List of U.S. counties named after prominent Confederate historical figures



This is a list of U.S. counties named after prominent Confederate historical figures. The counties are named primarily for Confederate politicians and military officers. Most counties are located in former Confederate States, whilst five counties are located in what was the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), a territory that was aligned and controlled by the Confederacy. Four further counties are in Border States (three in Kentucky and one in Missouri). Four counties are located in a Union State (Kansas) whilst two further counties are in New Mexico; which consisted of two territories, one of which was controlled by the Union and one by the Confederacy until the Union gained control of both. Though Tennessee, a former Confederate state, doesn’t have any counties directly named after any Confederate leaders, Tennessee does have some counties named after relatives of some Confederate leaders, some of which have the same last name, such as Cheatham County, Tennessee. There are 120 counties in total.

The most common Confederacy-related county names are "Lee County" (for Robert E. Lee) with eight examples, and "Jeff Davis County" or "Jefferson Davis County" (for Jefferson Davis) with four examples. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar has three counties named after him whilst David Rice Atchison, Patrick Cleburne, Alexander Stephens, and Henry A. Wise, have two counties each named after them. There are also two "Johnson County" examples however one of them, in rural Southeast Georgia is named for Herschel V. Johnson and the other, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is named for Col. Middleton Tate Johnson Sr. Some counties are named after individuals who were closely related to Confederate leaders such as Hardeman County, Tennessee (named after the father of Confederate brigadier general William Polk Hardeman) and Lee County, Virginia (named after the father of Confederate general-in-chief Robert E. Lee).