July is an important month for North America. The two countries that occupy this space celebrate their birthdays. Canada comes first on July 1st, and the United States of America comes after on July the 4th! But the most interesting aspect of these birthdays is that the origins of their own names is shrouded in confusion and some controversy.
The name "America" is the most controversial, and it is widely accepted that it derived from "Amerigo Vespucchi" the 15th century explorer whose expeditions to the new continent were so well publicized that eventually everyone started calling the new land by his first name.
Yet compelling evidence seems to be surfacing from the most likely and unlikely places about the origins of the name "America".
Some strongly believe that the name derives from "Ommerike", an old Norse word that means "farthest outland". It's not at all unlikely because the Scandinavians have been visiting the new world before Christopher Columbus discovered it.
Others point to a much closer source, the Mayans. They claim that there is a Mayan word called "Amerrique" which means land of wind. There is also a second claim for an "American" root to the name with a connection to Vespucchi himself. In his expeditions, he stumbled upon an Indian tribe by the name of "Amerrique" in what is today Nicaragua. So when he returned to Europe, he introduced this name which cartographers started to use, and it was only a coincidence that his own name was similar to this tribe's name.
Lastly, there is a British theory to the name "America". Italian explorer John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) who worked for Britain named the continent "Amerika" in honor of the British official who was assigned to pay him for his services. The name of the official was Richard Ameryk!
Perhaps the most credible theory is the most widely known one that the continent was named in honor of Amerigo Vespucchi. But, the only catch is that he was not involved in the naming of the continent. It turns out that some German cartographers who were well informed of his discoveries came up with the name by taking the Latin version of his first name and feminizing it. And there you have America.
The story behind the name "Canada" on the other hand is equally mysterious, but it involves only a handful of theories.
The most widely accepted one is that it derives from "Kanata" which is believed to be an Iroquoian word that means village or settlement. Apparently when the French met the Iroquoians on the St. Lawrence River, they believed that was what the Indians meant when they were pointing to the shore. It should be noted, however, that the French and Iroquoians were never good at communicating with each other, and eventually became bitter enemies.
An interesting theory is that the name "Canada" was coined by Spanish looking for gold on the shores of North America. Unable and apparently peeved that they wasted their time looking for something that wasn't there, the Spanish showed their contempt for this region by naming it "acanada" which means "there is nothing here".
It was not at all unusual for cartographers to make mistakes such as missing a letter. Eventually, proponents of this theory say, one letter was dropped and the word "Canada" was born.
What's intriguing about this theory is that this is not the only name the Spanish had come up for Canada. On some of their maps, they also named it "Capa di Nada" which means "Cape Nothing". Again, that name also reflected the attitude that if an area had no gold lying on the beach as they were passing by, it was not worth a glorious name. And once again, if a cartographer lost four consecutive letters, the word "Canada" appears.
Others point to a place in India as the source of the name "Canada". They say that the name derives from an Indian region called Kanara, but they fail to establish a credible connection between India and North America.
In the end, it all goes full circle to the most widely accepted theory just as it does with the origins of the name "America". It is one more coincidence between two close neighbors that the origins of their own names would be shrouded in some confusion.
Sources:
The Naming of America: Fragments we shored against ourselves by Jonathan Cohen
http://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html
Bill Casselman's Canadian Words, By Bill Casselman