When did the United States claim the name ‘America’?

Key Points:

• On Labor Day, President Donald Trump posted maps renaming New Mexico as “New America,” continuing his recent trend of geographic renaming, which includes renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
• These renaming efforts, despite being unpopular in polls, reflect a form of geographic and linguistic jingoism, with Trump even suggesting the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans be renamed to include “America.”
• Historically, the term “America” originally referred to the entire continents of North and South America, not just the United States, and was first used on a 1507 map by Martin Waldseemüller, named after explorer Amerigo Vespucci.
• The US gradually asserted exclusive claim over the term “America” as it transitioned into a colonial empire in the late 19th century, with the name becoming synonymous with the United States in political and cultural contexts, despite ongoing Latin American usage of “America” to describe the whole hemisphere.
• Latin American intellectuals and leaders have historically resisted the US-centric use of “America,” advocating for a broader hemispheric identity, which adds a layer of political and cultural tension to Trump’s recent renaming actions.