Los Angeles City of Angels

The original name as given by the original residents was believed to be We not because of the large river in the vicinity. A village called Yang-na existed where the Los Angeles Civic Center now lies. The name Los Angeles comes from the name given to what is now the Los Angeles River by the Gaspar de Portola expedition that camped on its banks in 1769. The river was named by the Spaniards El Rio Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula (The River of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula). Twelve years later, Spanish California’s military governor, Felipe de Neve, founded a new settlement on that campsite near the river and named it El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles (The Town of the Queen of the Angels). The name was eventually shortened to Los Angeles.