The story
- Creek · derived fromopa-lofa-tisha-loka“big hummock (“swamp hillock”)”
- English todayOpa-locka
From Creek opa-lofa-tisha-loka (“big hummock (“swamp hillock”)”) original placename, coined in the 1920s by civic founder Glenn Curtiss by way of shortening to make it sound vaguely Arabic, and establishing the original architectural style of Moorish revival for the city.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.