Chesapeake

Meanings

1. The Chesapeake Bay.
2. (with the) A Native American tribe that once inhabited the area now known as South Hampton Roads in Virginia, United States.
3. A number of other places in the United States:
4. An extinct town in Warren County, Indiana.
5. An unincorporated community in Lawrence County, Missouri.
6. A village in Lawrence County, Ohio.
7. An independent city in south-east Virginia.
8. An unincorporated community in Northampton County, Virginia.
9. A town in Kanawha County, West Virginia.

1. Any member of the Chesapeake tribe.

Etymology

From Chesepiook, from Algonquin chesepiooc. The demonym came from the toponym, signifying "people from the Chesapeake" or "Chesapeake people". It was widely believed for a long time that "Chesapeake" means something like "Great Shellfish Bay." However, according to Blair Rudes, linguist at the University of North Carolina, the name might actually mean something like "Great Water," or it might have been simply the name of a village at the bay's mouth.