# When did we first use the term "USA" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599 "2015-06-04T02:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/1 "2015-06-04T02:20:14Z")
I came to the boards tonight for this question, and saw the similar When and why to say US or USA. FREAKY WEIRD how similar that question is, and to be top of the board too. But my question is, hopefully, easier. How old is the shorthand usage of “USA” to mean the landmass between Canada and Mexico, et al? When did “U.S.A” first see print? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/2 "2015-06-04T02:41:25Z")
According to the [Google Ngram viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=U.S.A.&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CU.S.A.%3B%2Cc0), it started around 1860 (probably having something to do with the Civil War), and really caught on in the 1940s. ." ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/3 "2015-06-04T02:44:05Z")
The Oxford English Dictionary has a cite for “US” from 1834. It also notes the “USA” is a variant on “US”, but it doesn’t record cites for “USA” independently. The implication is that the 1834 cite suggests that the “US” abbreviation appeared first, with “USA” coming along some time later, but I don’t know how much later. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/4 "2015-06-04T19:17:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > According to the [Google Ngram viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=U.S.A.&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CU.S.A.%3B%2Cc0), it started around 1860 (probably having something to do with the Civil War), and really caught on in the 1940s. > ." Thanks. I’ve heard about this Ngram viewer once or twice. Completely forgot about it. This is amazing. Not sure I could have found it on my own (or know to go look for it.) ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/5 "2015-06-04T19:19:47Z")
lol I love you. Great minds think alike, etc. It might have something to do with the fact that the Americas&America has become less and less associated with only the US and more with the whole continent. What were the colonies called before they became the United States of America? I mean in daily speech. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/6 "2015-06-04T19:38:02Z")
Oddly, the country was called the United States of America even during the Articles of Confederation. Prior to September 1776 the term “United Colonies” was used. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/7 "2015-06-04T20:32:20Z")
Oh, I thought we were talking about [Usa, Japan.](http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/usa.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/8 "2015-06-04T20:35:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Oddly, the country was called the United States of America even during the Articles of Confederation. Prior to September 1776 the term “United Colonies” was used. [Not quite.](http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html) [QUOTE=Thomas Jefferson,\* et al\*] IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America [/Quote] ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/9 "2015-06-05T00:09:27Z")
I think you can find book cites from the 1830s-1840s using U.S.A. to mean the country. I’ll try to post them later tonight–after Cleveland beats Golden State. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/10 "2015-06-05T00:18:14Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Thanks. > > I’ve heard about this Ngram viewer once or twice. Completely forgot about it. This is amazing. Not sure I could have found it on my own (or know to go look for it.) Honestly its not great for tracking past 1900. Whatever meta-data they use to get the dates of texts seems to get wildly innaccurate for stuff before the the 20th century. (granted, I haven’t played with it in a year or two, maybe its improved). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/11 "2015-06-05T00:39:12Z")
Here’s a button saying “USA” from the Revolutionary War. [http://www.hcaauctions.com/lot-3239.aspx](http://www.hcaauctions.com/lot-3239.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/12 "2015-06-05T00:53:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Here’s a button saying “USA” from the Revolutionary War. > > [Lot Detail - Revolutionary War Era "USA" Continental Button](http://www.hcaauctions.com/lot-3239.aspx) If real, the best it could mean is “United States Army.” I doubt it being from the time period. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/13 "2015-06-05T01:44:53Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > [Not quite.](http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html) I’m assuming Really Not All That Bright was referring to [this](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-renames-the-nation-united-states-of-america): > [@](#): > > On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally declares the name of the new nation to be the “United States” of America. This replaced the term “United Colonies,” which had been in general use. > > In the Congressional declaration dated September 9, 1776, the delegates wrote, “That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words ‘United Colonies’ have been used, the stile be altered for the future to the “United States.” That doesn’t mean that the term had never been used previously. But pedantically, the correct date of formal adoption is Sept. 9, 1776. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/14 "2015-06-05T02:32:37Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > If real, the best it could mean is “United States Army.” I doubt it being from the time period. The United States Army wasn’t established under that name until 1784. Prior to that you had the “Continental Army”. So _if_ this button is from the Revolutionary Wars, USA is unlikely to stand for “United States Army”. According to [this book that I found through Google Books](https://books.google.com.au/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207&dq=united+states+army+button+uniform&source=bl&ots=a5Ur8Bs3Kb&sig=tcA7ZQ8YQA1O00ayGe1APIjpiCQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VglxVe_UL4XgmAWvt4GADQ&ved=0CF4Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=USA%20button&f=false) the Continental Army did use both “US” and “USA”, the latter in particular on buttons. