"Mayaimi" = "big water": the lake people who gave Miami its name (Lake Okeechobee, 1500s to 1700s)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1500 · Places: Florida, Carolinas, Caribbean, Central America, Europe
SUMMARY"Mayaimi" = "big water": the lake people who gave Miami its name (Lake Okeechobee, 1500s to 1700s) [Connections: Miami & Lake Okeechobee, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDThe Mayaimi lived around Lake Mayaimi, now Lake Okeechobee; "Mayaimi" is given as meaning "big water," and Okeechobee is a Hitchiti word with the same meaning. The city of Miami is named after the Miami River, which took its name from Lake Mayaimi (no link to the Great Lakes Miami people). Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a Spaniard held among south Florida nations for 17 years in the 1500s, described towns of 30 to 40 people plus smaller settlements. The Mayaimi built earthworks and canals around the lake. Survivors reached Cuba after early-1700s raids by Creek and Yamasee forces allied with the Province of Carolina, and a remnant was still near Biscayne Bay in 1743
PATTERNThe city's name is an Indigenous lake-nation name carried down the river to the coast
LENS (WW9)Every time you say "Miami" you are saying the lake people's name
OPENThe etymology rests on Spanish-era transcription; check Fontaneda's Memoir (1575) directly and a linguist's note on the Mayaimi language
SOURCEMayaimi (Wikipedia); primary: Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, Memoir (c. 1575), Spanish witness held captive in the region.