What was Boston originally called by local native Americans?

Answer 1

I guess you mean the area where Boston was later established. In the local Natick language (spoken by the Wampanoag, Narragansett and Massachusetts people) the area is said to have been called Mashauwomuk, shortened by white people to Shawmut.

Ignoring the abbreviated version, the meaning of Mashauwomuk is unclear; it may have been misheard or misrecorded by early Puritan settlers.

Natick has the word masaûnock meaning the nettle or Albany hemp plant - perhaps this plant gave its name to the area. Nettle fibres were used by the natives to make baskets, mats and nets.

Answer 2

The only reference to a native name for part of the area that later became Boston, Massachusetts, is a mention by the Reverend William Blackstone in 1629. He claimed that a peninsula by a stream was called Shawmet or Shawmutby the local people.

It is extremely unlikely that Reverend Blackstone was an expert in the Natick language; he may have misheard the place name or misunderstood its meaning. It appears to be a shortened form of Mashauwomuk, which is perhaps from massonog, meaning nettles. The word may mean "The place of Albany hemp", fibres from which were used by the local people for weaving baskets, mats and nets. The equivalent Narragansett word is masaûnock.

Answer 3

The native american name for boston is Bahhumbug Town

-Yale Scholar