 They retained the land until 1822, when the state of Maryland sold it, in part to pay for the state's share of the District of Columbia.The name Choptank is thought to be from the "Nanticoke" language, the word "tshapetank" (a stream that separates) or (place of big current).The Algonquian-speaking Choptank were independent, but they were related in culture and language to the Nanticoke, the larger paramount chiefdom immediately to their south, which was dominant on the Eastern Shore.