List of Texas county name etymologies

This is a list of Texas county name etymologies.

For an analysis of the county names, see Analysis of Texas county namesakes.

(Note: Whenever an initial in a person's name is given, it means the full name is not known.)

Contents

1 Counties, by first letter 1.1 A 1.2 B 1.3 C 1.4 D 1.5 E 1.6 F 1.7 G 1.8 H 1.9 I 1.10 J 1.11 K 1.12 L 1.13 M 1.14 N 1.15 O 1.16 P 1.17 R 1.18 S 1.19 T 1.20 U 1.21 V 1.22 W 1.23 Y 1.24 Z 2 See also 3 Sources

Counties, by first letter

A

• Anderson County, Texas: Anderson is named for Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas.
• Andrews County, Texas: Andrews is named for Richard Andrews, the first Texan soldier to die in the Texas Revolution.
• Angelina County, Texas: Angelina is named for a Hainai Native American woman who assisted early Spanish missionaries and was named Angelina by them. Angelina County is the only county in Texas named for a woman.
• Aransas County, Texas: Aransas is named for the Rio Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu, a Spanish outpost in early Texas.
• Archer County, Texas: Archer is named for Branch Tanner Archer, a commissioner for the Republic of Texas.
• Armstrong County, Texas: Armstrong is named for any one of several Texas pioneer families.
• Atascosa County, Texas: Atascosa is named for the Spanish word for boggy.
• Austin County, Texas: Austin is named for Stephen Fuller Austin, the person who facilitated the Anglo American colonization of Texas and is known as the Father of Texas.

B

• Bailey County, Texas: Bailey is named for Peter James Bailey, a defender of the Alamo.
• Bandera County, Texas: Bandera is named for Bandera Pass, named in turn for the Spanish word for flag.
• Bastrop County, Texas: Bastrop is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, an early German settler.
• Baylor County, Texas: Baylor is named for Henry Weidner Baylor, a surgeon in the Texas Rangers during the Mexican-American War.
• Bee County, Texas: Bee is named for Barnard Elliott Bee, Sr., a secretary of state of the Republic of Texas.
• Bell County, Texas: Bell is named for Peter Hansborough Bell, the third governor of Texas.
• Bexar County, Texas: Bexar is named for San Antonio de Béjar, the capital of Mexican Texas and present-day San Antonio, Texas.
• Blanco County, Texas: Blanco is named for the Blanco River. Blanco means white in Spanish.
• Borden County, Texas: Borden is named for Gail Borden, Jr., businessman, publisher, surveyor, and inventor of condensed milk.
• Bosque County, Texas: Bosque is named for the Bosque River.
• Bowie County, Texas: Bowie is named for James Bowie, the legendary knife fighter who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
• Brazoria County, Texas: Brazoria is named for the Brazos River, along with Brazos County.
• Brazos County, Texas: Brazos is named for the Brazos River, along with Brazoria County.
• Brewster County, Texas: Brewster is named for Henry Percy Brewster, a secretary of war for the Republic of Texas and soldier in the Civil War. (His middle name has also been given as "Persy".)
• Briscoe County, Texas: Briscoe is named for Andrew Briscoe, a soldier during the Texas Revolution.
• Brooks County, Texas: Brooks is named for John Abijah Brooks, a Texas Ranger and legislator.
• Brown County, Texas: Brown is named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco.
• Burleson County, Texas: Burleson is named for Edward Burleson, a general and statesman of the Texas Revolution.
• Burnet County, Texas: Burnet is named for David Gouverneur Burnet, the first president of the Republic of Texas.

