The name “America” might sound like it’s been around forever, but it actually comes from a very specific moment in history. Imagine a mapmaker in the early 1500s, deciding what to call a newly charted land. One choice, one name, and suddenly an entire continent had its identity. Who Is America Named After? America is named after Amerigo Vespucci , an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Unlike Christopher Columbus, who believed he had reached Asia, Vespucci realized these lands were part of a “New World.” A German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, published a famous world map in 1507. On it, he labeled the new continent “America” after the Latinized version of Vespucci’s first name, Americus . That map was widely circulated, and the name stuck. Why Amerigo Vespucci and Not Columbus? It might seem odd that Columbus didn’t get naming rights, since he’s often credited with “discovering” the Americas. But timing, reputation, an...