# Why do people from U.S call themselves Americans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250 "2012-10-29T19:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mentol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@Mentol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentol)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/1 "2012-10-29T19:43:43Z")
I am from Europe and I have asked that myself several times after watching a movie. If America is the continent, why do people from U.S call themselves “Americans”, as opposite to “Mexicans” or “Canadians”?, shouldn’t they also be Americans? (I am leaving aside the countries in Central and South America, but I guess the reasoning would be the same). I know that languages are arbitrary and I don’t ask this to offend anybody or start a discussion, I am just curious. When I am asked my nationality, I would never think about saying “European”. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/2 "2012-10-29T19:47:30Z")
Mexico’s full name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, or United Mexican States, while the full name of the US is United States of America. Thus I think you can see why we might shorten that to America and call ourselves Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/3 "2012-10-29T19:48:52Z")
> [@Mentol](#): > > If America is the continent In common usage, ‘North America’ and ‘South America’ are the continents. > [@](#): > > why do people from U.S call themselves “Americans” Because, first, that’s the common usage of the term (that’s how language works), and, second, we have no other demonym. What else _could_ we call ourselves? > [@](#): > > When I am asked my nationality, I would never think about saying “European”. Indeed. It isn’t the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/4 "2012-10-29T19:54:30Z")
Historically, the people in what is now the US were called Americans, because they lived in the American colonies\*, even before the revolution. It’s just a continuation of that same label. \*This is what they were called collectively, if you didn’t need or want to divide them further into Virginian, New Yorker, etc. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/5 "2012-10-29T19:55:43Z")
The full name of the country is the United States of America. Americans comes naturally from that just as Mexicans comes from Estados Unidos Mexicanos and Brazilians comes from República Federativa do Brasil and a hundred other examples. In addition, America was the name given to the continents 500 years ago. For all that time people spoke of going to the Americas and called various people who lived there Americans. The rebelling colonists in the English colonies in the 18th century used Americans as a general term to distinguish themselves from the English who were seen as oppressors. Since they were the first to declare themselves an independent country and became the dominant culture, the name they called themselves stuck. It can cause confusion, especially with people from other countries in Central and South America. They tend to call people from the U.S. norteamericanos, even though that’s not a unique identifier. It’s tradition and cultural power, yes, but it comes from a very sensible place. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/6 "2012-10-29T19:55:58Z")
i’m all for being a Unitians. makes you sound like a religion or social organization. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/7 "2012-10-29T19:59:53Z")
I don’t think Central America has ever been considered a continent. Some people do consider the Americas to be a single continent, though. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/8 "2012-10-29T20:03:12Z")
There could be logical reasons why Mexicans or Canadians should also be considered Americans, but as often needs to be pointed out in threads like this – language is not logic. If I said that my friend Frank is an American, nobody would think that he is a Canadian. In English, the word “American” always means someone from the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Mentol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@Mentol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentol)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/9 "2012-10-29T20:18:33Z")
I am spanish, and we sometimes say “estadounidense” (from “Estados Unidos de America”), which is long and complicated, so half the times we end up with Americans as well, which is of course shorter and easier, so I understand its logic. It’s just that sometimes it sounds a bit… generic. When you are asked your nationality in official papers and such, do you write down “American”? I mean, is that the “oficial” name in english for anybody born in the U.S.A? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/10 "2012-10-29T20:24:58Z")
> [@Mentol](#): > > When you are asked your nationality in official papers and such, do you write down “American”? I mean, is that the “oficial” name in english for anybody born in the U.S.A? “American,” or perhaps “U.S. citizen/citizen of the United States.” ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/11 "2012-10-29T20:27:58Z")
I don’t recall the last time I was asked to fill out “Nationality” on an official form. Country of Origin, Country of Residence, or just Country yes but not Nationality. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/12 "2012-10-29T20:28:17Z")
And if you want to get technical about it, Mexicans call people from the U.S. “norteamericanos” and North American is also the preferred term for grouping U.S./Canada and/or Mexican residents. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/13 "2012-10-29T20:32:51Z")
Similarly, people from the United Arab Emirates are (supposedly) called Emirati. That’s not really fair if you’re from a non-UAE emirate, but them’s the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/14 "2012-10-29T20:42:19Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > \ What else _could_ we call ourselves?\ One of your beauty pageant contestants came up with a good solution - “US Americans.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/15 "2012-10-29T21:07:15Z")
We call our nation “America”, therefore we are “Americans”. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/16 "2012-10-29T21:19:40Z")
It’s an oversight. But then, for the first half-century of the republic’s existence, the plan was to conquer the whole continent. The United States of America was the only independent country on the American continent at first, and it was supposed to “liberate” the rest of America from the Old World empires. So in that context, it made a kind of sense. Technically, the ethnic demonyms are “Yank” (more general, and mostly applied to us by non-Yanks) and “gringo” (for anglos, not conquered hispanics). ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/17 "2012-10-29T21:19:57Z")
The only synonym I know is ‘Yankee’ and it doesn’t work well in many situations. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/18 "2012-10-29T21:20:44Z")
Moved to Great Debates. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/19 "2012-10-29T21:23:10Z")
Because United Statesians just sounds stupid. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250/20 "2012-10-29T21:25:19Z")
On our passports under nationality it says “United States of America” When I fill out nationality fields on forms I put “US Citizen”. American is in fact commonly understood nowadays to mean specifically US Citizen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-from-u-s-call-themselves-americans/639250.md?page=2)