I come from a long line of men in my family called Paul. My name is Paul, my father and his father, too. My wife and I made it a point to name our son Paul as well, extending the tradition well past the 100-year mark. Maybe if he is blessed with a son at some point in the future, he will continue the tradition, but there is no pressure. Who knows what the future will bring?

I enjoy looking back through family history, not only mine but others, too, and seeing how names change with popularity. The year I was born in the 1980s, the most popular boy’s name was Michael, and the girl’s was Jessica. When my grandmother was born in 1927, the most popular were Mary and Robert. Some names are timeless. If you follow old Italian naming customs, typically the first son is named after the paternal grandfather; the second after the maternal grandfather; first daughter after the paternal grandmother; and finally, the second daughter after the maternal grandmother. This is how it was done in my grandfather’s family. They had five children and with that daughter, my great-grandparents, had complete creativity in name choice.

I love learning about where names come from, not only for people, but for places, too. To me, it gives an insight into what a community was like at a specific time and place in history. Some names were used before Europeans arrived in this area. One, specifically, being the Ohio River.

Doing research for this article I discovered conflicting origins for the name as far as which indigenous group named it. Most sources, including the National Park Service in their article on the river as part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, point to the Iroquois with coining the river “O-Y-O” meaning the great river.

The article adds that the French first claimed the river as “La Belle Viviere,” or the beautiful river. Certainly, the Ohio is great and beautiful. Certainly, pioneers and indigenous peoples both had the same opinion of the waterway. Looking at those old maps surrounding the river in our area, especially from the early years of exploration, there are places that still appear on maps, but others that have disappeared. One such place that consistently appears on maps of our region from the 18th century is “Mingo Town,” as specified on a map of the river from 1766.

Again, it appears on a map from 1776 along with names we would be familiar with, such as Yellow Creek, Little and Big Beaver Creek, the Two Creeks, (or Cross Creek) and Chartiers Creek. In 1778, even more names appear on a map, but these we aren’t as familiar with today, such as Harts Rock, which I believe is in the ballpark on the West Virginia side of the river opposite Steubenville. There also is a notation on the map that appears around this period called Pipe Hills. This would be in the northern part of Hancock County today and directly across the river, as shown by the 1778 map. I have seen it on only the Ohio side as well.

This is an area that has lost its name in 21st century map making, as far as I can tell. All of these maps, by the way, can be accessed by looking on the Library of Congress website under maps and doing a search for the Ohio River. So many show up from the mid-18th century to the present.

Drilling in closer to our area, one will find Harmon Creek in Weirton and Cross Creek. Cross Creek is named specifically because it is directly across from another creek. Harmon Creek is named for Harmon Greathouse, one of the earliest settlers in the Weirton area. One creek that is a mystery to me, and has been for some time, is Kings Creek in Weirton. Most of the early maps show the creek as a major tributary, but more often than not, the creek is unnamed. Finally, it gets its name as Indian Creek, and later, by the last decades of the 18th century, as Kings Creek. My two assumptions are that is was named for King George of England, or the possibility exists that it was named for someone who lived there called King. I like the idea that it was named for King George because the name would connect us with our colonial past, but I have yet to find an official answer. These are things I think about in the wee small hours of the morning.

Looking at our counties for a moment, Jefferson County was formed in 1797 and was named for Thomas Jefferson. Hancock County was formed in 1848 out of Brooke County and was named for John Hancock, first signer of the Declaration of Independence. Brooke County was established in 1796 and named for the outgoing governor of Virginia at that time, Robert Brooke. Ohio County was created in 1776 out of what they called the District of West Augusta. This district was part of Augusta County, Va., created in 1738. One can go on and on.

To me, tracing a name of something is like taking a trip back in time. One can learn about the past just by knowing the origin of a name. I often wonder what folks in the past will think about the history we make today and the names we give things. Hopefully it will inspire a new generation to look back and see the rich history they came from.

(Zuros is the executive director of Historic Fort Steuben)