C

• Caldwell County, Texas: Caldwell is named for probably Mathew Caldwell, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and soldier during the Texas Revolution.
• Calhoun County, Texas: Calhoun is named for John Caldwell Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the United States.
• Callahan County, Texas: Callahan is named for James Hughes Callahan, a soldier during the Texas Revolution.
• Cameron County, Texas: Cameron is named for Ewen Cameron, a soldier during the Texas Revolution.
• Camp County, Texas: Camp is named for John Lafayette Camp, a Texas state politician.
• Carson County, Texas: Carson is named for Samuel Price Carson, the first secretary of state of the Republic of Texas.
• Cass County, Texas: Cass is named for Lewis Cass, a senator and future presidental candidate from Michigan who had favored the annexation of Texas to the United States.
• Castro County, Texas: Castro is named for Henri Castro, a French consul general for the Republic of Texas and founder of a colony in Texas.
• Chambers County, Texas: Chambers is named for Thomas Jefferson Chambers, an early lawyer in Texas.
• Cherokee County, Texas: Cherokee is named for the Cherokee Native American tribe.
• Childress County, Texas: Childress is named for George Campbell Childress, the author of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Clay County, Texas: Clay is named for Henry Clay, the Kentucky statesman, presidential candidate, and ninth secretary of state of the United States.
• Cochran County, Texas: Cochran is named for Robert E. Cochran, a defender of the Alamo.
• Coke County, Texas: Coke is named for Richard Coke, the fifteenth governor of Texas.
• Coleman County, Texas: Coleman is named for Robert M. Coleman, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.
• Collin County, Texas: Collin is named for Collin McKinney, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and early settler in the county.
• Collingsworth County, Texas: Collingsworth is named for James Collinsworth, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first chief justice of the Republic of Texas.
• Colorado County, Texas: Colorado is named for the Colorado River.
• Comal County, Texas: Comal is named for the Comal River.
• Comanche County, Texas: Comanche is named for the Comanche Native American tribe.
• Concho County, Texas: Concho is named for the Concho River.
• Cooke County, Texas: Cooke is named for William Gordon Cooke, a soldier during the Texas Revolution.
• Coryell County, Texas: Coryell is named for James Coryell, a frontiersman who was killed by Native Americans.
• Cottle County, Texas: Cottle is named for George Washington Cottle, who died defending the Alamo.
• Crane County, Texas: Crane is named for William Carey Crane, a president of the Baylor University.
• Crockett County, Texas: Crockett is named for David Crockett, the legendary frontiersman who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
• Crosby County, Texas: Crosby is named for Stephen Crosby, a land commissioner in Texas.
• Culberson County, Texas: Culberson is named for David Browning Culberson, a lawyer and soldier in the Civil War.

D

• Dallam County, Texas: Dallam is named for James Wilmer Dallam, a lawyer and newspaper publisher.
• Dallas County, Texas: Dallas is named for probably George Mifflin Dallas, the eleventh vice president of the United States.
• Dawson County, Texas: Dawson is named for Nicholas Mosby Dawson, a soldier of the Texas Revolution.
• Deaf Smith County, Texas: Deaf Smith is named for Erastus "Deaf" Smith, a scout during the Texas Revolution.
• Delta County, Texas: Delta is named for its triangular shape, much like the Greek letter Delta.
• Denton County, Texas: Denton is named for John Bunyan Denton, a preacher, lawyer, and soldier killed during a raid on a Native American camp.
• DeWitt County, Texas: DeWitt is named for Green DeWitt, who founded an early colony in Texas.
• Dickens County, Texas: Dickens is named for J. Dickens, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
• Dimmit County, Texas: Dimmit is named for Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in the Texas Revolution.
• Donley County, Texas: Donley is named for Stockton P. Donley, a frontier lawyer.
• Duval County, Texas: Duval is named for Burr Harrison DuVal, a soldier in the Texas Revolution who died in the Goliad Massacre.

E

• Eastland County, Texas: Eastland is named for William Mosby Eastland, a soldier during the Texas Revolution and the only officer to die as a result of the Black Bean executions.
• Ector County, Texas: Ector is named for Mathew Duncan Ector, a Confederate general in the Civil War.
• Edwards County, Texas: Edwards is named for Haden Edwards, an early settler of Nacogdoches, Texas.
• El Paso County, Texas: El Paso is named for the pass (the English translation) the Rio Grande creates flowing through the mountains on either side of the river.
• Ellis County, Texas: Ellis is named for Richard Ellis, president of the convention that produced the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Erath County, Texas: Erath is named for George Bernard Erath, an early surveyor and a soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.

