Nantucket, Massachusetts: The Town That Was Sherburne Until 1795

For more than a century, the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, was officially Sherburne. It took the island’s Native name in 1795, and what that name means is still an open question.

A name from New York

The island hasn’t always been part of Massachusetts. R. A. Douglas-Lithgow’s 1914 history of Nantucket says the name Sherburne “was bestowed upon the little township of settlers by Governor Lovelace of New York Province, under the jurisdiction of which the island was at this time.” He dates it to 1673. The island went back to Massachusetts in 1693.

Later in the same book, he’s less sure. Sherburne, he writes, was “a name suggested, as some assert, by Governor Lovelace,” while “others contend” it came from Sherburne in Dorsetshire, England, “the home of Thomas Gardner, the father of Richard and John Gardner of Nantucket.” So even the old name has two stories.

Elias Nason’s Massachusetts gazetteer, from 1874, has a different date. He says the town was incorporated “under the name of ‘Sherburn,’ June 27, 1687.”

The switch in 1795

Both books agree on the year the town gave Sherburne up. Nason says the name “was changed to ‘Nantucket’ June 8, 1795.” Douglas-Lithgow’s wording is a little grander: in 1795 the town’s name was “changed from Sherburne to the modern form of its aboriginal name, Nantucket.” He also says the islanders threw a centennial for the change in 1895, marking the date as July 9. You’ll notice that doesn’t match Nason’s June 8, and these books don’t settle it.

What “Nantucket” might mean

The island’s name is much older than the town’s. Henry Gannett, in his 1905 bulletin on place names for the U.S. Geological Survey, says it “appeared upon the maps in 1630 as Natocko.” Douglas-Lithgow lists more than a dozen old spellings, from “Natocke” on De Laet’s map of 1630 to Nautican, Nantican and Nantocket.

The meaning is where things get loose. Here are the versions on record:

• “The far away land.” Douglas-Lithgow gives the original as Natocket, meaning “The far away land,” or “The far away land at sea,” and credits the reading to H. B. Worth. GNIS, the government’s official database of place names, says the same: “the far away land,” or “land far away at sea.”
• Sandy soil. Gannett reports that “some authorities” say “far away,” while “others say” the name comes from “the Indian nantuck, which means that the sandy, sterile soil tempted no one.”
• A point of land. Douglas-Lithgow’s earlier dictionary, from 1909, puts a different gloss beside the island’s entry: “At the promontory (or point of land) in a river.”

If you were hoping for a clean answer, there isn’t one. None of these comes from a linguist working with the island’s original language, so it’s fair to call them old guesses. “Far away” turns up most often, and that’s about as far as the evidence goes.

The Viking story

There’s one more tale, and it’s a long shot. Douglas-Lithgow writes that Leif Erikson “is said, and with much probability,” to have visited the island and called it “Nauticen,” which he took for a Norse attempt at the Native name. A few lines later, though, he admits that the conjecture “is not adequately substantiated by facts to warrant a conclusion.” That’s a long way from proof, so treat it as a legend.

Sources & further reading

• R. A. Douglas-Lithgow, Nantucket: A History (New York, 1914). The Leif Erikson tale and Natocket, “The far away land” (pp. 24-25, 29); Sherburne named by Governor Lovelace in 1673 and the return to Massachusetts in 1693 (p. 91); the change to Nantucket in 1795 (p. 99); the 1895 centennial (p. 193); the Lovelace and Dorsetshire versions of Sherburne (p. 278); the list of old spellings, with Natocket credited to H. B. Worth (p. 351).
• Elias Nason, A Gazetteer of the State of Massachusetts (Boston, 1874), pp. 353-355. Incorporated as “Sherburn” June 27, 1687; renamed “Nantucket” June 8, 1795.
• Henry Gannett, The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States (USGS, 1905), p. 219. “Natocko” on the maps of 1630; “far away” or the “sandy, sterile soil.”
• R. A. Douglas-Lithgow, Dictionary of American-Indian Place and Proper Names in New England (Salem, 1909), p. 130. “Nantucket Island; appears in maps as Natocko, in 1630,” with the gloss “At the promontory (or point of land) in a river.”
• GNIS feature 616716 (U.S. Geological Survey). “Indian name meaning ‘the far away land’, or ‘land far away at sea’ (Steel).”