Fenestella
Banned
First of all, I suspect that A, initial of all later discovered and named landmasses, was a conscious effort rather than a coincidence. Here is why:
1. A was already the initial of two of the three gerontogeous continents, Asia and Africa
2. America: eponym of Americus, Latin form of Amerigo (Vespucci), one of the explorers, not the earliest or the most famous.
3. Australia, neuter plural of australis, one of the several Latin word meaning "southern", the other ones are meridionalis (neuter plural: meridionalia), meridianus (neuter plural: meridiana), and more.
4. Antarctica: ant- (ἀντ- opposite) + arctica (ἀρκτικός, of bear), based on Arctic, a preexisting designation, whose initial happens to be A.
Here comes the alternatives, an acrostic:
Africa
Meridionalia or Meridiana: for Australia, vide supra (3.)
Europe
Rhipea or Riphea: for Asia. Rhipaei or Riphaei (Ῥίπαι) is an ancient name for the Ural (and Caucasus) Mountains, the demarcation between Europe and Asia. The vast majority of the Asians weren't familiar with the term "Asia" until ?, so no problem there.
India (Nova): for North America, the original misconception. The endonym of the real India is Bharat, so no confusion.
Columba: for South America. The name of Christophorus Columbus is sheer religious message and symbolism - christophorus (carrying Christ), columbus (dove, the Holy Spirit) - the zeitgeist back then, so no problem there.
Antarctica
1. A was already the initial of two of the three gerontogeous continents, Asia and Africa
2. America: eponym of Americus, Latin form of Amerigo (Vespucci), one of the explorers, not the earliest or the most famous.
3. Australia, neuter plural of australis, one of the several Latin word meaning "southern", the other ones are meridionalis (neuter plural: meridionalia), meridianus (neuter plural: meridiana), and more.
4. Antarctica: ant- (ἀντ- opposite) + arctica (ἀρκτικός, of bear), based on Arctic, a preexisting designation, whose initial happens to be A.
Here comes the alternatives, an acrostic:
Africa
Meridionalia or Meridiana: for Australia, vide supra (3.)
Europe
Rhipea or Riphea: for Asia. Rhipaei or Riphaei (Ῥίπαι) is an ancient name for the Ural (and Caucasus) Mountains, the demarcation between Europe and Asia. The vast majority of the Asians weren't familiar with the term "Asia" until ?, so no problem there.
India (Nova): for North America, the original misconception. The endonym of the real India is Bharat, so no confusion.
Columba: for South America. The name of Christophorus Columbus is sheer religious message and symbolism - christophorus (carrying Christ), columbus (dove, the Holy Spirit) - the zeitgeist back then, so no problem there.
Antarctica