Chicago
American place name, Algonquin
"wild garlic"
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Updated Thu May 22 2025
Chicago Origin and Meaning
The name Chicago is a boy's name meaning "wild garlic".
When Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their daughter Chicago — after West's hometown — we expected it to rise for baby girls. But American parents have taken to Chicago as a boy name. It's been given to more boys than girls every year since 2018.
The city's name was derived from the Algonquin word shikaakwa, meaning "wild garlic". Onions, ramps, and garlic once grew in the area. The French transliterated shikaakwa to "Checagou" or "Chicagou", from which we get Chicago today.
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