F

• Falls County, Texas: Falls is named for waterfalls on the Brazos River.
• Fannin County, Texas: Fannin is named for James Walker Fannin, Jr., the commander of the group of Texans killed in the Goliad Massacre during the Texas Revolution.
• Fayette County, Texas: Fayette is named for Marie-Joseph-Paul-Roch-Yves-Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War.
• Fisher County, Texas: Fisher is named for Samuel Rhoads Fisher, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and secretary of the Navy under the Republic of Texas.
• Floyd County, Texas: Floyd is named for Dolphin Ward Floyd, who died on his thirty-second birthday, March 6, 1836 defending the Alamo.
• Foard County, Texas: Foard is named for Robert Levi Foard, an attorney and Civil War soldier.
• Fort Bend County, Texas: Fort Bend is named for a blockhouse positioned in a bend of the Brazos River which was the center of life in the future county in early days.
• Franklin County, Texas: Franklin is named for probably Benjamin Cromwell Franklin, an early judge and legislator in Texas.
• Freestone County, Texas: Freestone is named for water in the region free of any minerals.
• Frio County, Texas: Frio is named for the Frio River.

G

• Gaines County, Texas: Gaines is named for James Gaines, merchant and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Galveston County, Texas: Galveston is named for Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory and an ally of the United States during the American Revolution.
• Garza County, Texas: Garza is named for a pioneer Bexar County family.
• Gillespie County, Texas: Gillespie is named for Robert Addison Gillespie, a merchant and soldier in the Mexican-American War.
• Glasscock County, Texas: Glasscock is named for George Washington Glasscock, an early settler of the Austin, Texas area.
• Goliad County, Texas: Goliad is named for the Municipality of Goliad which preceded the modern county.
• Gonzales County, Texas: Gonzales is named for its county seat of Gonzales, Texas.
• Gray County, Texas: Gray is named for Peter W. Gray, a lawyer and soldier in the Civil War.
• Grayson County, Texas: Grayson is named for Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republic of Texas.
• Gregg County, Texas: Gregg is named for John Gregg, a Confederate war hero who died in the Civil War.
• Grimes County, Texas: Grimes is named for Jesse Grimes, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Indepndence and early settler of the future county.
• Guadalupe County, Texas: Guadalupe is named for the Guadalupe River.

H

• Hale County, Texas: Hale is named for John C. Hale, a lieutenant killed in action at the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution.
• Hall County, Texas: Hall is named for Warren DeWitt Clinton Hall, a secretary of war for the Republic of Texas.
• Hamilton County, Texas: Hamilton is named for James Hamilton Jr., the twenty-eighth governor of South Carolina who gave financial aid to the Republic of Texas.
• Hansford County, Texas: Hansford is named for John M. Hansford, a Texas state congressman and judge, who was shot and killed by a mob.
• Hardeman County, Texas: Hardeman is named for Bailey Hardeman and Thomas Jones Hardeman, two early Texas politicians and legislators.
• Hardin County, Texas: Hardin is named for the Hardin family in Liberty County, Texas.
• Harris County, Texas: Harris is named for John Richardson Harris, an early settler of the future county.
• Harrison County, Texas: Harrison is named for Jonas Harrison, a lawyer and Texas revolutionary.
• Hartley County, Texas: Hartley is named for Oliver Cromwell Hartley and Rufus K. Hartley, two early Texas legislators and lawmakers.
• Haskell County, Texas: Haskell is named for Charles Ready Haskell, killed in the Goliad Massacre.
• Hays County, Texas: Hays is named for John Coffee Hays, a leading Texas Ranger and Mexican-American War officer.
• Hemphill County, Texas: Hemphill is named for John Hemphill, a judge and Confederate congressman.
• Henderson County, Texas: Henderson is named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of Texas.
• Hidalgo County, Texas: Hidalgo is named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the priest who raised the call for Mexico's independence from Spain.
• Hill County, Texas: Hill is named for George Washington Hill, a secretary of war and secretary of the navy under the Republic of Texas.
• Hockley County, Texas: Hockley is named for George Washington Hockley, Chief of Staff of the Texas Army during the Texas Revolution, artillery commander during the Battle of San Jacinto, and secretary of war of the Republic of Texas.
• Hood County, Texas: Hood is named for John Bell Hood, a Confederate lieutenant general and the commander of Hood's Texas Brigade.
• Hopkins County, Texas: Hopkins is named for the family of David Hopkins, an early settler in the future county.
• Houston County, Texas: Houston is named for Samuel "Sam" Houston, one of the most important figures in the history of Texas, having won Texas its complete independence at the Battle of San Jacinto, as well as being the second and fourth president of the Republic of Texas and seventh governor of Texas.
• Howard County, Texas: Howard is named for Volney Eskine Howard, an U.S. Representative from Texas.
• Hudspeth County, Texas: Hudspeth is named for Claude Benton Hudspeth, a state congressman, rancher, and newspaper publisher.
• Hunt County, Texas: Hunt is named for Memucan Hunt, a secretary of the navy under the Republic of Texas.
• Hutchinson County, Texas: Hutchinson is named for Andrew Hutchinson, an early attorney in Texas.

