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You are here: Home / Geography / How Did the Chesapeake Bay Get Its Name and Where Does the Name “Chesapeake” Come From?

How Did the Chesapeake Bay Get Its Name and Where Does the Name “Chesapeake” Come From?

March 29, 2020 by Karen Hill

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, and lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia.

The Native Americans who once lived along the bay gave it an Algonquian name, Chesepiook, meaning “great shellfish bay.”

It is the seventh oldest surviving English place-name in the U.S., and was explored and mapped by Captain John Smith of England between 1607 and 1609.

The Chesapeake Bay Retriever was named after the area.

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  • Where does the phrase "to hold at bay" come from and What does it mean?

Filed Under: Geography

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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