---
title: Vespucci reached there first
date: "2001-05-15T12:00:00Z"
categories:
  - links
wp_id: 1824
description: I explore why America bears Amerigo Vespucci's name rather than Columbus's, highlighting theories that Vespucci reached the mainland first or simply marketed his travels more effectively through widely published accounts and maps.
keywords: [amerigo vespucci, christopher columbus, naming of america, age of discovery, cartography, exploration history]
---

Why is America named after Amerigo Vespucci, and not Columbus? Perhaps because Vespucci [reached there first](http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497vespucci-america.html). Or perhaps he [marketed America better](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_021.html). Ironic.