Etymology

Key West

Today it means: An island in the Florida Keys, the westernmost significant cay in the archipelago. Full definition →

Spanish Cayo Hueso
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Spanish · borrowed fromCayo Hueso
  2. English todayKey West

Borrowed from Spanish Cayo Hueso (literally “Bone Cay”), which was coined in reference to the indigenous use of the island as a gravesite. Modified by folk etymology to Key + West as it is the westernmost inhabited island of the Florida Keys.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.