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; meaning unknown
Matoaka - her secret name; known only to her family until she revealed it much later; meaning unknown
Rebecca - her Christian name, given at the time of her baptism

The names that Pocahontas (aka Amonute, Matoaka, 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.

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.

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 always been noted as her private name.

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 is more of a mystery, as they are not phonetically similar. Matoaka, a name she revealed after she was given the Christian name Rebecca, was written on the border of her portrait by Simon van de Passe. I'm not clear on how that name came to be transcribed in some sources as Matoax and I'll have to research this spelling's first appearance.

The issue of how to pronounce Matoaka is a personal pet peeve of mine. To me, it appears to be pronounced Mah-tow-ah-kah, but some people choose to say Mah-tow-kah, with a long 'o' sound and no 'ah.' I disagree, but I have no evidence for my preference, so I guess I'll have to be flexible.

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 Matoaka 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 "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.