Nipissing ethnonyms

This is a list of various names the Nipissing have been recorded.

The most general name for the Nipissing is Anishinaabe. Though several definitions are given for this name, the most common one is "spontaneous men", referring to their creation as being ex nihlo, thus being the "Original men." When syncoped, the name appears as "Nishnaabe".

The general term for the Nipissing peoples arise from the Anishinaabe word Nibii(n)sing, meaning "at the little water". When the name is syncoped, it can appear as either Nbii(n)sing, Mbii(n)sing or Bii(n)sing.

The Nibiinsinini(wag) and Nibiinsininii(g) names are a slight variation of Nibiinsing. This variant name means "Man (men) of the little water", though John Trumbull translates the name as "small lake men". The Nibiinsinini(wag) reflects the Ojibwa and Odaawaa pronunciation of the name, while Nibiinsininii(g) reflects the Algonquin pronunciation of the same name. When syncoped the name appears as Nbiinsnini/Nbiinsninwag, Mbiinsnini/Mbiinsninwag or Biinsnini/Biinsninwag.

Among the Anishinaabe peoples, the Nipissings and the Algonquins are collectively called Odishkwaagamii(g) (syncoped as Dishkwaagmii(g)), meaning "[those] at the end of the lakewater," but Jean Cuoq translates the name as "[those] at the last water," from ishkwaa ("end") and gami ("lakewater"). Chamberlain prefers "[people] on the otherside of the lake" though Chamberlin's translation would be for the Odagaamii(g) — the Fox. Among the Nipissings, though, they call themselves Odishkwaagamii(g) and call the Algonquins Omaamiwinini(wag) — the "downstream man (men)".

Due to the Midewiwin practices of the Anishinaabe peoples in general, the Iroquoian and derived names for the Nipissing associates them as "sorcerers".

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