The Terrible Meanings of Names by Justin Cord Hayes

Author:Justin Cord Hayes [Hayes, Justin Cord]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781440552564
Publisher: Adams Media
Published: 2013-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Henry the Beautiful

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, yet he got shafted when it came to the name of the land he “discovered.” Why did Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), rather than Columbus, get naming rights for the Americas? Because he figured out something Columbus never accepted. Columbus believed his discovery was the outskirts of Asia, whereas Vespucci figured out the new landmass was one previously unknown to explorers. As a result, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller (1470–1520) labeled the new land America. Americus is the Latinized version of Vespucci’s first name, which Waldseemüller made feminine—America. But wait, as the TV pitchmen say, there’s more. Amerigo is an Italian form of a medieval Latin name, Emericus, which is an early form of the common name Henry. That’s right. We’re in the United States of Henry.

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