Posted by Eugene Volokh: Nova Caesarea: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_23-2009_08_29.shtml#1251390322
Yesterday, I [1]asked, "Which state's name might indirectly flow from the name of an ancient political figure?," noting that the etymology is in some dispute. My answer is New Jersey; the island of Jersey has been said to be a derivation of the supposed Roman name for it, which was Caesarea. New Jersey was sometimes referred to in the colonial era as [2]Nova Caesarea, an the supposed name of old Jersey was sometimes [3]recalled. John Seally's 1787 Complete Geographical Dictionary takes that view. The matter is controversial; the [4]Online Etymological Dictionary, for instance, reports that Jersey is "said to be a corruption of L. Caesarea, the Roman name for the island (or another near it), infl. by O.E. ey 'island,'" but is "probably in fact a Viking name (perhaps meaning 'Geirr's island')." Nonetheless, the Caesar link was at least much supposed during the 17th and the 18th centuries, and strikes me as at this point credible even if contested. Congratulations to commenter Chuck the Guest, who was the first to give this answer on the earlier thread. References 1. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_23-2009_08_29.shtml#1251329125 2. http://books.google.com/books?lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1800&q=%22nova+caesarea%22&num=100&as_brr=0&spell=1&oi=spell 3. http://books.google.com/books?id=nHBbAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=caesarea+jersey&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1800&num=100&as_brr=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false 4. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jersey _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
