Flowers insolita Blog

There are many exotic town names in Long Island, especially in Suffolk county, such as Ronkonkoma, Hauppague, etc. Non-Long-Islanders can’t even pronounce them correctly.

If you are a Long Islander, you probably know that these names came from Native Americans’ language. But do you know the meanings?

• Amagansett: “place of good water”
• Aquebogue: “head of bay”
• Commack <- Winnecomac: "pleasent land"
• Copiague: “sheltered harbor”
• Coram <- Winnecoram: "passage between hills or a valley"
• Cutchogue <- Corchaug (?): "principal place"
• Hauppague: “overflowed land”
• Massapequa: “great water land”
• Matinecock: “hill country”
• Mattituck: “great creek”
• Manhasset <- Manhansett: "island neighborhood"
• Montauk: “uncertain”
• Noyack: “a point or corner of land”
• Patchogue <- Pochaug (?): "where a river divides"
• Poquott: “cleared land”
• Quogue <- Quaquanantuck: "cove or estuary"
• Ronkonkoma <- Raconkamuck: "boundary fishing place"
• Setauket: “land at the mouth of creek”
• Speonk: “high place”
• Syosset <- Suwasset (?): "place in the pines"

– References —

Long island history at Newsday

and a lot of Google search.  Please let us know if you find any error or omission.