I

• Irion County, Texas: Irion is named for Robert Anderson Irion, a secretary of state in the Republic of Texas.

J

• Jack County, Texas: Jack is named for Patrick Churchill Jack, attorney and early Texas colonist, and his brother William Houston Jack, both veterans of the Texas Revolution.
• Jackson County, Texas: Jackson is named for Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.
• Jasper County, Texas: Jasper is named for William Jasper, an American Revolutionary War hero who was killed at Savannah, Georgia in 1779.
• Jeff Davis County, Texas: Jeff Davis is named for Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America.
• Jefferson County, Texas: Jefferson is named for Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
• Jim Hogg County, Texas: Jim Hogg is named for James Stephen Hogg, the twentieth governor of Texas.
• Jim Wells County, Texas: Jim Wells is named for James Babbage Wells Jr., a powerful politician in southern Texas.
• Johnson County, Texas: Johnson is named for Middleton Tate Johnson, a Texas Ranger, soldier, and politician.
• Jones County, Texas: Jones is named for Anson Jones, the fifth president of the Republic of Texas.

K

• Karnes County, Texas: Karnes was named for Henry Wax Karnes, a soldier in the Texas Revolution.
• Kaufman County, Texas: Kaufman was named for David Spangler Kaufman, a Jewish Texas state senator and member of the United States House of Representatives.
• Kendall County, Texas: Kendall was named for George Wilkins Kendall, an early journalist and sheepman.
• Kenedy County, Texas: Kenedy was named for Mifflin Kenedy, an early rancher in the area.
• Kent County, Texas: Kent was named for Andrew Kent, who died at the Battle of the Alamo.
• Kerr County, Texas: Kerr was named for James Kerr, an early colonist in Texas and soldier in the Texas Revolution.
• Kimble County, Texas: Kimble was named for George C. Kimbell, who died at the Alamo.
• King County, Texas: King was named for William Phillip King, who lost his life in the Battle of the Alamo.
• Kinney County, Texas: Kinney was named for Henry Lawrence Kinney, an unsuccessful land speculator.
• Kleberg County, Texas: Kleberg was named for Robert Justus Kleberg, an early German settler and soldier at the Battle of San Jacinto.
• Knox County, Texas: Knox was named for Henry Knox, the first secretary of war of the United States.

L

• La Salle County, Texas: La Salle was named for René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the French explorer who traveled through the Texas coast near the future county.
• Lamar County, Texas: Lamar is named for Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, the third president of the Republic of Texas.
• Lamb County, Texas: Lamb is named for George A. Lamb, who lost his life at the Battle of San Jacinto.
• Lampasas County, Texas: Lampasas is named for either the city of Lampasas, Mexico or the Lampasas River.
• Lavaca County, Texas: Lavaca is named for the Lavaca River.
• Lee County, Texas: Lee is named for Robert Edward Lee, the commanding general of the Confederate forces during the Civil War.
• Leon County, Texas: Leon is named for either Martin De Leon, the founder of Victoria, Texas, or a yellow wolf which lived in the area and was nicknamed "lion" ("leon" in Spanish).
• Liberty County, Texas: Liberty is named for its first county seat, Liberty, Texas.
• Limestone County, Texas: Limestone is named for the limestone deposits in the region.
• Lipscomb County, Texas: Lipscomb is named for Abner Smith Lipscomb, an early Texas lawyer, justice of the Texas Supreme Court and secretary of state of the Republic of Texas.
• Live Oak County, Texas: Live Oak is named for the Texas live oak tree under which the petition for a new county was signed.
• Llano County, Texas: Llano is named for the Llano River.
• Loving County, Texas: Loving is named for Oliver Loving, a cattle rancher and pioneer of the cattle drive who with Charles Goodnight developed the Goodnight-Loving Trail. He was mortally wounded by Native Americans while on a cattle drive in the vicinity of the county.
• Lubbock County, Texas: Lubbock is named for Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Texas Ranger and soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil War. (Some sources give his first name as "Thompson".)
• Lynn County, Texas: Lynn is named for William Lynn (also sometimes spelled Linn), a soldier in the Texas Revolution from Massachusetts who is believed to have died defending the Alamo.

