This is a list of counties in Connecticut. There are currently eight counties in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Four of them were created in 1666, shortly after the Connecticut Colony and the New Haven Colony combined. Two additional counties were created later in the colonial era, and two more counties, Middlesex and Tolland, were created after American independence (both in 1785). Six of the counties are named for locations in England, where many early Connecticut settlers originated.