Severalnames of the United States of America are in common use. Alternatives to the full name include "the United States", "America", and theinitialisms "the U.S." and "the U.S.A.".
It is generally accepted that the name "America" derives from the Italian explorerAmerigo Vespucci. The term dates back to 1507, when it appeared on a world map created by the German cartographerMartin Waldseemüller, in honor of Vespucci, applied to the land that is nowBrazil. The full name "United States of America" was first used during theAmerican Revolutionary War, though its precise origin is a matter of contention.[1] The newly formed union was first known as the "United Colonies", and the earliest known usage of the modern full name dates from aJanuary 2, 1776 letter written between two military officers. TheArticles of Confederation, prepared byJohn Dickinson, and theDeclaration of Independence, drafted byThomas Jefferson, both contain the phrase "United States of America." The name was officially adopted by the second Continental Congress onSeptember 9, 1776.
The earliest known use of the name "America" dates to 1505, when German poetMatthias Ringmann used it in a poem about theNew World.[2] The word is a Latinized form of the first name of Italian explorerAmerigo Vespucci, who first proposed that theWest Indies discovered byChristopher Columbus in 1492 were part of a previously unknown landmass, rather than the eastern limit ofAsia.[3][4][5] OnApril 25, 1507, the mapUniversalis Cosmographia, created by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, was published alongside this poem.[2][5] The map uses the label "America" for what is now known as South America. In 1538, the Flemish cartographerGerardus Mercator used the name "America" on his own world map, applying it to the entireWestern Hemisphere.[6]
Alternative theories suggest that "America" derives from theAmerrisque Mountains ofNicaragua,[7] or from the surname of wealthy Anglo-Welsh merchantRichard Amerike.[8]
The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" dates from aJanuary 2, 1776, letter written byStephen Moylan, Esquire, toGeorge Washington'saide-de-campJoseph Reed. Moylan was fulfilling Reed's role during the latter's absence.[1] Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in theRevolutionary War effort.[1][9][10] The first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay inThe Virginia Gazette newspaper inWilliamsburg, Virginia, onApril 6, 1776.[11] It is commonly mistaken thatThomas Paine coined the term in his pamphletCommon Sense, published in January 1776, but he never used the final form.[1][a]
The second draft of theArticles of Confederation, prepared byJohn Dickinson and completed no later thanJune 17, 1776, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the 'United States of America'."[12] The final version of the Articles, sent to the states for ratification in late 1777, stated that "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'."[13] In June 1776,Thomas Jefferson wrote "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught"[b] of theDeclaration of Independence. This draft of the document did not surface untilJune 21, 1776, and it is unclear whether it was written before or after Dickinson used the term in his June 17 draft of the Articles of Confederation.[12] In any case, the Declaration of Independence was the first official document to use the nation's new title.[1]
In the early days of theAmerican Revolution, the colonies as a unit were most commonly referred to as the "United Colonies". For example, president of the Continental CongressRichard Henry Lee wrote ina June 7, 1776 resolution: "These United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, free and independent States."[14] Before 1776, names for the colonies varied significantly; they included "Twelve United English Colonies of North America", "United Colonies of North America", and others.[15] On September 9, 1776, theSecond Continental Congress officially changed the nation's name to the "United States of America".[14][16]
In the first few years of the United States, however, there remained some discrepancies of usage. In theTreaty of Alliance (1778) with France, the term "United States of North America" was used. In accordance with this usage, when the Congress was drawing bills of exchange for French commissioners on May 19, 1778, they decided to use this term.[17] President of the Continental CongressHenry Laurens even wrote that "Congress have adopted the Stile of the Treaties of Paris, 'the United States of North America'." Congress, however, reconsidered this change on July 11, 1778 and resolved to drop "North" from the bills of exchange, making them consistent with the name adopted in 1776.[15][18]
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Since theArticles of Confederation, the concept of aPerpetual Union between the states has existed, and "Union" has become synonymous with "United States".[19] This usage was especially prevalent during theCivil War, when it referred specifically to theloyalist northern states which remained part of the federal union.[20]
The term "America" was less commonly used in the United States before the 1890s. HistorianDaniel Immerwahr found that "one can search through all the messages and public papers of the presidents—including annual messages, inaugural addresses, proclamations, special messages to Congress, and much more—from the founding to 1898 and encounter only eleven unambiguous references to the country as America, about one per decade." This changed withTheodore Roosevelt, who "spoke of America in his first annual message and never looked back. In one two-week period, Roosevelt used the name more than all his predecessors combined had. Every president since has usedAmerica freely and frequently." The term "America" did not appear in patriotic songs composed during the eighteenth and most of the nineteenth centuries, including "The Star-Spangled Banner", "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic"; it is used in "America the Beautiful" of 1895 and is common in twentieth-century songs like "God Bless America", written in 1918.[21][22]
The name "Columbia", popular inAmerican poetry and songs of the late eighteenth century, derives its origin fromChristopher Columbus. Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country ofColombia and theDistrict of Columbia.[23]
Circa 1810, the termUncle Sam was "acant term in thearmy for the United States," according to an 1810 editionNiles' Weekly Register.[24] Uncle Sam is now known as anational personification of the United States.
