Des Moines

Meaning

Proper Noun

• The capital city of Iowa (state), USA (country) and the county seat of Polk (county) County.
• city Washington (state).
• village New Mexico (state).
• river United States (country) that flows from southern Minnesota into the Mississippi.

Origin

• From the French name of the nearby Rivière des Moines, which superficially means "river of the monks" and has traditionally been interpreted as a reference to the Trappist monks who settled along it. "It is more likely, however, to be a name of Native American origin, recorded in a 1673 text as moinguena", a Miami designation of the Moingona. The precise interpretation is uncertain; see Moingona.