Alternate Names for the Americas

Count Dearborn · Dec 8, 2004

Here is a list of names that have been used for Americas:

Antillea
Hesperia
Cimmeria
Hyberborea
Vespuccia
Brendania

Does anyone know of any other names from myth, and fantastic histories from America?

David S Poepoe · Dec 8, 2004

The most obvious - Columbia!

Are you sure about Hyberborea? I may be getting that mixed up with something from Conan the Barbarian, but isn't that further north?

Did Bacon make reference to the western continent as New Atlantis?

Raymann · Dec 8, 2004

Yeah man, Columbia of course. Alantica maybe. If someone seen the Aztec pyramids earlier then perhaps Atlantis but thats a streach.

George Carty · Dec 8, 2004

Islamic America?

Any ideas for how Muslim explorers might have named the Americas? 'Western land' (Al-Maghrib) is already taken for NW Africa, and I don't think 'New Maghrib' or 'New Andalus' or anything similar would be their style. Could Amerindian-derived names such as 'al-Ghunqiyyah', 'al-Iruquyyah' or 'al-Mishiqa' be used?

Leo Caesius · Dec 8, 2004

Let's not forget Hi-Brazil. That's my favorite, as even though it's Irish, it lends itself to a credible Phoenician etymology: 'Y BRZL or "Island of Iron." It was "officiallly" discovered by an Irish sea captain in 1671, who claimed that it was populated by rabbits and an old wizard who kept to himself in a castle. The wizard told the captain that the spell which had concealed the island from the eyes of mortals had been broken.

Of course, it was never found again.

Leo Caesius · Dec 8, 2004

George Carty said:
Any ideas for how Muslim explorers might have named the Americas? 'Western land' (Al-Maghrib) is already taken for NW Africa, and I don't think 'New Maghrib' or 'New Andalus' or anything similar would be their style. Could Amerindian-derived names such as 'al-Ghunqiyyah', 'al-Iruquyyah' or 'al-Mishiqa' be used?

Judging by what they did in Africa, geographic names like as-Sahel ("the coast") will also be common, just as descriptive names would (al-Humran "the Red Ones"). I could see Aghrab ("the most western") being used as a general term for the New World. It's also possible that they would believe that they had found China, and named the whole place as-Sin and its people as-Siniyyun.

Diamond · Dec 8, 2004

I'm using 'Septentria' for my Romano-Carthaginian TL North America. In my pidgin latin, that translates roughly as 'land of the north'. I think.

South America is Austrinus.

Australia is Lemuria (Land of Ghosts (?) - named for the aborigines)

Alayta · Dec 8, 2004

Antieuropa would be as logical as aome other suggestions.
The antique geographers, the idols of the renaissance ones, liked to name islands after the opposing landmass. the antilles derives therof and is an example for how narrow this came true.

Edit: bad english? Sorry but I hope you know what i mean