"sny"

[Steve Hicks]

Sorry it's taken me so long to
track down this citation, for
what it's worth.

"Sni, Sny   French chenal, appearing
in American French as chenail, as a
generic for a natural, narrow passageway
of water, became Sny in American usage,
and appears as a specific in a few names,
chiefly in Mo.  Sniabar Creek Mo.; either
from chenail-a-barre, 'sny with a bar (blockage),'
or from chenail-a-Hubert (Hebert) from the name
of a local French family."

                        George R. Stewart,
                        American Place-Names (1970)