# If his name in Spanish is Cristobal Colon, why is it named Colombia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834 "2003-11-07T04:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/1 "2003-11-07T04:30:10Z")
So he’s called different things in different languages. Cristoforo Colombo in Italian, Cristobal Colón in Spanish, Christopher Columbus in English. I can handle that. But I don’t get this part: they speak Spanish in Colombia. Why didn’t use the Spanish version of his name as the base when they named the country? ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/2 "2003-11-07T04:42:14Z")
The same reason North Carolina isn’t North Charlesland. Latin was in back in the day, especially on maps. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/3 "2003-11-07T05:00:26Z")
If you expected “Colo **n** ia” instead of Colombia I´ll inform you that in Spanish that would be syntactically incorrect since a “n” can´t be followed by a “b”. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/4 "2003-11-07T05:02:43Z")
:smack: I mean “Colo\*\*n[/]bia” ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/5 "2003-11-07T05:04:42Z")
Oh dear… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/6 "2003-11-07T07:01:59Z")
**TitusBenedictus** correctus est. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/7 "2003-11-07T12:32:05Z")
**Ale** , have you had one too many of your namesakes? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/8 "2003-11-07T15:18:56Z")
So why is Bolivia not Bolivaria? “Colonia,” capitalized, is the name in Spanish for Cologne, Germany. Uncapitalized, it means “colony.” So using this form, rather than the latinized one, could cause confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Qburn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/bc79bd/32.png) [@Qburn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qburn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/9 "2003-11-07T17:01:44Z")
The comedy troupe _The Firesign Theater_ sang the song “God bless Vespucci Land” as the continent is named for the explorer Americus Vespucci. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/10 "2003-11-07T18:23:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by r\_k \* > \*\ ***Ale** , have you had one too many of your namesakes? \*\* What if I told you that I don´t drink alcohol at all, never ever?Honestly, I don´t know if that would work as a vindication or not, though. 😛 By the way, Ale is short for Alejandro, my name. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/11 "2003-11-08T05:23:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TitoBenito \* > \*\*The same reason North Carolina isn’t North Charlesland. Latin was in back in the day, especially on maps. \*\* But wasn’t _Columbus_ the Latinized version of his name? So maybe the question should be, why isn’t it Columbia, just like our District? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/12 "2003-11-08T10:59:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Americus Vespucci. I thought it was Amerigo Vespucci… ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/13 "2003-11-08T20:46:04Z")
Amerigo Vespucci in Italian, Americus Vespucius in Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/14 "2003-11-09T13:54:14Z")
Looks like _Colombia_ is a hybrid based on the Latinate _Columbia_, but borrowing the stressed vowel from the Spanish form _Colón_. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/15 "2003-11-09T21:22:41Z")
How (and why) does one translate proper names into Latin? _ **"It’s a joke name sir, like Biggus Dickus…"** _ ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/16 "2003-11-09T22:31:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jklann \* > \*\*But wasn’t _Columbus_ the Latinized version of his name? So maybe the question should be, why isn’t it Columbia, just like our District? \*\* Not sure what you mean, but a country or land ending in a masculine is rather odd in latin. Usually (if not all of time) lands are feminine even if named after a male person e.g. roma, patria, america (named after one Amerigo or Americus), hispanola. The i before the a seems to be very popular with place names if it flowed well with the word. Same thing for other word named after males to describe feminine things like carolinian, shavian (Shaw), julian, georgia ect. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/17 "2003-11-09T22:33:17Z")
actually i don’t think there was anyone named hispanolus. I forgot to delete it when i changed the sentence around. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/18 "2003-11-09T22:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > How (and why) does one translate proper names into Latin? Simplest case: The name is already a name used by the ancient Romans, or a variation thereof. For instance, Claudia = Claudia, or Mark = Marcus. Next-simplest case: Find someone famous with your name, and do it the same way they did. Example, Charles = Carolus. Saint names can be a good source, here, since they all have a standard Latin form. And if that doesn’t work: Make it up yourself, making sure that it ends in -us for a male name or -a for a female, and follows a few other miscellaneous patterns for Latin words. As for why, it looks cool, and important, and official, and all those things. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-his-name-in-spanish-is-cristobal-colon-why-is-it-named-colombia/211834/19 "2003-11-09T22:34:48Z")
oh i get it. Sorry ignore everything I have said. I thought you meant why wasn’t it called columbus.