Which Great Lake was called Lac des Hurons by French explorers?

Lake Huron was called Lac des Hurons by French explorers.

The name refers to the Huron people, whom French explorers encountered in the region. The Huron, also known as the Wendat, lived mainly in the area around Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe before their communities were disrupted by warfare, disease, and colonial pressures. French maps used forms of the name that eventually became “Lake Huron” in English.

Lake Huron is the second-largest Great Lake by surface area and includes Georgian Bay and the North Channel as major subdivisions. Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest freshwater island, lies in Lake Huron, but the island fact should not be confused with the lake’s name origin.

Lake Huron is connected to Lake Michigan through the Straits of Mackinac. Because the two lakes have nearly identical water levels and are linked by a broad strait, some geographic and hydrologic descriptions treat them as one lake system, although they retain separate names.