 They lived along the county's only river, the Nadowa, an Algonquian word meaning rattlesnake, and became associated with the area they inhabited.The name was anglicized to 'Nottoway', and from this the name of the county was derived.The people of this "Nottoway Tribe", now numbering between 400 and 500, call themselves Cheroenhaka, meaning "People At The Fork Of The Stream".