Etymology

Wake Island

Today it means: An island of the United States, among the islands of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior and used solely by the United States Air Force. Full definition →

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The story

Originally Wake's Island; named after Captain William Wake of the Prince William Henry (a British trading schooner) between the 1790s and 1803. Alternatively said to be named for a Captain Samuel Wake.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.