I can’t find the person actually initially named it. I’ve found all these articles about the origin and Boone settling it, but who actually decided on Kentucky and when? I want to know because of how it has “commonwealth” in its name even though it wasn’t an official state until years after the Declaration of Independence. One would assume that after gaining independence from the British they wouldn’t want to name anything associated with the British, although I could be wrong. Even though commonwealth means good, I read that it was a British term and that seems odd that they would use “commonwealth” in the name of any state after independence. I can sort of understand the other three commonwealths since they existed pre-independence but even then I wonder why they retained a word the British used and no one else did.
Cool question! Lemmie break it down as there is a lot going on here.
Who came up with the name of Kentucky?
Originally? Probably the Iroquois. It most likely derives from their word "Kentake" which means something like meadow or prairie. Also used was "Kuttaawaa" meaning something more like hunting grounds or wilderness; the city of Kuttawa is still a place in Kentucky today. But more called it Kentucke than Kuttaawaa. We don't know for certain, but this has been the accepted explanation for quite some time.
I’ve found all these articles about the origin and Boone settling it, but who actually decided on Kentucky and when?
As far as naming it as an American place, that was the Virginia General Assembly, and more specifically the delegate from Albemarle County. It happened Dec 6 1776, to be even more precise. That delegate proposed a Bill for Dividing the County of Fincastle into Three Distinct Counties in October and after bouncing between the house and senate, it passed. The opening reads;
Whereas from the great extent of the County of Fincastle, many inconveniencies attend the more distant inhabitants thereof on account of their remote situation from the Court house of the said County, and many of the said inhabitants have petitioned this present General Assembly for a division of the same—Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that from and after the last day of December next ensuing the said County of Fincastle shall be divided into three Counties, that is to say, all that part thereof which lies to the South and Westward of a line beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of great Sandy creek and running up the same and the main or north easterly branch thereof to the great Laurel ridge or Cumberland Mountain, thence south westerly along the said Mountain, to the line of North Carolina, shall be one distinct County and called and known by the name of Kentuckey, and all that part of the said county of Fincastle included in the lines beginning at the Cumberland Mountain where the line of Kentucke county intersects the North Carolina line, thence east along the said Carolina line to the top of the Iron Mountain, thence along the same easterly to the source of the south fork of Holstein river, thence northwardly along the highest part of the high lands, ridges and mountains, that divide the waters of the Tennessee from those of the great Kanhawa to the most easterly source of Clinch river, thence Westwardly along the top of the mountains that divide the waters of Clinch river from those of the great Kanhaway and Sandy creek to the line of Kentucke county, thence along the same to the beginning shall be one other distinct county and called and known by the name of Washington, and all the residue of the said county of Fincastle shall be one other distinct county and shall be called and known by the name of Montgomery.
It would later be split further, into three counties, and renamed the District of Kentucky, still within the state of Virginia. In 1792 they gained their autonomy, with the blessing of Virginia and the US Congress, becoming our 15th state. Oh, and as for a name... that delegate from Albemarle County? It was Thomas Jefferson. He really didnt do it alone, though. Western Kentucky was far away from Williamsburg, on the extreme other end of the state (Gov Jefferson didn't move the state capital to Richmond until 1779 and even that wasn't much closer), and they had incurred a series of native raids in 1774 resulting in them abandoning their plots. In the meantime, some North Carolina men showed up and purchased (or "pretended to purchase", as the account reads) that land from the Cherokee (which stems to another debate we'll get to momentarily). So the Kentucky residents elected two delegates and petitioned the Assembly to permit them. They could not do this by law, so instead they resolved to create new counties "in order to entitle them to such representation and other benefits of government." Jefferson was on the committee to author the bill, along with Mr Simms & Mr Bullitt, and added were the delegates from Botetourt, Augusta, and Fincastle counties. Later Mr Mason and the delegates from Frederick, Bedford, and Hampshire counties were added to said committee. But that was in Nov, and the bill had been drafted a month prior - they were merely revising it (it goes on beyond the quoted portion to describe government structure in the newly formed counties). The blank spaces filled and margin notes of the original are in Jeffersons writing, indicating his heavy involvement in its creation.
That land argument I mentioned.... The area was known as Kentucky previous to that, of course, and Dr Franklin even became involved in an early land dispute. The Cherokee claimed part of it while the Six Nations, to whom the Iroquios belonged, claimed the whole of it. Further, they claimed to have taken it by conquest and alleged they held higher right to it than any Virginian or English man. Still, they sought protection of a treaty signed in the early 18th century with the English for protection of the land. Dr Franklin argued on their behalf to the Privy Council in 1772;
At a Congress held in the year 1744, by the provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, with the Six Nations, the commissioners of Virginia, in a speech to the sachems and warriors of that confederacy, say:
“Tell us what nations of Indians you conquered any lands from in Virginia, how long it is since, and what possession you have had; and if it does appear that there is any land on the borders of Virginia, that the Six Nations have a right to, we are willing to make you satisfaction.”
To this speech, the Six Nations gave the following animated and decisive answer:
“All the world knows we conquered the several nations living on Susquehanna, Cohongoranto [that is, Potomac], and on the back of the great mountains in Virginia: the Conoy-uck-suck-roona, Cock-now-was-roonan, Tohoa-irough-roonan, and Connut-skin-ough-roonaw feel the effects of our conquests, being now a part of our nations, and their land at our disposal. We know very well it hath often been said by the Virginians, that the king of England and the people of that colony conquered the people who lived there; but it is not true. We will allow they conquered the Sachdagughronaw, and drove back the Tuskaroras [the first resided near the branches of James River in Virginia, and the latter on these branches], and that they have, on that account, a right to some parts of Virginia; but, as to what lies beyond the mountains, we conquered the nations residing there, and that land, if the Virginians ever get a good right to it, it must be by us.”
Obviously it wasn't settled in the eyes of the Cherokee by 1776.
Cont'd