Amerigo Vespucci, and other dumb ways countries get names

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Most of you know (or maybe some of you don't) that "America" comes from the Amerigo Vespucci, an explorer, and the first to figure out that the two western continents were not part of Asia (like Columbus thought until he died). A German clergyman put the name "America" on a map of the new world because he admired Amerigo, but later changed his mind about what he wanted to call the New World. But it was too late. The maps had already circulated enough, and the name stuck.

Thank God his name wasn't "Stinky".

What do you know about the origin of your country's name?

 

[CarolineOh]

Actually, I read recently that some historians now dispute the Vespucci theory, and claim that the name America is derived from an English whaling station established in the early 1500s in Newfoundland that was called something like Americk's Station.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

The maps are not apocraphyl. Amergius wrote so much about the continents (much better than Columbus' diaries) and he is undeniably credited with the "separate from Asia" concept. There's a lot a writing, and there are all the maps. The story is very reliable.

Either that or it's an anagram for "I'M A RACE!"

 

[kotori]

Some people say that Ireland was so named because of all the angry people. Ire = Anger.

The Romans thought better than to invade. But they called it Hibernia, with the same root as "winter."

The name in Irish is Éire.

 

[Starblayde]

England...

from the Angles.... Angle-land...Angland...England....

Simple, really, when you think about it.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

"Greenland" has really been bugging me.

 

[SleepingWarrior]

Well the accepted reasoning behind the naming of both Greenland and Iceland was that the Vikings wanted to give false impressions of the land there. Like people who were travellers then would have thought ' Hey lets go and invade Greenland, sounds like a good place for a colony and trading post' while people would have been less likely to go to Iceland because they would have thought the opposite "Man Iceland sounds cold, no need to go to a land made of ice". At least that was how my geography teacher explained it.

 

[Ballboy]

I don't think this is a country, but

does anyone know how Father Flanagan's "Boys Town" got its name??

 

[Starblayde]

"Greenland" has really been bugging me.

Greenland is covered in Ice
Iceland is covered in green grass

odd.

 

[CarolineOh]

The maps are not apocraphyl. Amergius wrote so much about the continents (much better than Columbus' diaries) and he is undeniably credited with the "separate from Asia" concept. There's a lot a writing, and there are all the maps. The story is very reliable.

Either that or it's an anagram for "I'M A RACE!"

Well. I'm just reporting that I heard about the dispute, I am not claiming to be a scholar on the matter.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Oh, I know.

The Greenland story reminds me of why Hollywood is named "Hollywood". The landowner wanted to make it sound good to Eastern buyers. "Holly" and "Wood" gave an impression of lush, green, woodland, instead of the scrubby desert it was/is.

 

[Starblayde]

The Romans named pretty much everything in Europe:

Hispania is spain... Espania in spanish...
Germania... Germany..
Romania.... it was full of Romans

In england:

any town with 'chester' in its name. Manchester, Gloucester, Chester..etc.... Plus Londinium became london...and the town of Bath was named after all the public baths in it...

I feel a Monty Python sketch coming on....

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I understand the Romans originally called Norway "Coldasfuckia", but the name never took.