Name of the Day – America

As a place name, America can refer to either the continents of the New World or the United States of America. The word itself was derived from Americus, the Latinized version of Amerigo, the name of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512).

The Italian name Amerigo can be traced back to the Germanic name Heimerich, which consists of Germanic elements meaning “home” and “ruler.”

After an absence of about 9 decades, America re-appeared on the list of popular baby names in 1998 (ranked #912 for baby girls). It has since grown in popularity, and as of 2006 was ranked 458th.

P.S. for those in the U.S. – Happy 4th, everyone!