Where did the word America come from??

Question

My daughter asked me today where and when did we become known as Americans and who named this continent North America and to be honest i should know this but i didn't have an answer sooooo anyone out there know??

Answer 1

The word comes from "Amerigo" as in Amerigo Vespucci.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas#Na...

Answer 2

It was named after Amerigo Vespucci.

Answer 3

I believe it was named after an Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucious. He either discovered our homeland before or after Columbus, I don't remember the date, but it was around the same time.