The phrase "United States" was originally plural, a description of a collection of independent states—e.g., "the United States are"—including in theThirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865.[25][26] The singular form became popular after the end of the Civil War, and is now standard.[27] However, the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States".[28] The difference is more significant than usage; it is a difference between a collection of states and a unit.[27]
The transition from plural to singular was gradual.[26] In a May 4, 1901, column in theNew York Times titled "ARE OR IS? Whether a Plural or Singular Verb Goes With the Words United States", former Secretary of StateJohn W. Foster noted that early statesmen such asAlexander Hamilton andDaniel Webster had used the singular form, as well as theTreaty of Paris (1898) andHay–Pauncefote Treaty of 1900; conversely, mostSupreme Court decisions still used the plural form. He concludes that "since the civil war the tendency has been towards [singular] use."[29]Mark Liberman of theUniversity of Pennsylvania found that, in the corpus of Supreme Court opinions, the transition to singular usage occurred in the early 1900s.[30] Among English-language books, the transition happened earlier, around 1880.[31]
The name "United States" is unambiguous; "United States of America" may be used in titles or when extra formality is desired. However, "United States" and "U.S." may be used adjectivally, while the full name cannot.[32] English usage of "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "Americas" as the totality of North and South America.[33] "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad.[34] A jocular and sometimes derogatory name is alternatively spelled "Merica" or "Murica".[35][36]
The officialU.S. Government Publishing Office Style Manual prescribes specific usages for "U.S." and "United States". In treaties, congressional bills, etc.,[c] "United States" is always used. In a sentence containing the name of another country, "United States" must be used. Otherwise, "U.S." is used preceding a government organization or as an adjective, but "United States" is used as an adjective preceding non-governmental organizations (e.g. United States Steel Corporation).[37]
Style guides conflict over how various names for the United States should be used. TheChicago Manual of Style, until the 17th edition, required "US" and "U.S." to be used as an adjective; it now permits the usage of both as a noun,[38][39] though "United States" is still preferred in this case.[40] TheAssociated Press Stylebook permits the usage of "US" and "U.S." as both adjectives and nouns, though "US" (without the periods) is only allowed in headlines.APA Style, in contrast, only allows "U.S." to be used as an adjective, and disallows "US".[41]
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InSpanish, the United States of America is known asEstados Unidos de América (abbreviatedEE. UU. orEUA).[42][43] The Americas are known simply asAmérica.[44] Spanish usesestadounidense and less commonly,americano for the adjectival form, thoughamericano more often refers to anyone or anything from theAmericas.[45][46] OtherRomance languages likeFrench (translatedÉtats-Unis d'Amérique),[47]Portuguese (Estados Unidos da América),[48]Italian (Stati Uniti d'America)[49] orRomanian (Statele Unite ale Americii) follow a similar pattern. InGerman, the country's name is translated toVereinigte Staaten von Amerika[50] and inDutch toVerenigde Staten van Amerika.[51] InEsperanto, the United States is known as "Usono," with the adjective form for American being "Usona." These constructions borrow the first letters of the English words United States of North America, while changing the final "a" to an "o" for the noun form in conformance with the rules ofEsperanto grammar.
