Buffalo NY: Where did the city get its name?

Where did the city of Buffalo get its name?

I mean, I always wondered, why was it called Buffalo? I mean, I've been to Buffalo New York plenty of times, and I've never seen a buffalo wandering around, nor did I ever seen Buffalo Bill on any adventures either. (Buffalo Bill wasn't FROM Buffalo NY, was he?)

Anyways, the name apparently comes from some silly mis-communication between the Inyuns, French and the British.

The french were apparently in Niagara first, and they loved the beautiful flowing river, so they gave it a name that reflected the beautiful, flowing river upon which Buffalo resided. So, French for beautiful is beau (prounced BOW), and I guess flow in French is just flow.

Those Nasty English...

When the nasty English killed off all of the French in the area, they asked the Indians (Inyuns), what the place was named. The Inyuns said beau-flow, which was the French name. Of course, they probably said it with a very nasty Indian over French accent, so the English didn't know exactly what they were saying, so the British just thought they said "Buffalo." I mean, if you say it fast, with an Indian over French accent, I'm sure that beau-flow sounds a heck of a lot like Buffalo.

So, that's how Buffalo, NY serendipitously got its name. It's kinda funny that a great town like Buffalo got its name from some silly miscommunication, but it's true!



Want to translate from French to English, but you don't want to make a silly mistake, like hearing Buffalo when someone says beau-flow? Use altavista's/Yahoo's babelfish. (BabbelFish)

If you want to learn French, well, there are some great French Learning resources on amazon.com!

File under the etymology of the city named Buffalo, NY. Why is the city named Buffalo? Buffalo name origin? Origin of the city name Buffalo New York. Origin of the name Buffalo NY?