# Official Name of The United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449 "2009-10-03T13:21:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/1 "2009-10-03T13:21:37Z")
The present thread on “First Citizen of…” raises (for me, anyhow) the question of “Does the US have an Official Name”? Is there any legal document stating “This country shall be known as \_\_\_”? I went right to the Constitution, of course, and the famous first paragraph refers to the country both as “United States” and “United States of America”. I’d expect to find there’s some ‘housekeeping’ legislation that defines an ‘official name’ but if so, what is it? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/2 "2009-10-03T15:02:00Z")
Article I of the Articles of Confederation says > [@](#): > > The Stile of this Confederacy shall be “The United States of America” The AofC is no longer in force, but it’s one data point anyway. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/3 "2009-10-03T15:20:21Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > Is there any legal document stating “This country shall be known as \_\_\_”? > > I went right to the Constitution, of course, and the famous first paragraph refers to the country both as “United States” and “United States of America”. But the one that does the naming is, IIRC from 10th grade U.S. History, the one that says “this Constitution for the United States of America.” ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/4 "2009-10-03T16:27:22Z")
My son’s birth certificate says at the top “Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America” (issued in 1986) ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/5 "2009-10-03T21:54:27Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > But the one that does the naming is, IIRC from 10th grade U.S. History, the one that says “this Constitution for the United States of America.” Looking at a photo of the original document there is no title; it just starts with “We the people…” Throughout the document it alternates between “United States” and “United States of America”. There are more occurances of plain “United States”, although in the first paragraph they are each used once. So which one is the official name? Or is there yet some other official name/variation in some naming document? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/6 "2009-10-04T00:23:04Z")
Well, when the President gets up and speaks, the doohickey behind him says he is the President of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/7 "2009-10-04T03:10:44Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > Looking at a photo of the original document there is no title; it just starts with “We the people…” Who said there was? Keep reading and you’ll get to the identifying phrase: > [@](#): > > We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (emphasis added) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/8 "2009-10-04T05:50:00Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Think of the Preamble as a movie teaser that comes on before the opening credits. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/9 "2009-10-04T05:53:31Z")
I looked through the table of contents of Title I of the US Code. There’s plenty of stuff about the flag, Great Seal, styles of address, orders of precedence, etc., but I didn’t see anything establishing an official style for the country’s name. So I think the only authoritative source is the Constitution itself, which in its preamble states that it is the “Constitution for the United States of America.” Subsequent uses of the name “United States” is just a convenient abbreviation. They had to write that stuff by hand. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/10 "2009-10-04T20:46:01Z")
My passport says my nationality is “United States of America.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/11 "2009-10-04T21:21:36Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, when the President gets up and speaks, the doohickey behind him says he is the President of the United States **of America**. [emphasis added] Actually it doesn’t, if this is what you mean: [File:Seal of the President of the United States.svg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_Of_The_President_Of_The_Unites_States_Of_America.svg) ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/12 "2009-10-04T21:29:27Z")
> [@pudytat72](#): > > My son’s birth certificate says at the top “Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America” (issued in 1986) Ah, but is it the _long form_? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/13 "2009-10-04T23:41:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Ah, but is it the _long form_? 🙂 As a matter of fact, it WAS the long form (that’s what I found first) I have both the long and the short form for him. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/14 "2009-10-04T23:47:44Z")
Yeah, I always thought **The United States of America** was more of a description than a proper name for a country. Maybe we could petition the Congress for a real name. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/15 "2009-10-05T00:28:59Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > Yeah, I always thought **The United States of America** was more of a description than a proper name for a country. Maybe we could petition the Congress for a real name. Any suggestions? Columbia? Wasn’t that the original idea? (Of course, there may be a few objections from a certain country in South America…) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/official-name-of-the-united-states/512449/16 "2009-10-05T00:43:13Z")
South Canada?