Mary’s Land? The Origin Maryland’s Name

The History of the Things we Take for Granted

Mary’s Land?

The Origin Maryland’s Name 

                We may not realize it, but often there is history in the names we take for granted. Names hold meanings. In Maryland, many well known names tell stories that, at first, are not obvious. The stories they do tell give us an insight into what people consider important.

The name Maryland itself tells a story. Maryland is simply, “the land of Mary.” The “Mary,” Maryland is named after wasn’t even an American! She also never visited the colony that was named after her. Mary was, Queen Mary, or more formally, Queen Henrietta Maria (1609-1669), the wife of English King Charles I (1600-1649). Her father, and later her brother, also happened to be the King of France!

King Charles continued the policy of his father, King James I, to establish English colonies in America. (Perhaps you have heard of Jamestown?) Individuals began looking at America as a somewhere that they could create a new place to live and make money.

In 1632 King Charles gave Cecil Calvert a charter to found a colony on the Chesapeake Bay. Cecil Calvert (1605-1675) was a very important man in England, he was also a lord of a small area in Ireland known as Baltimore. Often Calvert was simply known by his title, Lord Baltimore. In his honor, Baltimore City was named after him. The origin of the word “Baltimore” is actually old Irish: Baile an Tí Mhóir, which means “Town of the Big House.”  In Maryland there are many things named after Lord Baltimore. To name just a few, Baltimore City and County, Calvert County, and Cecil County.  Maryland’s flag is based on the Calvert family coat of arms.

Many other things in Maryland are named for parts of Maryland’s rich history. The Baltimore Ravens got their name from the most famous poem written by Baltimore’s most famous poet, Edger Allen Poe’s The Raven. Looking at this example, is it surprising that Maryland’s state bird is the Oriole, and its state reptile is the Terrapin? Names tell stories, and sometimes when we discover these stories we learn a little bit more about where we came from.