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/15 "2015-06-05T02:36:13Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The United States Army wasn’t established under that name until 1784. Prior to that you had the “Continental Army”. So _if_ this button is from the Revolutionary Wars, USA is unlikely to stand for “United States Army”. > > According to [this book that I found through Google Books](https://books.google.com.au/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207&dq=united+states+army+button+uniform&source=bl&ots=a5Ur8Bs3Kb&sig=tcA7ZQ8YQA1O00ayGe1APIjpiCQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VglxVe_UL4XgmAWvt4GADQ&ved=0CF4Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=USA%20button&f=false) the Continental Army did use both “US” and “USA”, the latter in particular on buttons. My opinion is the button is much later than the late 1700s. Maybe a late 1800s concoction. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/16 "2015-06-05T02:52:24Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > If real, the best it could mean is “United States Army.” I doubt it being from the time period. “USA” might stand for United States Army, and I don’t know for sure if that button I linked to is authentic, but if it’s not, it’s a reproduction of an authentic button. They were called “Intertwined USA buttons”, and they appeared on Continental Army officer uniforms from 1777-83. Here’s a picture of another one from the website of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: [http://www.ouramericanrevolution.org/index.cfm/object/view/ob0031](http://www.ouramericanrevolution.org/index.cfm/object/view/ob0031) From William Emerson’s "Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms: [quote] It is not my intention here to debate the origins of the abbreviations “US” or “USA”, but a short history of the army’s use of the letters “US” is instructive. During the American Revolution the Continental Army impressed the letters “US” on gun locks, cannon tubes, files and other pieces of ordinance and and equipment to identify them as property of the United States. On the only “insignia” of the period, soldiers’ solid pewter buttons, there were three raised and intertwined letters “USA”. Some officers wore thin metal button shells, crimped over bone or wood disks, bearing raised and intertwined letters “USA” with the S considerably larger. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/17 "2015-06-05T03:41:31Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > My opinion is the button is much later than the late 1700s. Maybe a late 1800s concoction. Well, according to the book that I linked to, and which Captain Amazing also quotes, the button design switched from a “USA” mongram to a “US” monogram in 1808. So most likely the button concerned is either a pre-1808 button or a later reproduction of a pre-1808 button. In any event, regardless of the provenance of that particular button, the book seems to be authority for the fact that the abbreviation “USA” was in use from at least 1776. And while some have suggested that it stood for “US Army”, the facts are that the institution concerned was call the Continental Army at the time, and that the official name of the Union was “United States of America” from 1776 onwards. So the mongram is, on the whole, more likely to have stood for “United States of America”. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/18 "2015-06-05T04:00:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That doesn’t mean that the term had never been used previously. But pedantically, the correct date of formal adoption is Sept. 9, 1776. Which is interesting, because earliest known uses of the phrase “united States of America” (sic) are [all from 1776](http://blog.nyhistory.org/coined-phrase-united-states-america-may-never-guess/). It went from nowhere to the official name in very short order. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/19 "2015-06-05T04:35:18Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Which is interesting, because earliest known uses of the phrase “united States of America” (sic) are [all from 1776](http://blog.nyhistory.org/coined-phrase-united-states-america-may-never-guess/). It went from nowhere to the official name in very short order. Well, this is hardly very surprising. Until you conceive of the new political entity, you don’t need a name for it. Until the colonies decided that they weren’t going to be colonies any more, they were just “the colonies” (or “the American colonies”, if disambiguation was needed). Why would we expect the term “United States of America” to be in circulation before the project to establish the United States of America was actively under way? What could such the term have referred to, much before 1776? ---
**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:** [June 5, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599/20 "2015-06-05T14:54:44Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Well, this is hardly very surprising. Until you conceive of the new political entity, you don’t need a name for it. Until the colonies decided that they weren’t going to be colonies any more, they were just “the colonies” (or “the American colonies”, if disambiguation was needed). > > Why would we expect the term “United States of America” to be in circulation before the project to establish the United States of America was actively under way? What could such the term have referred to, much before 1776? I think the point is that the new term was adopted very quickly after the Declaration of Independence, not that it was possible for it to have existed before that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-first-use-the-term-usa/721599.md?page=2)