 You're listening to What's in a Name. Though this particular Michigan city's name at first look has a fairly simple origin story, it's a bit more complicated than it first seems. The name Detroit comes from a French word that means straight like a body of water, which in turn comes from the city's positioning around the Detroit River. The river comes from Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes. The city still remains as one of the oldest and most important cities in the Midwest.