1819年，阿肯色州作爲美國領土組織，1836年成爲州份； 它的名字來自於 Arkansas 河，該河以一個蘇族部落命名。
The spelling of the term represents a French plural, Arcansas, of a name applied to the Quapaw people who lived on the Arkansas River; their name was also written in early times as Akancea, Acansea, Acansa (Dickinson, 1995). This was not the name used by the Quapaws themselves, however. The term /akansa/ was applied to them by Algonquian speakers; this consists of /a-/, an Algonquian prefix found in the names of ethnic groups, plus /kká:ze, a Siouan term referring to members of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan family. This stem is also the origin for the name of the Kansa tribe and of the state of Kansas; thus the placenames Arkansas and Kansas indirectly have the same origin. [William Bright, "Native American Placenames of the United States," 2004]
這個詞的拼寫代表了一個法語複數， Arcansas，用來稱呼居住在阿肯色河上的誇帕人； 他們的名字在早期也被寫作 Akancea, Acansea, Acansa（Dickinson, 1995）。然而，這並不是誇帕人自己使用的名字。/akansa/ 這個詞是阿爾岡昆語族的人們給他們起的名字； 它由 /a-/，一個在民族名稱中出現的阿爾岡昆語族前綴，以及 /kká:ze，一個指代 Dhegiha 支系成員的蘇族詞彙組成。這個詞根也是 Kansa 部落和 Kansas 州名字的起源； 因此，地名 Arkansas 和 Kansas 間接地有着相同的起源。[William Bright, "Native American Placenames of the United States," 2004]
最後的無聲字母 - s，可能最初來自法語發音，於1881年由州議會法案正式確定。
