The Four Names of Pocahontas

Pocahontas went by four names that we know of;

Pocahontas - a nickname meaning roughly "Little Mischief"
Amonute - her real name during childhood;; meaning unknown
Matoaks** - a name she adopted, probably known to her family and tribe; meaning unknown; she revealed it to Whitaker
Rebecca - her Christian name, given at the time of her baptism

** I have changed the spelling of Matoaka to Matoaks, except when quoting someone. The reason is interesting and represents my current thinking on this topic. Check the More on Van de Passe Engraving page for more information. - May 22, 2021

The names that Pocahontas (aka Amonute, Matoaks, Rebecca) went by during her short life are of interest to many people. Unfortunately, like most of the details of Pocahontas's story, the Indian names raise questions to which answers are in short supply. Writers have tried to explain and sometimes translate the names, but we should remember that the Powhatan language disappeared long ago, so any guesses as to their meanings are speculation. Also, the Indian names were recorded phonetically and during a time when spelling conventions were not standardized. William Strachey did, of course, translate Pocahontas as "Little Wanton" based on his then contemporary research, but we have to assume that his choice of words only approximates the actual meaning, and the fact that "wanton" in modern English has mostly a negative connotation means we must translate Strachey's words yet again into a more understandable and (we hope) accurate modern variation, such as "Little Mischief." Scroll down to see what some writers have said about Pocahontas's names.

Pocahontas's English name was Rebecca.

Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown, Helen C. Rountree (2005)

"Pocahontas’s given name was Amonute, the meaning of which is unknown. She also had a secret, very personal name, Matoaka, which she would reveal only after her conversion to Christianity. But her best-known name was a nickname that she earned, probably after she arrived at her father’s court. William Strachey, who heard it from Powhatan’s brother-in-law [45], recorded her given name and went on to say that “Pocahontas” meant “little wanton.[46]” He was also told by compatriots in Jamestown, who had met her a couple of years before, that she was a “well-featured but wanton young girl.”[47] “Wanton” is almost an obsolete word today, and by the nineteenth century it had come to have only the meaning “lewd.” However, in the early 1600s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word had several meanings: sportive, capricious, insolent, insensible to justice or pity, and (since the thirteenth century) lewd. Add in the sexual nature of much traditional Native American humor (when children but not strangers may be around),[48] and the reason for the child’s nickname becomes apparent. She was trying to get her busy father’s attention, amidst a welter of stepmothers and half siblings, and her father was such a formidable man that “at the least frown their greatest will tremble.”[49] So she became a court jester, making him laugh in spite of himself, and at himself, until he protested that was a cruel, bawdy, undisciplined little girl. The teasing nickname he gave her stuck. It would be wonderful to know what names she had been calling him." Page 37, 38

My comment:
I don't know that the reason for Pocahontas's nickname as described by Rountree was "apparent", but I'll concede that this explanation, while speculative, is probably as good as any., and at least benefits from Rountree's expertise as an anthropologist and expert on the Powhatan Indians. The top half of this explanation is pretty useful. Footnote 45 refers to Machumps. Rountree, in my opinion, did not give enough thought to why she chose to use the spelling Matoaka rather than Matoaks. (But neither did I until recently!) Scroll down a ways to see what Camilla Townsend says about the notion that 'Matoaka' was a secret name.

Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend (2004)

"When the baby girl was born, she was not considered particularly important, for by that time Powhatan had many other children by far more powerful queens. Still, she was the daughter of the mamanitowik and so received presents and food in abundance. Like all children, she was given two names: she was called Amonute in a ceremony before the village, and she was probably given a private or hidden name, which her parents revealed to no one else. Everyone assumed that her mother or father would eventually give her another name reflective of her personality. By the time she was ten, the child was known as Pocahontas, apparently meaning something like "Mischief" or "Little Playful One." It was understood that her deeds or experiences might cause her name to change again, just as her father's had.[15]" p. 13, 14.

My comment:
This explanation is fairly similar to Rountree's,, which is understandable, since the only historical source is William Strachey., with some cultural details filled in by the young Henry Spelman. Scroll down for her comment on Matoaka.

