New Jersey State Names (Etymology of Names)
New Jersey Name Origin and State Nicknames
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York State, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, and on the southwest by Delaware. New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state, but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States.
New Jersey was named by James, Duke of York (the brother of King Charles II of England), who was given New Jersey by his brother. James later gave New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. James named the colony New Jersey to honor Carteret, who had been the Governor of Jersey, a British island in the English Channel.
New Jersey Nicknames
- The Garden State (Official)
- Clam State
- Camden State
- Camden and Aboy State
- Amboy State
- Jersey Blue State
- Pathway of the Revolution
- Mosquito State
- Switzerland of America
Origin of New Jersey State Name
New jersey is taken from the Channel Isle of Jersey in the English Channel.
Sir John Berkley and Sir George Carteret received a royal charter for a colony in the new land and named this colony for the island of Jersey in the English Channel. Carteret had been born on Jersey and had spent several years as Lieutenant Governor of the island.
New Jersey Nicknames
The Garden State
There is no definitive explanation for New Jersey's nickname of "The Garden State."
Garden State, a name coined by Abraham Browning in a speech at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and which has, despite the objection and veto of the governor, appeared officially on state license plates since about 1954 as the result of L.1954, c. 221; NJSA 39:3-33.2. This legislation was passed over Governor Meyner's veto. His veto message to A545, dated August 2, 1954, says in part "My investigation discloses that there is no official recognition of the slogan 'Garden State' as an identification of the State of New Jersey."
Alfred M. Heston, in his two-volume work, Jersey Waggon Jaunts, published in 1926 ( Camden, NJ, Atlantic County Historical Society, 1926), twice credits Abraham Browning of Camden with coining the name at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia on New Jersey Day, August 24, 1876. On page 310 of volume 2 he writes: "In his address Mr. Browning compared New Jersey to an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other. He called New Jersey the Garden State, and the name has clung to it ever since." The problem with this is that the image of a barrel tapped at both ends dates back at least to Benjamin Franklin, so this statement crediting Browning with naming the Garden State can not be taken at face value.
Robert Lupp
New Jersey Reference Services
New Jersey State Library
12 October, 1994
Addenda:
#1
NJSA 39:3-33.2 License plates; words "Garden State" to be imprinted
The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the Department of Law and Public
Safety shall, upon the occasion of the next and each subsequent general issue
of passenger car motor vehicle registration license plates, cause to be imprinted
thereon in addition to other markings which he shall prescribe, the words "Garden
State."
L.1954, c. 221, p. 834, para. 1.
Historical Note
Passed December 6, 1954, the objections of the Governor notwithstanding; Filed
December 7, 1954. Title of Act: An Act concerning motor vehicles and supplementing
article 2 of chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes. L.1954, c.221, p.
834.
#2
State of New Jersey,
Executive Department,
August 2, 1954
Assembly Bill No. 454
To the General Assembly:
I am returning herewith, without my approval, Assembly Bill No. 545, for the
following reasons:
This bill provides that the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall,
upon the occasion of the next and each subsequent general issue of passenger
car motor vehicle registration license plates, cause to be imprinted thereon
the words "Garden State".
A bill similar to this was vetoed by Governor Driscoll in 1953. He said "the
registration plate itself, moreover, is an important legal device evidencing
compliance with the laws of the State of New Jersey and it should be confined
to that purpose without the detraction of any mottoes or phrases". Governor
Driscoll's point of view might be refuted if there existed either an official
basis for the designation of New Jersey as "Garden State" or if the
gardening or farming industry was the overwhelmingly predominant feature of the
State's economy. I refer, for example, to the designation on the Wisconsin
license plates of that state as "America's Dairyland".
My investigation discloses that there is no official recognition of the slogan "Garden
State" as an identification of the State of New Jersey. It is, moreover,
obvious that New Jersey's place in the economy and life of the nation is
today attributable to its preeminence in many fields, in addition to its acknowledged
high standing in agricultural pursuits. Statistically, only 2.4 percent of our
workers are employed on farms while 97.6 percent are engaged in non- agricultural
occupations. New Jersey is noted for its great strides in manufacturing, mining,
commerce, construction, power, transportation, shipping, merchandising, fishing
and recreation, as well as in agriculture. I do not believe that the average
citizen of New Jersey regards his state as more peculiarly identifiable with
gardening for farming than any of its other industries or occupations. Indeed
many of our people regard the state as preeminently a residential community.
For the reasons set forth hereinabove, I cannot concur in the view that such
justifiable purpose is served by the bill in question as would outweigh the obvious
disadvantage of reducing the space on the metal license plates available for
the official registration designation.
Accordingly, I am constrained to return Assembly Bill No. 454 without my approval.
Respectfully, Robert B. Meyner, Governor
Attest: Robert J. Burkhardt, Secretary to the Governor.
#3
(From: Heston, Alfred M. "Jersey Waggon Jaunts" Camden, Atlantic County
(N.J.) Historical Society, 1926. Vol. 1, p. 72)
A distinguished citizen of Camden, Hon. Abraham Browning , stirred the pride
of Jerseymen by telling them, at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, on
New Jersey Day, August 24, 1876, that our Garden State is like a huge barrel,
with both ends open, one of which is plucked by New York and the other by Pennsylvania.
And from Vol. 2, p. 310:
The principal speaker on "Jersey Day" was Hon. Abraham Browning, of
Camden. ... In his address Mr. Browning compared New Jersey to an immense barrel,
filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing
from one end and New Yorkers from the other. He called New Jersey the Garden
State, and the name has clung to it ever since.
Camden State
For a railroad.
Amboy State
For a railroad.
Camden and Aboy State
The famous "Camden and Aboy Railroad" led to the state sometimes being known as the Camden and Aboy State
Jersey Blue State
For the Civil War. Blue uniforms of the Civil war gave it the Jersey Blue State.
Pathway of the Revolution
Many battles were fought there.
Mosquito State
In the 1880s, New York suffered plagues of insects which originated in the marshes of New Jersey, which led the state to be known as the Mosquito State.
Clam State
The clam fisheries on the coast led some to call it the Clam State,
Switzerland of America
Others called it Switzerland of America (one of five states to be so-called).
New Jersey Slogans
- "New Jersey: We'll win you over."
(formerly New Jersey & You...Perfect Together) - The Perfect Getaway (formerly)
- Come see for yourself
New Jersey Postal Code
- NJ
New Jersey Resident's Name
- New Jerseyan - Official (recommended by US GPO)
- New Jerseyite - Official, unofficial or informal alternates
The Etymologies of US State Names
