Though best known by the moniker Pocahontas, the woman who became one of the most famous Indigenous figures in American history was originally given two different names. 

She was born around 1596 to the Powhatan people of modern-day Virginia, who believed children should be given both a public-facing name and a private family name. Her public birth name was Amonute (the meaning of which is unknown), as recorded in the writings of English colonist William Strachey. Her private name was Matoax, sometimes written as Matoaka or Matoa. The meaning of this name also remains a mystery.

But she was also known to her people by the nickname “Pocahontas,” which roughly translates to “mischievous one” or “little wanton,” perhaps inspired by her playful demeanor. When English settlers arrived in 1607, the girl’s family kept both her formal names secret, based on a cultural superstition that anyone who learned your true name could cast a malicious spell on it. She was only known to the English (at least initially) as Pocahontas — a name she lived up to, as she was known to visit the English fort and cartwheel with the young boys.