M

• Madison County, Texas: Madison is named for James Madison, the fourth president of the United States.
• Marion County, Texas: Marion is named for Francis Marion, the American Revolutionary War general whose nickname was the "Swamp Fox".
• Martin County, Texas: Martin is named for Wylie Martin, an early settler in Texas.
• Mason County, Texas: Mason is named for Fort Mason which was located in the future county.
• Matagorda County, Texas: Matagorda is named for the canebrakes that once lined the Gulf of Mexico coastline (Matagorda is Spanish for "thick bush").
• Maverick County, Texas: Maverick is named for Samuel Augustus Maverick, an early legislator and later rancher near the future county. From his name is derived the word "maverick" due to his practice of not branding his cattle.
• McCulloch County, Texas: McCulloch is named for Benjamin McCulloch, a famous Texas Ranger and Confederate general who was killed at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Battle of Elkhorn Tavern).
• McLennan County, Texas: McLennan is named for Neil McLennan, an early settler in the future county.
• McMullen County, Texas: McMullen is named for John McMullen, an Irish founder of a colony in Texas.
• Medina County, Texas: Medina is named for the Medina River.
• Menard County, Texas: Menard is named for Michel Branamour Menard, the founder of Galveston, Texas.
• Midland County, Texas: Midland is named for its location midway between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railroad.
• Milam County, Texas: Milam is named for Benjamin Rush Milam, an early Texas colonizer and soldier in the early Texas Revolution, who was killed in a successful siege of San Antonio, Texas.
• Mills County, Texas: Mills is named for John T. Mills, an early judge in Texas.
• Mitchell County, Texas: Mitchell is named for Asa Mitchell and Eli Mitchell, two early settlers and soldiers in the Texas Revolution.
• Montague County, Texas: Montague is named for Daniel Montague, a state senator and early surveyor in the future county.
• Montgomery County, Texas: Montgomery is named for Montgomery, Texas, which was the largest settlement in the county when it was formed.
• Moore County, Texas: Moore is named for Edwin Ward Moore, the commodore of the Texan navy during the Republic of Texas.
• Morris County, Texas: Morris is named for William Wright Morris, a legislator and planter in the area.
• Motley County, Texas: Motley is named for Junius William Mottley, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who was killed at the Battle of San Jacinto.

N

• Nacogdoches County, Texas: Nacogdoches is named for the Nacogdoches Native American tribe.
• Navarro County, Texas: Navarro is named for José Antonio Navarro, a leading Tejano participant in the Texas Revolution and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Newton County, Texas: Newton is named for John Newton, a veteran of the Revolutionary War.
• Nolan County, Texas: Nolan is named for Philip Nolan, a mustanger who was killed by Spanish troops in 1801 while on a mission into Texas for uncertain reasons.
• Nueces County, Texas: Nueces is named for the Nueces River.

O

• Ochiltree County, Texas: Ochiltree is named for William Beck Ochiltree, an early settler in Texas, judge, and legislator.
• Oldham County, Texas: Oldham is named for Williamson Simpson Oldham, a Confederate legislator in Texas.
• Orange County, Texas: Orange is named for the orange grove planted by early settlers at the mouth of the Sabine River, according to most sources.

P

• Palo Pinto County, Texas: Palo Pinto is named for Palo Pinto Creek.
• Panola County, Texas: Panola is named for a Native American word meaning "cotton".
• Parker County, Texas: Parker is named for Isaac Parker, an early legislator in the state. He also was the uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker and thus the great-uncle of Quanah Parker.
• Parmer County, Texas: Parmer is named for Martin Parmer, an early legislator, judge, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Pecos County, Texas: Pecos is named for the Pecos River.
• Polk County, Texas: Polk is named for James Knox Polk, the eleventh president of the United States.
• Potter County, Texas: Potter is named for Robert Potter, an early legislator, secretary of the navy for the Republic of Texas, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who was killed in the Regulator-Moderator War.
• Presidio County, Texas: Presidio is named for Presidio del Norte, an eighteenth-century fort and settlement on the south side of the Rio Grande.

