Rhode Island

Knowing that the full name of our smallest state was "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations", I was under the impression that Rhode Island was an actual island.  And it is-- or at least, was.  Or sort of is.  It's a bit complicated.

The island formerly known as Rhode Island is now called (when it's called anything at all) Aquidneck Island.  It's "official" name is still Rhode Island, but I guess that was too confusing, so they decided to informally keep using a name that had been around beforehand.  It's the big island in the middle of the bay that has Newport out on the end of it.  Although there is no question that this island was in fact called "Rhode Island" (or the Ile of Rods or Rhod-Island or Roode Eylant, depending on the source and its spelling), the source of the name "Rhode Island" is less certain.  The two main theories seem to be that either 1) it was named after the Isle of Rhodes, back in Olde Greece, or B) that the name derives from the Dutch for "red," supposedly from either a glimpse of vivid fall foliage or some reddish clay shoreline.

Eventually, Providence plantations (founded by Roger Williams after he was kicked out of Massachusetts) absorbed the dissident colonies on Aquidneck/Rhode Island, and they formed themselves into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which became (more or less without change) the State of Rhode Island etc.