Because it was red
The Rhode Island colony was named after the Dutch word "Roodt Eylandt," which translates to "red island." This name was inspired by the reddish hue of the clay along the shores of what is now known as Aquidneck Island. The term was first used by the explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in the 1520s, and it was later adopted in the naming of the colony as it developed.
from the first explore who named it that which means red island in dutch~Maggie C. Rodriguez
Rhode Island was either named for the Isle of Rhodes (in the Mediterranean Sea) or for its red clay (the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block may have named it "Rood Eylandt" meaning Red Island, in Dutch).State Nickname - The Ocean State, Little Rhody
New Jersey
New Jersey
Red Island is actually located in Canada in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
An island in the English channel called Jersey.
Roanoke was named after the Roanoke Island in North Carolina, where the first English colony in the New World was established in 1585.
No person but for the color of the red clary that formed some of the islands.
No person or place but for the color of the red clay on the islands and the Dutch West India Company called it Roodt Eyelandt which meant Red Island.
Origin of the Name Rhode Island - Rhode Island was either named for the Isle of Rhodes (in the Mediterranean Sea) or for its red clay (the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block may have named it "Rood Eylandt" meaning Red Island, in Dutch).
Some claim it for the Isle of Rhodes in the Agean but the most likely source is from the Dutch West India Company name of "Roodt Eyelandt" meaning Red Island.