# Why was America named after Amerigo Vespucci? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159 "2009-08-29T15:57:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sirsam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@sirsam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirsam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/1 "2009-08-29T15:57:37Z")
I am writing in response to the post in the below link: > **[Why was America named after Amerigo Vespucci?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342109/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci)** I have heard that while it is true that America was named after Amerigo Vespucci the fact is that Amerigo was not actually Vespucci’s real name. He had been a captain and his sailors were Arab who were told to refer to him as “Ameerikum” or “Your Princeliness” in the same way in English we would say “Your highness.” This caught on and after a while he just became known by his title, which was a common thing to do back then (one would take on a job title or a geographic place as a name: like Smith, Baker or York). Thus, Vespucci’s original first name was converted to Amerigo. I’m not sure if this is the origin of the word Amerigo in general or if it is the origin of Amerigo Vespucci’s name specifically. But this was narrated to me. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/2 "2009-08-29T16:40:36Z")
Thanks for coming to the Board in the best possible manner, linking to the column you’re referring to, and stating a case succinctly and clearly. However, we have a rule of thumb which we’ve learned to respect. Anything you’ve heard from a friend is wrong. You’re wrong about this as well. Every evidence we have is that Amerigo was Vespucci’s real first name, not some sort of bastardized title. How do we know? Well, one big clue is that he was [named after his grandfather, Amerigo Vespucci](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15384b.htm). So the name had existed long before the issue of naming a new continent was ever a possibility. However, that same page offers definitive proof: > [@](#): > > The date of Vespucci’s birth, formerly much discussed, is now definitively established by the books of the Ufficio delle Tratte, preserved in the Reale Archivio di Stato of Florence, where the following passage is found: “Amerigo, son of Ser Nastagio, son of Ser Amerigo Vespucci, on the IX day of March MCCCCLI” (1452, common style). What you heard narrated to you is simply a story, made up for unknown reasons, but probably to discredit Amerigo for some bizarre and conspiratorial theory about who should get the credit for naming America. ---
**Author:** ![sirsam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@sirsam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirsam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/3 "2009-08-29T17:20:41Z")
Hey, I see what you mean and I thought it was also some conspiratorial claim until I realized that the issue is not about who gets credit for discovering or naming America. Either way it was named after Vespucci, no matter who named it. The issue, and this is why I had the last clarifying statement, is whether the word America or Amerigo is derived from that Arabic title, or whether, as in the article, it is a derivative of Henry or Heimerich. A lot of Spanish words are known to have their derivatives from Arabic due to the conquests. So maybe his grandfather got his name from the Arabic title rather from the Italian or German? This is a question not a statement. One would have to know if the word/name existed prior to the Arab conquest of Spain. Also, this seems closer than to say Henry and Amerigo have any resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/4 "2009-08-29T18:03:48Z")
> [@sirsam](#): > > The issue, and this is why I had the last clarifying statement, is whether the word America or Amerigo is derived from that Arabic title, or whether, as in the article, it is a derivative of Henry or Heimerich. A lot of Spanish words are known to have their derivatives from Arabic due to the conquests. So maybe his grandfather got his name from the Arabic title rather from the Italian or German? This is a question not a statement. One would have to know if the word/name existed prior to the Arab conquest of Spain. Also, this seems closer than to say Henry and Amerigo have any resemblance. Amerigo Vespucci was a **Florentine** , from **Florence** , capital of **Tuscany** in modern **Italy** , north central Italy to be specific. Spanish doesn’t have much to do with either his name or family. The Arabs never conquered the region which his family came from, whereas it was in the early mediaeval period conquered by Lombard (German) tribes. There doesn’t seem to be any logical Arabic connection. On the other hand a contraction of Heimerich - aspiration of the H, etc. makes great logical sense. ---
**Author:** ![sirsam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@sirsam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirsam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/5 "2009-08-29T18:38:35Z")
Thanks for the clarification… ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/6 "2009-09-03T15:39:20Z")
