CASMALIA (kaz MAY lee uh) [Santa Barbara Co.]. From Purisimeño Chumash kasma’li, “it is the last.”
CASNAU (KAZ naw) CREEK [Tuolumne Co.]. Sometimes thought to be named for General Thomas N. Casneau or Casnau, but in fact named for Thomas Casenave, a French rancher who received a patent here in 1875.
CASTAIC (kas TAYK) [Los Angeles Co.]. From Ventureño Chumash kashtïq, “the eye, the face.” An alternative spelling is used for Castac Lake and Valley [Kern Co.].
CASTRO. A common Spanish surname, used to name several places in California. Castro Valley [Alameda Co.] was named for the early landowner Guillermo Castro. Castroville [Monterey Co.] was laid out and named in 1864 by Juan Bautista Castro.
CAYUCOS (kah YOO kuhs) [San Luis Obispo Co.]. The plural of Spanish cayuco, “fishing canoe,” borrowed from Eskimo kayak.
CAZADERO (kaz uh DAIR oh) [Sonoma Co.]. Spanish for “hunting place,” named in the late 1880s.
CECILVILLE [Siskiyou Co.]. Contains a misspelling of the name of the pioneer John Baker Sissel.
CENTINELA (sen tuh NEL uh) CREEK [Los Angeles Co.]. From the Spanish word for “sentry, sentinel.” The name Santa Nella [Merced Co.] is from the same origin.
CENTRAL VALLEY. The area encompassed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in central California. The town of Central Valley [Shasta Co.] was named in 1938 for the Central Valley Project, which built Shasta Dam.
CENTURY CITY [Los Angeles Co.]. Named for 20th Century-Fox film studios, on the site of which it was built, starting in 1961.
CERES (SEER eez) [Stanislaus Co.]. Named for the Roman goddess of agriculture.
CERRITO. Spanish for “little hill” (diminutive of cerro, “hill”), it is the basis for several place names, such as Cerritos (suh REE tohs) [Los Angeles Co.] and El Cerrito [Contra Costa Co.]. The “little hill” of the latter is actually in the neighboring town of Albany and is known as Albany Hill.
CHAGOOPA (chuh GOO puh) FALLS [Sequoia N.P.]. Supposedly named for an old Paiute chief.
CHALANEY (chuh LAY nee) CREEK [Tulare Co.]. Previously known as Chilean Creek and Chanley Creek; it is possibly from Spanish chileno, “Chilean,” because of Chilean miners who participated in the Gold Rush.
CHALONE (shuh LOHN, chuh LOHN) [San Benito, Monterey Cos.]. Represents a Costanoan place name, čalon, of unknown meaning.
CHAMISE (shuh MEES, chuh MEES). With the variant spelling Chemise, refers to various kinds of brushwood, including the greasewood bush; it is from Spanish chamiso. Chamisal is Spanish for a place where chamise grows; in English it is also spelled Chemisal. These two terms occur in place names such as Chemise Creek [Mendocino Co.] and Chemisai Ridge [Monterey Co.].
CHANCHELULLA (chan chuh LOO luh) MOUNTAIN [Trinity Co.]. From Wintu son čuluula, literally, “rock black.”
CHANNEL ISLANDS. The collective name for the islands that are separated from the mainland by the Santa Barbara Channel, including Santa Catalina, San Miguel, Santa Rosa, and Santa Cruz.
CHATSWORTH [Los Angeles Co.]. Named in 1887 after the estate of the Duke of Devonshire in England.
CHATTERDOWEN (CHAT er dow uhn) CREEK [Shasta Co.]. From Wintu čati tawin, literally, “digger pine-nut flat.”
CHEMEHUEVI (CHEM uh way vee). The name of an Indian tribe of San Bernardino County and their language, which belongs to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family; the term also occurs in place names such as Chemehuevi Valley. The name of the tribe is apparently derived from their name in the neighboring Mojave language: ’achiimuuév, “those who work with fish.”
CHEROKEE (CHAIR uh kee). During the Gold Rush, several mining camps were named for members of this Indian tribe from the southeastern United States who came to try their luck in California. The tribe’s name for themselves is tsalagi, of unknown origin.
CHICKABALLY (CHIK uh bah lee) MOUNTAIN [Shasta Co.]. Probably from Wintu łikup’uri, “a fight,” merged with buli, “mountain.”
CHICO (CHEE koh) [Butte Co.]. Spanish for “small,” abbreviated from the name of the land grant Arroyo Chico, “small stream.” Chico Creek has two tributaries, called Big Chico Creek (literally, “big small creek”) and Little Chico Creek (“small small creek”).
CHILAO (chuh LAY oh) [Los Angeles Co.]. Formerly Chileo or Chilleo, a nickname of the herder José Gonzales, famous for killing a grizzly bear near here with only a hunting knife. The nickname may be from Spanish chileno, “Chilean.”
CHILENO (chuh LAY noh) VALLEY [Marin Co.]. From the Spanish word for a native of Chile. The presence of Chilean miners during the Gold Rush gave rise to several California place names.
CHINA. As a part of California place names, this word reflects the role of Chinese workers in the Gold Rush and in the later history of the state. China Basin [San Francisco Co.] was named for the “China clippers,” ships that docked here in the 1860s.
CHINO (CHEE noh) [San Bernardino Co.]. The name given by the Spanish to a local Indian leader. The Spanish word chino means “Chinese,” but it is also used in Mexico for a person of mixed race.
CHINQUAPIN (CHING kuh pin) [Yosemite N.P.]. Named for a nut-bearing bush. The word is originally from a Virginia Algonquian language and was introduced into English by Captain John Smith in 1612.
CHIQUITO (chuh KEE toh) CREEK [Madera Co.]. Spanish for “little” (diminutive of chico), an abbreviation of Chiquito Joaquín, “little [San] Joaquin [River].”
CHIRPCHATTER MOUNTAIN [Shasta Co.]. From Wintu t’arap č’araw, literally, “cottonwood field,” from t’arap, “cottonwood tree,” plus č’araw, “green place.”
CHISMAHOO (CHIS muh hoo) CREEK [Ventura Co.]. Probably from Ventureño Chumash ts’ismuhu, “it streams out.”
CHOLAME (shoh LAM, choh LAM) [San Luis Obispo Co.]. The name of a Salinan Indian village; it is from Migueleño Salinan č’olám, said to refer to evil people.
CHOWCHILLA (chow CHIL uh) RIVER [Madera, Mariposa Cos.]. From the name of a Yokuts Indian tribe whom the Spanish called Chauciles. The name was also applied to a neighboring Miwok group.
CHUAL (CHOO uhl), MOUNT [Santa Clara Co.]. The term is Mexican Spanish for “pigweed,” from Aztec tzoalli. Chualar (choo uh LAHR) [Monterey Co.] is Mexican Spanish for “place where chual grows.”
CHUCHUPATE (choo choo PAT ee) [Kern Co.]. The Mexican Spanish name for a wild herb, derived from Aztec xoxouhca-pahtli (literally, “blue medicine”).
CHUCKAWALLA (CHUK wah luh) MOUNTAIN [Riverside Co.]. The name of a desert lizard, also spelled chuck- walla; the word comes from Cahuilla cháxwal.