Though it doesn’t look like it at first glance, the state’s name is
another that has to be credited to the Caesars. New Jersey was named after
Jersey, the largest of England’s Channel Islands, in honor of Sir George
Carteret, who had been governor of the Isle of Jersey and successfully
defended it against Cromwell’s forces. In 1664 Charles II had granted all
lands between the Delaware River and Connecticut to his brother, the Duke
of York, who in turn granted the New Jersey portion to Carteret and Lord
Berkeley. England’s Isle of Jersey (a corruption of Caesaria) had been
named for the Caesars when the Romans added it to their possessions, and
so New Jersey also bears the immortal name. The relationship can be best
seen in New Jersey’s official Latin name, Nova Caesaria.