List of North Carolina county name etymologies
This is a list of North Carolina county name etymologies.
- Alamance County, North Carolina: Alamance is named for the Alamance River.
- Alexander County, North Carolina: Alexander is named for the Alexander family, of whom several members were leaders in colonial North Carolina.
- Alleghany County, North Carolina: Alleghany is named for a corruption of the Native American Delaware tribe's word for the Allegheny River, which is said to have meant "a fine stream."
- Anson County, North Carolina: Anson is named for George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, a British admiral assigned to defend North Carolina's shipping from pirates.
- Ashe County, North Carolina: Ashe is named for Samuel Ashe, the ninth governor of North Carolina and a Revolutionary War patriot.
- Avery County, North Carolina: Avery is named for Waightstill Avery, a Revolutionary War colonel and attorney general of North Carolina.
- Beaufort County, North Carolina: Beaufort is named for Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort.
- Bertie County, North Carolina: Bertie is named for either James Bertie or Henry Bertie, two Lords Proprietors of colonial North Carolina.
- Bladen County, North Carolina: Bladen is named for Martin Bladen, a British politician and Commissioner of Trade and Plantations.
- Brunswick County, North Carolina: Brunswick is named for King George I of Great Britain, the Duke of Brunswick.
- Buncombe County, North Carolina: Buncombe is named for Edward Buncombe, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War killed in 1778.
- Burke County, North Carolina: Burke is named for Governor of North Carolina Thomas Burke.
- Cabarrus County: Cabarrus is named after Stephen Cabarrus of Chowan County, speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons.
- Caldwell County: Caldwell is named for Joseph Caldwell, the first president of the University of North Carolina.
- Camden County: Camden is named for Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, who opposed the Stamp Act.
- Carteret County
- Caswell County: Caswell is named for Richard Caswell, first Governor of North Carolina.
- Catawba County: Catawba is named for the Catawba Native American people.
- Chatham County: Chatham is named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768.
- Cherokee County: Cherokee is named for the Cherokee Native American people.
- Chowan County
- Clay County: Clay is named for U.S. statesman Henry Clay.
- Cleveland County: Cleveland is named for Benjamin Cleaveland, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War who took part in the Battle of King's Mountain.
- Columbus County: Columbus is named for explorer Christopher Columbus.
- Craven County
- Cumberland County: Cumberland is named for Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, captain-general of the British army and son of George II of Great Britain.
- Currituck County
- Dare County
- Davidson County: Davidson is named for William Lee Davidson, an American Revolutionary War general killed near the Catawba River in 1781.
- Davie County: Davie is named for Governor of North Carolina William Richardson Davie.
- Duplin County: Duplin is named for Thomas Hay, Viscount Dupplin, later 9th Earl of Kinnoull.
- Durham County, North Carolina: Durham is named for Dr. Bartlett Durham, the landowner who granted a right-of-way to the railroad association.
- Edgecombe County, North Carolina: Edgecombe is named for Richard Edgecome, who became Baron Edgecombe.
- Forsyth County: Forsyth is named for Benjamin Forsyth, who was killed in the War of 1812.
- Franklin County: Franklin is named for American statesman Benjamin Franklin.
- Gaston County: Gaston is named for William Gaston U.S. Representative from North Carolina.
- Gates County: Gates is named for American Revolutionary War general Horatio Gates.
- Graham County: Graham is named for Governor of North Carolina William A. Graham.
- Granville County: Granville is named for John Carteret, 1st Earl Granville, who was heir to one of the original Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas.
- Greene County: Greene is named for American Revolutionary War officer Nathanael Greene.
- Guilford County: Guilford is named for Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford father of British Prime Minister Frederick North, Lord North.
- Halifax County: Halifax is named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, President of the Board of Trade from 1748 to 1761.
- Harnett County
- Haywood County
- Henderson County
- Hertford County
- Hoke County
- Hyde County
- Iredell County
- Jackson County
- Johnston County
- Jones County
- Lee County
- Lenoir County
- Lincoln County
- Macon County
- Madison County
- Martin County
- McDowell County
- Mecklenburg County: Mecklenburg is named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of George III of Great Britain.
- Mitchell County
- Montgomery County
- Moore County
- Nash County
- New Hanover County
- Northampton County
- Onslow County
- Orange County
- Pamlico County: Pamlico is named for Pamlico Sound.
- Pasquotank County
- Pender County: Pender is named for Confederate general William Dorsey Pender.
- Perquimans County
- Person County: Person is named for American Revolutionary War general Thomas Person.
- Pitt County: Pitt is named for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who served as British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1768.
- Polk County: Polk is named for American Revolutionary War colonel William Polk.
- Randolph County
- Richmond County
- Robeson County
- Rockingham County: Rockingham is named for Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, British Prime Minister from 1765 to 1766 and again in 1782.
- Rowan County
- Rutherford County
- Sampson County
- Scotland County
- Stanly County
- Stokes County
- Surry County
- Swain County
- Transylvania County
- Tyrrell County
- Union County
- Vance County
- Wake County
- Warren County
- Washington County
- Watauga County
- Wayne County
- Wilkes County
- Wilson County
- Yadkin County
- Yancey County