How Papillion, Nebraska Got Its Name (French for Butterfly, With an Extra I)

Papillion, Nebraska, is named for Papillion Creek, and the creek’s name comes from papillon, French for butterfly. Local tradition says French explorers named it for the butterflies along its banks.

Where the name comes from

A 1925 study of Nebraska place names says the town “was named after Papillion creek which flows through the town.” It explains that “the name Papillion (papillon) is taken from the French language and means butterfly.” Wikipedia tells it the same way.

The butterfly story

Why butterflies? The 1925 study passes along a local tradition: “the early French explorers named the creek Papillion because many butterflies were found along its banks.” It’s a nice story, and it may well be true, but it’s tradition, not a written record from the explorers themselves.

Notice the spelling, too. The French word is papillon. Somewhere along the way the creek and the town picked up an extra “i” and became Papillion.

Two starting dates

The town’s beginnings are a little tangled. The 1925 study says a town of Papillion was incorporated by an act of the territorial legislature approved February 13, 1857. But the U.S. Geological Survey’s record says Papillion was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1883, and Wikipedia gives 1870 too. Our sources don’t explain how the 1857 town and the 1870 town fit together.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s record says Papillion became the county seat of Sarpy County in 1875.

Sources & further reading

• Lilian Linder Fitzpatrick, Nebraska Place-Names (University of Nebraska, 1925). A public-domain study of the state’s place names, county by county. Named for the creek; papillon means butterfly; the butterfly tradition; the act of February 13, 1857.
• Wikipedia, “Papillion, Nebraska.” French for butterfly; platted in 1870.
• GNIS feature 831967 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Papillion. Platted 1870; incorporated 1883; county seat 1875.