> [@wmfellows](#): > > Amerigo Vespucci was a **Florentine** , from **Florence** , … > > There doesn’t seem to be any logical Arabic connection. On the other hand a contraction of Heimerich - aspiration of the H, etc. makes great logical sense. So basically we live in North Heimy-land? Rev. Jesse Jackson was on the right track, even if he was being insulting? Life is full of surprises. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/7 "2009-09-03T15:48:25Z")
Yes, the name Amerigo is a medieval Italian variant of the Germanic name Emmerich, in which, as [Behind The Name](http://www.behindthename.com/name/emmerich) states, “_the second element is ric meaning “power”. The first element may be ermen “whole, universal” (making it a relative of Ermenrich), amal “work, labour” (making it a relative of Amalric) or heim “home” (making it a relative of Henry). It is likely that several forms merged into a single name_.” In other words, the United States of America could well be styled the United States of Henry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/8 "2009-09-03T23:07:04Z")
Well, not exactly. Italian for “Henry” is “Enrico”, and Italian for “Harry” is “Arrigo”. And Hungarian for “Emmerich” is “Imre”. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/9 "2009-09-04T18:18:05Z")
On the British TV show _QI_ they said it was a myth that America was named after Amerigo, and instead asserted that it was named after a Richard Americk, the Welsh financer of a voyage to find the new world that predated Columbus’ efforts. However, I’ve found very little to support this on the interweb. Seems that it was just speculation on the part of the TV researchers (who’d have thought TV could be wrong…). ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/10 "2009-09-04T18:36:05Z")
There was stripper I used to know named Julie America. She loved to collect portraits of dead presidents from me. I think this land was named after her. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/11 "2009-09-04T18:55:20Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > … > > In other words, the United States of America could well be styled the United States of Henry. 🙂 Or, as a chain of radio stations would say, _The United States of Hank!_ ---
**Author:** ![Athildur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Athildur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athildur)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/12 "2010-06-02T02:21:24Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > On the British TV show _QI_ they said it was a myth that America was named after Amerigo, and instead asserted that it was named after a Richard Americk, the Welsh financer of a voyage to find the new world that predated Columbus’ efforts. > > However, I’ve found very little to support this on the interweb. Seems that it was just speculation on the part of the TV researchers (who’d have thought TV could be wrong…). A) The reported name was indeed Richard Ameryk, a wealthy Welshman who had invested into an expedition toAmerica, reportedly landing in Labrador, possibly Maine or Newfoundland, by a John Cabot in 1497, two years prior to Amerigo Vespucci’s trip to America. At the same time, countries were _always_ named after a person’s family name and never after their ‘christian’ name (e.g. first name). This is perfectly logical as first names are rather more ambiguous than last names, just like we call newfound diseases and disorders and whatnot after people’s last name. After all, it is tourette’s syndrome, not Gilles’ syndrome. B) The fact that their is little online evidence to support this case is sort of the reason why it would be on QI. The point of the facts (or at least, what I hope to be facts. One can never be 100% sure until one finds credible sources) presented in QI is that they bring up common misconceptions, most of which are taught in schools everywhere. Which means they are written in books everywhere, and everybody believes these things are true (because they’re taught to you in school, from books!). That causes this information to appear on the internet on many occasions, since the people that ‘make’ the internet have been taught at these school, etc etc and so on. And that’s the thing about internet. Information’s becoming more absorbed into this one massive entity where sources will always remain a mystery and if you ever read something, it’s a complete guess as to whether it is correct. Finding a multitude of pages giving out the same information doesn’t make it right. Google searches on John Cabot _do_ mention that he (re)discovered America in 1497, and that he travelled from britain. Searches on Richard Ameryk/Amerike also report that evidence (in the form of journals and letters) have been found that Ameryk was, in fact, the main sponsor for John Cabot’s voyage (so much that Ameryk owned the Matthew, Cabot’s boat), and that he did, in fact, reach America years prior to Columbus or Vespucci. That in itself proves nothing, but when combined with the fact that name-giving was both serious business and always done with one’s family name, it is more reasonable to assume that it was named after Amerike/Ameryk. Because why would they not call it Vespuccia? That