"Stink Onions"

In order to understand the origins of Illinois’s metropolis, we need to go back to the very roots of the name of the city.

« Chicago » is the word the French explorers began to adopt in the late 17th century with a different spelling than the word it was derived from: « Shikaakwa » which meant « striped skunk » or « stinky onion » in Miami-Illinois. 

Miami-Illinois is a Native American Algonquian language which is a subfamily of Native American languages, and is primarily spoken in: Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River. Native American tribes who speak this language include: the Kaskaskia, Peoria, Tamaria, Cahokia and Mitchigamea. 

The word « shikaakwa » also applied to a wild leek in their language (known to later botanists as Allium tricoccum), which became the Indian name for the Chicago River due to the presence of these wild leeks in the watershed. Contrary to some research the etymology of the name "Chicago" is not related to Chief Chicagouu of the Michigamea tribe.

Chicago also has many nicknames including: Second City, Chi-Town or Chicagoland, as well as the most recognized one: « Windy City », which can be explained by the weather due to the fact that is is located near Lake Michigan, or even Chicago’s rivalry with Cincinnati. The term was popularized and came into common usage by the editor of The Sun, Charles Dana, in the bidding for the 1893 Columbian Exposition.

Illustration: Capture of a map found through the Atlas of True Names by German cartographers Stephan Hormes and Silke Peust. BBC interview:  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-23884819