Naming of America

The earliest known use of the name America for the continents of the Americas dates from 1507. It appears on a globe and a large map created by Martin Waldseem�ller. An accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio explains that the name was derived from the forename of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, via the Latinisation Americus Vespucius and taking the feminine form America.

A few alternative theories have been proposed, but none of them have any widespread acceptance.

One alternative is that America is derived from the Richard Amerike, a merchant from Bristol, England who is believed to have financed John Cabot's voyage of discovery to Newfoundland in 1497. Waldseem�ller's maps appear to incorporate information from the early British journeys to North America. The theory holds that a variant of Amerike's name appeared on an early British map (of which no copies survive) and this was the true inspiration for Waldseem�ller. Authors who have written about this theory include Ian Wilson, Peter Macdonald and Rodney Broome.