Oconto County takes its name from its chief river. The significance of this word is variously given as "red ground," or "the place of the pickerel" in Gannett, Place Names, p. 194; or the Menominee word for "black bass" in Legler, Wis. Place Names. The latter would seem to be correct, since upon many of the early maps (1820-50) the stream is noted as Black Bass River.

Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer: "OCONTO, County, is bounded on the north by the State line, on the east by the middle of Green Bay, and a portion of Brown, on the south by Brown and Outagamie, and on the west by Waupacca and Marathon. It was set off and established from Brown, February 6, 1851, and organized for county purposes April 7, 1852. The principal rivers are Peshtego, Oconto, Pensaukee, and Little Suamico. The judicial connection of Oconto is with Brown, and representative with Outagamie. The chief product of this county, thus far, has been pine lumber, which is produced in great quantities; but little is known of its agricultural advantages."

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Oconto County, Wisconsin

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[Source: Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Derivation of County Names" in Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1909, pages 219-231.]