Where did the name Des Moines come from?

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Why: Edward was sad that there wasn't a single city from the great state of Iowa on the Daily Beast list of America's [55] Smartest Cities.

Answer: Originally named Fort Des Moines after the Des Moines River tributary from the Mighty Mississip, Rivière Des Moines translates to "river of the monks."

The term could have referred to the river of the Moingonas, named after an American Indian tribe that resided in the area and built burial mounds. Another hypothesis says that the name refers to French Trappist monks, some of whom lived in huts at the mouth of the river.

Source: Wikipedia

The More You Know: The Top 20 (of 55) of that list, which is based half on education (bachelor's & graduate degrees) and half on intellectual environment (non-fiction book sales, institutions of higher education, and voter participation):

1. Raleigh-Durham
2. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
3. Boston
4. Minneapolis-St. Paul
5. Denver
6. Hartford-New Haven
7. Seattle-Tacoma
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Portland, OR
10. Baltimore
11. Philadelphia
12. Austin
13. New York
14. Salt Lake City
15. Milwaukee
16. Charlotte
17. Kansas City
18. Columbus
19. Nashville
20. San Diego