Exploring The Common Names Of Minnesota's Lakes

Minnesota may be famous for our lakes, but when it comes to naming them, creativity runs a little thinner than you might think. From Long to Mud, a surprisingly small group of names keeps popping up across the state, and odds are, you’ve already been to one of them.

Is Your Favorite Spot on the List? Minnesota’s Most Common Lake Names

The Gopher State is, of course, the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it turns out there aren't nearly 10,000 different names for those lakes. In fact, we now know the most common lake names in the state. And, there are a lot of repeats!

When it comes to lakes, it's tough to beat us here in Minnesota, right? And while our famous state slogan proudly proclaims that there are 10,000 lakes in this land, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) points out that there are actually 11,842 lakes here in the North Star State. (I'm not sure why we don't update that slogan; maybe it's because the slogan 'Land of 11,842 Lakes' isn't as catchy.)

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Beyond the 10,000: The Surprising Truth About Minnesota’s Waterways

The Bold North defines a lake as a body of water that is 10 acres or bigger. And the DNR says that Minnesota's 10 largest lakes have a combined surface area of more than 825,000 acres, account for about 40 percent of the annual statewide walleye harvest, and make a significant contribution to the $2.4 billion spent each year on fishing in Minnesota.

So, yeah, we have a lot of lakes. But we don't have nearly as many names for them. The Minnesota DNR has published a list of the Most Common Lake Names found here in the Gopher State-- and they're all names you've likely heard before.

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Why Does Minnesota Have So Many "Mud" and "Long" Lakes?

To dig a little further, the Minnesota Star Tribune published a story about just who gets to name all those lakes in Minnesota (that'd be the DNR), and also published a list of just how many of those lakes with the most common names can be found across our fair state.

Keep scrolling to check them out, and then keep scrolling even farther to see the 10 most spectacular waterfalls here in Minnesota, as well!