R

• Rains County, Texas: Rains is named for Emory Rains, an early legislator and surveyor of the future county.
• Randall County, Texas: Randall is named for Horace Randal, a Confederate brigadier general who was killed at the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry.
• Reagan County, Texas: Reagan is named for John Henninger Reagan, postmaster general of the Confederacy, U.S. representative and Senator, and leader of the United States Democratic Party in Texas.
• Real County, Texas: Real is named for Julius Real, a rancher and legislator who was the only Republican in the state senate when the county was formed.
• Red River County, Texas: Red River is named for the Red River.
• Reeves County, Texas: Reeves is named for George Robertson Reeves, a state legislator and colonel in the Confederate army.
• Refugio County, Texas: Refugio is named for Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission which was located near the future county.
• Roberts County, Texas: Roberts is named for Oran Milo Roberts, the seventeenth governor of Texas, and John S. Roberts, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
• Robertson County, Texas: Robertson is named for Sterling Clack Robertson, a founder of a colony in early Texas.
• Rockwall County, Texas: Rockwall is named for its county seat of Rockwall, Texas as well as a geological wall of rock running under the county.
• Runnels County, Texas: Runnels is named for Hiram George Runnels, the ninth governor of Mississippi and planter in Texas.
• Rusk County, Texas: Rusk is named for Thomas Jefferson Rusk, a general in the Texas Revolution and leading statesman in the new state.

S

• Sabine County, Texas: Sabine is named for the Sabine River.
• San Augustine County, Texas: San Augustine is named for supposedly Saint Augustine of Hippo.
• San Jacinto County, Texas: San Jacinto is named for the Battle of San Jacinto, which won Texas its independence from Mexico.
• San Patricio County, Texas: San Patricio is named for the Mexican Municipality of San Patricio. The area was originally settled in 1828 by Irish Catholics from New York. They founded the town of San Patricio de Hibernia and the municipality of San Patricio.
• San Saba County, Texas: San Saba is named for the San Saba River.
• Schleicher County, Texas: Schleicher is named for Gustav Schleicher, an early engineer and legislator in Texas.
• Scurry County, Texas: Scurry is named for William Read Scurry, a Texas state legislator and Confederate general who was killed at the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry.
• Shackelford County, Texas: Shackelford is named for Jack Shackelford, a soldier of the Texas Revolution.
• Shelby County, Texas: Shelby is named for Isaac Shelby, a Revolutionary War soldier from Tennessee and the first governor of Kentucky.
• Sherman County, Texas: Sherman is named for Sidney Sherman, a soldier in the Texas Revolution.
• Smith County, Texas: Smith is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution.
• Somervell County, Texas: Somervell is named for Alexander Somervell, a soldier in the Texas Revolution and leader of the Somervell Expedition, a military strike into Mexico that failed during the days of the Republic of Texas.
• Starr County, Texas: Starr is named for James Harper Starr, a treasurer for the Republic of Texas and Confederate official.
• Stephens County, Texas: Stephens is named for Alexander Hamilton Stephens, the only vice-president of the Confederate States of America.
• Sterling County, Texas: Sterling is named for W. S. Sterling, an early rancher, buffalo hunter, and Native American fighter.
• Stonewall County, Texas: Stonewall is named for Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, the famous Confederate General.
• Sutton County, Texas: Sutton is named for John Schuyler Sutton, a Texas Ranger and soldier in the Texas Revolution and Mexican-American War as well as a Confederate officer in the Civil War.
• Swisher County, Texas: Swisher is named for James Gibson Swisher, a soldier of the Texas Revolution.

T

• Tarrant County, Texas: Tarrant is named for Edward H. Tarrant, a general who drove the Native Americans out of the future county, opening it up for settlement. (His middle initial may stand for "Hampton".)
• Taylor County, Texas: Taylor is named for Edward Taylor, George Taylor, and James Taylor, three brothers who died at the Alamo.
• Terrell County, Texas: Terrell is named for Alexander Watkins Terrell, attorney, judge, state legislator, diplomat, and Confederate cavalry officer.
• Terry County, Texas: Terry is named for Benjamin Franklin Terry, a Confederate colonel and commander of Terry's Texas Rangers (Eighth Texas Cavalry).
• Throckmorton County, Texas: Throckmorton is named for William Edward Throckmorton, an early Collin County settler.
• Titus County, Texas: Titus is named for Andrew Jackson Titus, a state legislator and planter.
• Tom Green County, Texas: Tom Green is named for Thomas Green, a Confederate brigadier general.
• Travis County, Texas: Travis is named for William Barret Travis, the commander of the doomed Texas forces at the Alamo.
• Trinity County, Texas: Trinity is named for the Trinity River.
• Tyler County, Texas: Tyler is named for John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States.