Pocahontas, the Life and the Legend, Frances Mossiker (1976)

" ... Pocahontas was one of her names--her nickname, her public name, the name by which she was known outside her tribe. Her real name--her secret or proper name--was Matoaka or Matowaka (a word found also spelled Matoka, Matoaks, or Matoax). The Powhatans regarded a person's clan name as magic, a part of his essence (as do the Navajos, to this day); this secret name--given at birth, derived from totems, and dependent on esoteric knowledge--was a sacred name known only to the immediate family or the clan, never used in everyday life, lest some of the supernatural elements inherent in the name by diminished, profaned by common usage. ("Her real name," according to William Stith's reliable eighteenth-century chronicle, "it seems was Matoax which the Indians carefully concealed from the English and changed it to Pocahontas, out of superstitious fear, lest they, by the Knowledge of her true name, should be enabled to do her some hurt.") Thus a public name was provided for every member of the tribe, usually descriptive of some habit or trait connected with the child's social personality. The name Pocahontas or Pocahantes (for Pokahantesu) derives from an adjective meaning "playful, sportive, frolicsome, mischievous, frisky." p. 41

"Both men and women and Children have their severall names at first" (as William Strachey discovered in 1610,

according to the severall humour of their parents and for the men-children at first, when they are young their mothers give them a name, calling them by some affectionate Title, or perhappes observing their promising inclynation give yt accordingly, and so the great king Powhatan, called a young daughter of his, whome he loved well Pocahuntas, which may signifie Little-wanton, howbeit she was rightly called Amonute...[6] p. 41

My comment:
Mossiker mysteriously chooses to ignore Strachey's mention of Amonute in her commentary. She seems to conflate the usage of Pocahontas into both a nickname and a public name. Later historians have separated usage into a formal public name (Amonute) and a nickname, which was also public (Pocahontas). Matoaka has often been noted as her private name (though I now favor the spelling Matoaks, as explained below). Camilla Townsend has said that it wasn't really a private name, but rather the name she took later in her life, perhaps when she married Kocoum.

The various spellings of both Pocahontas and Matoaka raise some questions. The Pocahontas vs Pocahuntas variation seems to be an issue of phonetic transcription at a time when spelling was pretty flexible. We'll never know which pronunciation is really correct, but the Pocahontas spelling has solidified, probably arbitrarily, so that's how we'll likely spell and pronounce it forever.

The Matoax vs Matoaka variation was something I ignored until recently. First, it's important to note that Matoax and the alternate spelling Matoaks, which appears on the Van de Passe engraving, are essentially the same. Spelling was pretty flexible back in the day, and Matoax/Matoaks are pronounced the same. Whether the 'oax/oaks' part is pronounced 'oh-ahks' or 'ohks' (like the pronunciation of the tree) is unknown. I tend to favor "Mah-tow-ahks' with three syllables, but I really don't know. Paragraph edited 5/22/202

Until recently, I was concerned about the pronunciation of Matoaka, but since I no longer believe that was her actual name, it seems less important. Matoaka, I believe, was the Latin rendering of her Indian name, Matoaks. For what it's worth, I would choose to pronounce Matoaka as Mah-tow-ah-kah, but some people choose to say Mah-tow-kah, with a long 'o' sound and no 'ah.' I suppose this is because of the "oak" series of letters. I know nothing about Latin, however, so how one chooses to pronounce this invented name seems to be a question of personal preference. My reasons for changing my opinion on this topic are on the More on Van de Passe Engraving page. I credit Jean Fontaine, a visitor to this site, for changing my opinion. - Paragraph edited 5/22/2021

A Camilla Townsend comment debunking the often claimed 'secrecy' of the Matoaka name:

"It has become commonplace to assert that Matoaka must have been Pocahontas's secret name, but no other colonists who described Powhatan naming practices ever mentioned the existence of private names. The Powhatans may have had them--other Native Americans certainly did--but this incident seems rather to indicate that Matoaka was simply the name that the person once called Pocahontas (Little Mischief) went by as an adult, probably since her marriage to Kocoom. She didn't say that no one else had ever known the name, just that she had not felt like sharing it with her English captors." - Townsend, p. 127, 128, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma

Neither Matoaks nor Matoaka were used in early chronicler writings prior to publication of the Van de Passe engraving. Inconveniently, the only reference to Pocahontas's third name was by Alexander Whitaker, who offered the variation Matoa.

"Sir the Colony here is much better. Sir Thomas Dale our religious and valiant Governour, hath now brough that to passe, which never before could be effected. For by warre upon our enemies, and kinde usage of our friends, he hath brought them to seeke for peace of us, which is made, and they dare not breake. But that which is best, one Pocahuntas or Matoa the daughter of Powhatan, is married to an honest and discreete English Gentleman Master Rolfe, and that after she had openly renounced her countrey Idolatry, confessed the faith of Jesus Christ, and was baptized; which thing Sir Thomas Dale had laboured along time to ground in her." - Alexander Whitaker via Ralph Hamor at Virtual Jamestown

We can only guess as to how reliable Whitaker's spelling of Pocahontas's third name was, but judging by the spelling of other words in this passage, we would do well to have doubts. Whether her name was pronounced more like Matoa or Matoaks will never be known for sure. I feel now that Matoaka was less likely than either of these, as I've explained elsewhere on this page, it being a Latinized rendering of the name (Matoaks) that was recorded at the time. I'm in no way an expert on Powhatan language, but we might note that some words were recorded with a -ks ending, such as the place name Orapax. John Smith also recorded words with -ks endings, though it's unclear if he meant them to be plurals or not. There are also names recorded with an -a ending, such as Matachanna and Pocahunta.

