English / Cherokee Dictionary of Proper Names

This dictionary contains over 1,300 English terms with their Cherokee translation and transliteration. It also includes a Cherokee / English index.

Most native Cherokee names have a specific meaning that can often be translated into an English phrase. This presents a special challenge when alphabetizing for a dictionary. Other words are “transliterated,” that is the Cherokee Syllabary is used to spell the word as it sounds in English with no intrinsic meaning attached to the word.

The terms are presented in this format:

Cherokee ~ ᏣᎳᎩ (tsa-la-gi / tsa-la-ki) SAH la gee / Language name / the name of the language and people. (1)
English term ~ Syllabary (phonetic) pronunciation / type of term / definition .(source)

We also publish a Cherokee / English Dictionary and a Spanish / Cherokee Dictionary.