Elizabeth City County, Virginia

Elizabeth City was originally named Kikotan (also spelled Kecoughtan[1] and Kikowtan), presumably a word for the Native Americans living there when the English arrived in 1607.

They were friendly to the English, but Sir Thomas Gates either worried about safety (including potential attack by the Spaniards and the Dutch) or coveted their corn fields after the "starving time" of the 1609–10 winter.

The English seized their land while the men were out hunting, and for some reason, the natives never attacked the settlement in response.

The shire and county were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I, sister of Princes Henry and Charles.

This merger was the first in a series of municipal consolidations in Hampton Roads that resulted in most of the area being split into independent cities.