Pocahontas Hid Her Secret Name

The Powhatan woman known as Pocahontas was born around 1596 with the formal name Amonute and also carried the secret name Matoaka, historically recorded as Matoax. Historian William Stith claimed that the Powhatan concealed Matoax from the English because they feared that knowing her true name would give the colonists power to harm her. "Pocahontas" was instead a childhood nickname meaning "little wanton," and she reportedly revealed Matoaka only after receiving the Christian baptismal name Rebecca.

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