U

• Upshur County, Texas: Upshur is named for Abel Parker Upshur, the fifteenth secretary of state of the United States.
• Upton County, Texas: Upton is named for John Cunningham Upton and his brother William Felton Upton, two lieutenant colonels in the Confederate army. John Upton was killed at the Second Battle of Manassas and William Upton later served Fayette County in the Texas Legislature.
• Uvalde County, Texas: Uvalde is named for the Cañón de Ugalde, a nearby battlefield where Spanish General Juan de Ugalde won a surprise battle against 300 Apaches in the Sabinal River canyon on January 9, 1790.

V

• Val Verde County, Texas: Val Verde is named for the Civil War Battle of Valverde, which took place near present-day Socorro, New Mexico.
• Van Zandt County, Texas: Van Zandt is named for Isaac Van Zandt, early Texas settler, attorney, Texas legislator, and diplomat, considered by many to be the founder of Marshall, Texas.
• Victoria County, Texas: Victoria is named for Guadalupe Victoria, the first president of Mexico.

W

• Walker County, Texas: Walker is named for Samuel Hamilton Walker, a Texas Ranger and soldier in the Mexican-American War.
• Waller County, Texas: Waller is named for Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the first mayor of Austin, Texas.
• Ward County, Texas: Ward is named for Thomas William Ward, a commissioner for the General Land Office of Texas and mayor of Austin, Texas.
• Washington County, Texas: Washington is named for George Washington, the first president of the United States.
• Webb County, Texas: Webb is named for James Webb, who served as secretary of the Treasury, secretary of State, and Attorney General of the Republic of Texas, and later United States District Judge in the State of Texas.
• Wharton County, Texas: Wharton is named for William Harris Wharton and John Austin Wharton, two brothers and leaders in revolutionary Texas.
• Wheeler County, Texas: Wheeler is named for Royal Tyler Wheeler, the second Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
• Wichita County, Texas: Wichita is named for the Wichita Native American tribe.
• Wilbarger County, Texas: Wilbarger is named for Josiah Pugh Wilbarger and Mathias Wilbarger, two brothers and early settlers; Josiah Wilbarger survived being scalped by a group of Comanches.
• Willacy County, Texas: Willacy is named for John G. Willacy, a farmer, real estate developer, and Texas state senator who was the author of the bill that established the county.
• Williamson County, Texas: Williamson is named for Robert McAlpin Williamson, a leader and veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto.
• Wilson County, Texas: Wilson is named for James Charles Wilson, a Texas state senator, member of the ill-fated Somervell Expedition into Mexico, and Methodist minister.
• Winkler County, Texas: Winkler is named for Clinton McKamy Winkler, a judge and Confederate colonel.
• Wise County, Texas: Wise is named for Henry Alexander Wise, the future thirty-eighth governor of Virginia who supported the annexation of Texas while a member of the United States House of Representatives.
• Wood County, Texas: Wood is named for George Tyler Wood, the second governor of Texas. The county is also heavily timbered.

Y

• Yoakum County, Texas: Yoakum is named for Henderson King Yoakum, soldier, attorney, and Texas historian.
• Young County, Texas: Young is named for William Cocke Young, early Texas settler, attorney, sheriff, and United States Marshal who also commanded Texas regiments in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.

Z

• Zapata County, Texas: Zapata is named for Antonio Zapata, a local rancher and rebel against the Mexican government.
• Zavala County, Texas: Zavala is named for Lorenzo de Zavala, a Mexican rancher, politician, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who served as the first Vice-President of the Republic of Texas.

See also

• Texas
• List of Texas counties
• List of Texas county seat name etymologies
• County (United States)
• Lists of U.S. county name etymologies

Sources

• A list of all 254 etymologies from TexasBob.com (http://www.texasbob.com/txt_county.html)
• The Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/index.html)