This name first appeared on the map when the county was erected, and would seem (like Waukesha) to be an attempt of American settlers to apply some little-understood American Indian term. One authority considers it equivalent to "good land." Stennett, Place Names, p. 32.  Another interpretation is "popped corn".

Description from John W. Hunt's 1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer: "WAUSHARA, County, is bounded on the north by Portage and Waupacca, east by Winnebago, south by Marquette, and west by Adams, and is 18 miles north and south by 36 miles east and west. It was established February 15, 1851, from Marquette. The seat of justice is at Sacramento, in the southeast corner of the county, on Fox river. This county embraces what has been familiarly known recently as the 'Indian Lands" of Marquette county."

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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; Milwaukee Sentinel, Aug. 29, 1939.]