An Orange Reign

Do you know how Orange County got its name?  If you don’t know and guessed it was named after the fruit or the color, guess again!

William III, oil on canvas by Willem Wissing

Orange County was named in honor of William III of Orange. William III reigned as King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 to 1702.  He was actually Dutch, born in the Hague, Netherlands, in 1650. Together with his wife, Mary II, they ruled jointly until her death in 1694.  The era in which they jointly ruled is commonly referred to as the “William and Mary” period.
  
The Orange in William’s title did not refer to the fruit or the color, but to a region in southeast France, that was one of his family’s holdings, known as Orange.  For many years this region was the center of the orange trade.

The English name association to the citrus fruit, was first recorded in the fourteenth century and was likely inherited from the Orange region in France.  The color orange derived its English name from the fruit.  That name association later appeared in the early seventeenth century. 

So there you have it. That’s how Orange County got its name, from a Dutch born king, who reigned over England, Scotland and Ireland, with a title from a region in southeast France.