seems like a perfectly good and sensible name, as much as America would. Perhaps not to us, but that’s only because we are used to the name America, and Vespuccia would sound weird. Of course, the real question in the article was the origin of the name, and for that I can find no fault. Sources include WikiAnswers, Wikipedia, and [BBC History](http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/americaname_01.shtml#three). Who may or may not be correct. But I am partial to believing them. ---
**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 2, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/13 "2010-06-02T03:40:13Z")
Isn’t it more likely that the reason that there is little online evidence to support the claim that America was named after Richard Ameryk is that the claim is simply wrong? We have Martin Waldseemüller’s [map](http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0309/maps.html) and we know that its “full title is “Universalis cosmographia secunda Ptholemei traditionem et Americi Vespucci aliorum que lustrationes” (“A drawing of the whole earth following the tradition of Ptolemy and the travels of Amerigo Vespucci and others”).” In addition: > [@](#): > > While it has been suggested that Waldseemüller incorrectly dismissed Christopher Columbus’ great achievement in history by the selection of the name “America” for the Western Hemisphere, it is evident that the information that Waldseemüller and his colleagues had at their disposal recognized Columbus’ previous voyages of exploration and discovery. However, the group also had acquired a recent French translation of the important work “Mundus Novus,” Amerigo Vespucci’s letter detailing his purported four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean to America between 1497 and 1504. In that work, Vespucci concluded that the lands reached by Columbus in 1492 and explored by Columbus and others over the ensuing two decades were indeed a segment of the world, a new continent, unknown to Europe. Because of Vespucci’s recognition of that startling revelation, he was honored with the use of his name for the newly discovered continent. So your task is to show that Waldseemüller either did not originate the name or used Ameryk’s name while crediting it to Vespucci. The latter is wholly unlikely, so the first course has been the one taken. Unfortunately it rests entirely on speculative conjecture. Evidence is simply not a word that can be applied. [Jonathan Cohen](http://www.umc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html) has an excellent scholarly article on some of the other claimants, including Ameryk. Right now, the “controversy” greatly resembles that of whether Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare. There is a cottage industry of books by amateur historians and the entire profession of professional historians who oppose them. Everybody loves to root for the “underdog” in such cases, but Oswald shot Kennedy and America was named for Vespucci. The cases against aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/14 "2010-06-02T04:23:51Z")
> [@Athildur](#): > > At the same time, countries were _always_ named after a person’s family name and never after their ‘christian’ name (e.g. first name). This is perfectly logical as first names are rather more ambiguous than last names, just like we call newfound diseases and disorders and whatnot after people’s last name. After all, it is tourette’s syndrome, not Gilles’ syndrome. What countries are you thinking of that support this rule? It certainly didn’t apply to the Carolinas, Georgia, or Prince Rupert’s Land, although those were named in the 17th / 18th centuries, so may be outside the time period you’re thinking of. But what countries or regions in the New World are named after a person’s last/family name, other than Colombia? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/15 "2010-06-02T11:54:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > So your task is to show that Waldseemüller either did not originate the name or used Ameryk’s name while crediting it to Vespucci. I can’t do that but according to the wiki: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > Martin Waldseemüller, a German map-maker, published a world map in 1507 using Vespucci’s previously published letters. The theory suggests that Waldseemüller assumed that the “America” that Vespucci used was derived from his first name. Waldseemüller provided an explanation of this assumption as an attachment to the map. (And yes, we all know what people think of wiki links. I think this info is based on the books _Naming of America: Continents, Countries, States, Counties and Cities_ by Alan Wolk and _Cabot and naming of America_ by Peter Macdonald.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/16 "2010-06-02T16:54:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What countries are you thinking of that support this rule? It certainly didn’t apply to the Carolinas, Georgia, or Prince Rupert’s Land, although those were named in the 17th / 18th centuries, so may be outside the time period you’re thinking of. But what countries or regions in the New World are named after a person’s last/family name, other than Colombia? Not to mention the Philippines, for that matter. The claim is certainly balderdash. > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The theory suggests that Waldseemüller assumed that the “America” that Vespucci used was derived from his first name. Waldseemüller provided an explanation of this assumption as an attachment to the map. The old “you can’t prove that this theory that I just made up isn’t true, so it must be the real explanation” trick is the beginning of the descent into total madness. ---
