The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, Area, and Population Data, 1950-2010

Most Americans give little thought to their county’s size, population, when it was created, or how its name came about. But such information can be very helpful to anyone, particularly researchers and genealogists, investigating local or state history. Drawing on information obtained from the 2010 Census, the 6th edition of The American Counties provides up-to-date data on each county’s:

• land area
• population
• county seat
• date of creation
• name origin
• dates of governmental organization, elimination, and re-creation

This edition includes information on counties created since the previous edition was published as well as more precise “date of creation” details for many colonial counties. If a county is named for a geographical feature—river, mountain, lake, etc.—the origin of the name and the meaning of any Indian or foreign words is provided. For those counties that were named after a specific individual, a brief sketch of the person’s life is provided, including updated biographical information from previous editions.

The Introduction has been expanded to address such topics as counties with similar names, persons who have more than one namesake county, the paucity of counties named for women, the practice of creating counties in uninhabited regions, and legislators naming counties for each other. At the request of many readers, the 6th edition contains new appendices ranking all counties nationally by population and area, as well as an appendix listing counties that have been eliminated.

Containing information on all 3,143 counties and county equivalents (independent cities, parishes, boroughs, etc.) in the United States, the 6th edition of The American Counties
is an essential resource for researchers looking for basic information on counties in the United States.