The original name for the creek, as given by the local
Native Americans who once lived beside it, sounded something like "Liwaito" or "Leywe" according to 19th century texts written by people of limited familiarity with the
Patwin language.
"Putah" descends from "Puto", which is the name that the Spanish settlers gave to the local Native American tribe. The Spanish name for the creek was therefore "Rio de los Putos", meaning River of the Putos. Due to the fact that puta and puto in Spanish mean "female whore" and "male whore", there has been much speculation over whether or not these names were meant to be intentionally offensive. The Native American tribe in question referred to themselves using a word which sounded something like
Puttoy to the European settlers' ears; therefore "Puto" may or may not have represented an honest but unfortunate attempt to transliterate the original term to Spanish.
For some reason, the local people decided to shorten the name and change Puto to the feminine form of the noun around 1845. However, the United States Board on Geographic Names found Puta obscene, and therefore the "h" was placed at the end.
