Wehauk. One namesake includes Weehawken and Weehawken Cove. Click here to hear the pronunciation of xinkhòki.
See More: The History Behind the Lenape’s Celebration ‘Kintekay’ in Northern NJ
Whippany
Whippany likely got its name from the Whippanong community, who inhabited the area. Whippanong likely means “place of the arrow wood” and comes from the words wip, meaning “arrow”, and unk for “place”. Placenames include the Whippany River and the Whippany section of Hanover Township in Morris County. Whippany’s library is also called the Whippanong Library.
Wyoming
While Wyoming may be a state in the Midwest, it is derived from the Lenape language of the East Coast. Wyoming likely comes from the word maughwauwama, which means “large plains,” or “extensive meadows. It has had many spellings, such as Wauwaumie, Wiwaume, Wiomie, until it finally became Wyoming. You will find this word immortalized in the Wyoming neighborhood of Millburn, which includes Wyoming Avenue, Wyoming Elementary School, and Wyoming Presbyterian Church.
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