The U.S. flag was brought to the city ofCanton (Guǎngzhōu) in China in 1784 by the merchant shipEmpress of China, which carried a cargo ofginseng.[52] There it gained the designation "Flower Flag" (Chinese:花旗;pinyin:huāqí;Cantonese Yale:fākeì).[53] According to a pseudonymous account first published in theBoston Courier and later retold by author and U.S. naval officerGeorge H. Preble:
When the thirteen stripes and stars first appeared at Canton, much curiosity was excited among the people. News was circulated that a strange ship had arrived from the further end of the world, bearing a flag "as beautiful as a flower". Every body went to see thekwa kee chuen [花旗船;Fākeìsyùhn], or "flower flagship". This name at once established itself in the language, and America is now called thekwa kee kwoh [花旗國;Fākeìgwok], the "flower flag country"—and an American,kwa kee kwoh yin [花旗國人;Fākeìgwokyàhn]—"flower flag countryman"—a more complimentary designation than that of "red headed barbarian"—the name first bestowed upon the Dutch.[54][55]
The names given were common usage in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[56]
The modern standard Chinese name for the United States isMěiguó from Mandarin (美国;美國, with the first characterměi literally meaning 'beautiful'). This is an abbreviated form of the full nameMěilìjiān Hézhòngguó (美利坚合众国;美利堅合眾國).[57]Hézhòngguó was a coinage, probably byElijah Coleman Bridgman around 1844, which attempted to convey the idea of "many states" (zhòngguó) which are "united" (hé), but due torebracketing this term became more commonly understood as a "country" (guó) comprising a "union of many" (hézhòng).[58][59]Měilìjiān is atranscription into Chinese characters of "American". which survives in modern Chinese usage alongsideYàměilìjiā (亚美利加;亞美利加, "America"). In the 19th century, there were also several other transcriptions usingmò (黙 'silence',墨 'ink') ormí (彌 'full') to represent the second syllable of "America", but these fell out of usage.[60] The Americas are known asMěizhōu (Chinese:美洲), withMěi having the same etymology as inMěiguó.[61] These names are unrelated to the flag. However, the "flower flag" terminology persists in some places today: for example,American ginseng is calledflower flag ginseng (花旗参;花旗參) in Chinese, andCitibank, which opened a branch in China in 1902, is known asFlower Flag Bank (花旗银行).[56]
Similarly,Vietnamese also uses the borrowed term from Chinese withSino-Vietnamese reading for the United States, asHoa Kỳ from花旗 ("Flower Flag"). Even though the United States is also callednước Mỹ (or simplerMỹ) colloquially in Vietnamese before the nameMěiguó was popular amongst Chinese,Hoa Kỳ is always recognized as the formal name for the United States with theVietnamese state officially designates it asHợp chúng quốc Hoa Kỳ (chữ Hán:合眾國 花旗,lit. 'United states of the Flower Flag').[62] By that, in Vietnam, the U.S. is also nicknamedxứ Cờ Hoa ("land of Flower Flag") based on theHoa Kỳ designation.[63]
InJapanese, the U.S. is known asAmerika (アメリカ) in speech or sometimes asBeikoku (米国) in formal writing.[64] In the formal long nameAmerika Gasshūkoku (アメリカ合衆国), the termGasshūkoku was borrowed from ChineseHézhòngguó; this replaced other translations of "United States" such asMitsukuri Shōgo [ja]'sKyōwaseijishū (共和政治州, "states with republican government").[65] Historically, Japanese had used a different kanji transcription for "America" (亞墨利加, with the second character墨 meaning 'ink'), following the 17th-centuryKunyu Wanguo Quantu map. This transcription continued to be used throughout the 18th and 19th centuries (e.g. inArai Hakuseki's 1715Seiyō Kibun). Mitsukuri used both this and a different transcription (米里堅, using the character米 'uncooked rice'), the latter following the usage inRobert Morrison's 1822 Chinese–English dictionary. A transcription using the character 'uncooked rice' was also used in the Japanese version of the 1853Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity, and thereafter that first character was adopted to form the short name of the US in formal writing.[66] Japanese works, unlike those in neighboring countries, never adopted any of the transcriptions containing the character 'beautiful' (美).[67]
In Korean, the U.S. is known asMiguk (Korean: 미국;Hanja: 美國),[68] which has been suggested as the etymology for the ethnic slurgook.[69] InBurmese, the U.S. is known as အမေရိကန်ပြည်ထောင်စု (amerikan pyedaungsu), literally "American Union."[70] InHindi, the U.S. is translated toअमेरिका के संयुक्त राज्य (amērikā kē saṁyukta rājya).[71] InKannada, the U.S. is known asಅಮೆರಿಕದ ಸಂಯುಕ್ತ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾನ (amerikada saṁyukta saṁsthāna), literally "America's Union of States".[72]
Resolved, That the resolutions of Congress of the 19 May last, relative to bills of exchange... that the word 'North,' preceding the word 'America,' be omitted in the form of the bills...
Indeed, not only does the Constitution consistently use the plural construct, but so do official texts in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War — as with the pronominal anaphora used in the 13th Amendment
Among statesmen who have used the singular form may be cited Hamiltion, Webster.... The decisions of the Supreme Court... rarely show the use of the singular.... in the peace treaty with Spain of 1898, the term... is uniformly treated in the singular.... The Hay-Paunce-fote canal treaty of 1900... also treats 'United States' as a singular noun.
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