From Amerigo to America: How a Continent Became a Nation’s Name

The term America first appeared on a 1507 Waldseemüller world map naming South America after Amerigo Vespucci; over the centuries it came to denote the two continents, then the United States began using various demonyms (e.g., Columbia, Fredonia) before the name United States of America became standard. By the 19th–20th centuries, “America” largely referred to the U.S., though many Latin Americans view the term as a hemisphere label rather than solely the nation, a tension the article notes alongside historical and contemporary debates (including provocative renaming proposals).