Wasilla

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A city in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough of south-central Alaska, located north of Anchorage in the United States
2. A small municipality in south-central Alaska, situated in the Mat-Su Valley north of Anchorage
3. A town in the state of Alaska in the northern United States, lying in the Matanuska Valley near Anchorage

Etymology: Wasilla is a place name, and it traces back to a person. It comes from a Dena'ina Athabaskan chief, Wasilla, whose name is a rendering of the Russian "Vasilii," the form of Basil. He likely received that name through contact with Russian traders and missionaries in south-central Alaska. The name was attached first to Lake Wasilla, and the settlement that later grew on its shore took the lake's name. The town thus carries a Russian personal name, filtered through a Dena'ina leader, into English-language maps of Alaska.