Winnacunnet

Winnacunnet is a word derived from one of the Algonquian languages and may mean "beautiful place in the pines". Other sources suggest a meaning of "place of pines" or "beautiful long place."

The word has been transliterated in a variety of ways. Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop used the spelling "Winicowettas". A Hampton Union article from circa 1959 mentions "Winnacunnet", "Winnicunnet", "Wenicunnett", "Winnicummet", and "Winicumet" among the variations.

In 1638, the "Plantation of Winnicunnet" was founded by Reverend Stephen Bachiler and others from Massachusetts. The following spring, the town was renamed Hampton.