Milwaukee, Wisconsin: naming agency services for small businesses

Since this website page is about Milwaukee naming, it seems appropriate to talk about the naming of Milwaukee, Wisconsin itself.

Naming Milwaukee didn’t begin with the city’s fathers and mothers asking their branding agency to give them a cool and catchy name. As with most city names, Milwaukee naming has everything to do with the city’s storied past. Like the greater state itself and most communities within it, Milwaukee was inhabited by Native American tribes prior to the 19^th century. Many of these tribes spoke in variations of the Algonquian language. Two different words point us to possible name origins. “Millioke” is roughly translated to “the good land.” “Minowakiing” is an Algonquian word that means the same. Though there is some debate about the exact etymological path the name took (and even more debate throughout the city’s history about how the city name should be spelled), one thing upon which most will agree: it’s a city known for its industrial port, its sports teams, its working class pride, its beer and its midwestern friendliness.