This is a list of North Carolina county name etymologies.
Alphabetical, by first letter
A
- 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.
B
- 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 Lord proprietars 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.
M
See also