Pocahontas Medicine Woman Spy Entrepreneur Diplomat, Paula Gunn Allen (2003)

"She was trained from early childhood in the sacred ways of a Beloved Woman--a certain kind of medicine woman or priestess-- because her birth name, Matoaka or Matoaks, is thought to mean 'white (or snow) feather.' Since a white feather, or numerous white feathers, always signifies a Beloved Woman and is carried or worn by such women most of the time, it is likely that she did indeed have that 'calling,' or vocation, from birth. Her clan name, Matoaka, signified her station in life-- her destiny, if you will." p. 31

My commentary:
While I'm fine with Gunn Allen's thoughts on the meaning of Pocahontas (still to come), this commentary on Matoaks bothers me a great deal. First, we have no evidence that Pocahontas was a Beloved Woman or priestess. It may seem reasonable to some people, but it's 100% speculation. And the only association Pocahontas had with white feathers was in the English engraving done by Simon van de Passe in 2016, where she is portrayed holding an ostrich feather fan. Holding a feather fan was a common convention in English portraits of the era, and Queen Elizabeth, as well as many other noble women, were painted while holding such a fan. Finally, Gunn Allen claims that Matoaka or Matoaks is "thought" to mean 'white (or snow) feather,' but she fails to say by whom. What is the source of this information? Certainly over 400 years, someone may have "thought" so, but why should we give this undocumented information any credibility at all? I'm not saying Gunn Allen was being dishonest; I'm just saying she was irresponsible, since this unsupported "translation" will be taken seriously by many.

Pocahontas Medicine Woman Spy Entrepreneur Diplomat, Paula Gunn Allen (2003)

Her nickname or child name, known informally to all, was Pocahontas. It is the name by which we know her today. While its meaning has remained unclear, it is related to a kind of vivacity, mischievousness, and quick intelligence. The name, at least as it was understood by the English, may have been related to the chipmunk or rabbit, both animals recognized as tricksters among her people. The attributes implied in her nickname may have alluded to her powagan, her spirit guide, for they would have certain characteristics in common which is why she got that nickname. She might have been bidden by her animal relative and guardian guide to the place of her Dream-Vision. The chipmunk was seen as a quick thinker, intelligent and resourceful, known for her proclivity for taking chances, and the rabbit was mischievous, but also creative and shrewd, possessing a wild sense of humor. Pocahontas was translated by the English in a number of ways, all of which reflect the playful, spunky characteristics of the chipmunk and rabbit: 'wanton,' 'mischievous,' 'sportive,' 'frolicsome,' 'frisky.' These animal markings would have reflected her power." p. 32

My commentary:
I can't endorse this as anything more than interesting speculation, but it is interesting at least, and it provides a possible Indian explanation that is not any more speculative than Rountree's idea at the top of this page.

Rebecca:

Pocahontas, the Life and the Legend, Frances Mossiker (1976)

"Only a scriptural scholar such as Whitaker could have been responsible for choosing the Christian name to be taken at the baptismal font: Rebecca. There was intuition as well as erudition in Whitaker's choice of the new name for the Powhatan princess: the verses in the Book of Genesis that tell the story of Rebecca can be read as an augury.

Whitaker seems to have had a forewarning--if not foreknowledge--of the interracial marriage she was to make, the vast and proud progeny of mixed blood--red and white--that were to be her heirs in Virginia and throughout the South. Verse 60, Chapter 24, of Genesis is prophetic: (p. 169)

Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

"And in Chapter 25, Verse 23:

And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the older shall serve the younger." p. 169, 170

My comment:
These words by Mossiker are speculative and dated, but the symbolic connection to the biblical Rebecca has been noted by many writers and historians.

Pocahontas and the English Boys, Karen Ordahl Kupperman (2019)

"The name she was given at her baptism, Rebecca, demonstrated the truly great hopes the English invested in this conversion. The name evoked the beginnings of the people of Israel in the book of Genesis and recalled the issues surrounding intermarriage that had so concerned John Rolfe". p. 102
"In naming Pocahontas Rebecca, Alexander Whitaker expressed his hope that the children produced through her union with John Rolfe, whom Whitaker described as 'an honest and discreet English Gentleman,' might be the beginning of a new people combining English and American roots." p. 104

My commentary:
Kupperman's commentary is basically an updated version of Mossikers's observation, though I can't say with any confidence that Mossiker was the first to make it.