**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 2, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/17 "2010-06-02T17:06:45Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I can’t do that but according to the wiki: I don’t understand that Wiki quote. That seems to assume that Vespucci named America after himself and that Waldseemüller copied him. That doesn’t seem to be what happened at all. And Athildur’s complaint about America being a first name is not only ludicrous, it’s contradicted by the historical record. From the Cohen link: > [@](#): > > Vespucci not only explored unknown regions but also invented a system of computing exact longitude and arrived at a figure computing the earth’s equational circumference only fifty miles short of the correct measurement. It was, however, not his many solid accomplishments but an apparent error made by a group of scholars living in St. Dié, near Strasbourg, France, in the mountains of Lorraine, then part of Germany, that led America to be named (ostensibly) after him; and this is largely why his reputation has suffered. His published letters had fallen into the hands of these German scholars, among whom was the young cartographer Martin Waldseemüller. Inspired to publish a new geography that would embrace the New World, the group collectively authored a revision of Ptolemy, which included a Latin translation of Vespucci’s purported letter to Soderini, as well as a new map of the world drawn by Waldseemüller. In their resulting Cosmographiae Introductio, printed on April 25, 1507, appear these famous words (as translated from the original Latin; see below) written most likely by one of the two poet-scholars involved in the project: “But now these parts [Europe, Asia and Africa, the three continents of the Ptolemaic geography] have been extensively explored and a fourth part has been discovered by Americus Vespuccius [a Latin form of Vespucci’s name], as will be seen in the appendix: I do not see what right any one would have to object to calling this part after Americus, who discovered it and who is a man of intelligence, [and so to name it] Amerige, that is, the Land of Americus, or America: since both Europa and Asia got their names from women” (see John W. Hessler’s quincentennial edition of the Cosmographiae Introductio). This is what I mean about the difference between professional historians and amateurs. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/18 "2010-06-02T17:39:44Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > The old “you can’t prove that this theory that I just made up isn’t true, so it must be the real explanation” trick is the beginning of the descent into total madness. At no point have I asserted that America was named after Richard Ameryk (look how I introduced the possibility, in post #9). OTOH this thread, and the question to Cecil, do assert that it was named for Amerigo: I’ve simply tried to counter that this is debatable. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > That seems to assume that Vespucci named America after himself and that Waldseemüller copied him. That doesn’t seem to be what happened at all. Not quite. I think what it’s saying is that Vespucci called the land America, after Ameryk. But when Waldseemüller got the letters from Vespucci, he assumed Vespucci was naming the land after himself. Even if this account were true though (and it’s hard to verify without a living Vespucci), it would only make it a matter of pedantry who America was named after. After all, everyone except one guy (who never bothered to give anyone credit) would consider it named after Vespucci. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/19 "2010-06-02T17:48:03Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > After all, everyone except one guy (who never bothered to give anyone credit) \ What I mean is, under this theory, he didn’t _explicitly_ credit anybody. And he must have noticed that the name he was considering had quite a similarity to his own first name. ---
**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 2, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159/20 "2010-06-02T17:59:52Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Not quite. I think what it’s saying is that Vespucci called the land America, after Ameryk. But when Waldseemüller got the letters from Vespucci, he assumed Vespucci was naming the land after himself. Is there any evidence at all that Vespucci called the land America at any time in any document? Wouldn’t historians have sorta noticed that? Because wouldn’t that negate the whole Waldseemüller named it first thing? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-america-named-after-amerigo-vespucci/508159.md?page=2)