Which explorer is the namesake of the continents of the Americas?

Which explorer is the namesake of the continents of the Americas?

• A. John Cabot
• B. Ferdinand Magellan
• C. Amerigo Vespucci
• D. Christopher Columbus

Answer: (C)

How geographic names arise from exploration and mapmaking. The continents are named after Amerigo Vespucci because his published accounts helped establish that the lands discovered in the West were a separate continent, not Asia. In 1507, cartographer Martin Waldseemüller labeled the new land as America, using the Latin form Americus Vespuccius in Vespucci’s honor. The name stuck and came to refer to both continents. Other explorers—John Cabot, Ferdinand Magellan, and Christopher Columbus—made important voyages, but their names did not become the label for the continents.

How geographic names arise from exploration and mapmaking. The continents are named after Amerigo Vespucci because his published accounts helped establish that the lands discovered in the West were a separate continent, not Asia. In 1507, cartographer Martin Waldseemüller labeled the new land as America, using the Latin form Americus Vespuccius in Vespucci’s honor. The name stuck and came to refer to both continents. Other explorers—John Cabot, Ferdinand Magellan, and Christopher Columbus—made important voyages, but their names did not become the label for the continents.