Which Great Lake is the only one named after a U.S. state?

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake named after a U.S. state.

Its name comes from an Ojibwe term often rendered as mishigami or michigami, meaning “great water” or “great lake.” The state of Michigan later took its name from the lake. Lake Michigan is also the only Great Lake located entirely within the United States, although its shoreline is divided among Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.

The lake is connected to Lake Huron by the Straits of Mackinac, making the two lakes hydrologically one body of water at the same elevation. Nevertheless, they are traditionally counted as separate Great Lakes because they have distinct basins and names.

The other four lake names have different origins. Ontario is associated with an Indigenous place name, Erie with the Erie people, Superior with its position above Lake Huron, and Huron with the Wyandot or Huron people.