Why does the United States call itself 'America'?

Question

Why do people from the United States call themselves 'Americans'? Isn't America a continent? And what are the rest of us Americans called? If America is a continent, why is it that here it is South America, Central America and North America? Why do they have to stand appart?

Ok....so...is it ok for me to call myself American, even if i am not from the United States? Also, UnitedStatians doesn't sound that bad. Moreover, you could call yourselves simply Statians. That'd be cool. It would be like people from Republica Dominicana: Dominicans, or Haiti: Haitians. They don't complain, do they? LOL

My point is: I want to have the right to call myself American, without being automatically connected to the US.

Answer 1

The United States is our country--our continent is North America. The same could be said for people living in Kenya, Africa. Some refer to themselves as Kenyan, some call themselves African. I think it's easier to refer to myself as American. I live in Georgia, so I'm also a Georgian. I live in Atlanta, Georgia, so I'm an Atlantan. I really don't know what you'd call yourself if you referred to your country...a United Statesan? United Statser? American is just easier.

Answer 2

America is not a continent. There is not one America but two. As far as "Central America" that's not a continent but just a location between the North America and South America continents. To be specific we're called the United States of America. There is no way you could call yourself something like "United Statian" or anything like that. It's the same thing with people that live in other countries with longer names. We are the only states that are united in the Americas hence the name.

Answer 3

It's the United States of America, we're certainly not going to call ourselves United Statians. The rest of you call yourselves by your respective countries, simple enough?
As for the other question, South America is hanging by a thread off of North America, so might as well be a different continent.
A better question to ask would be why are Europe and Asia seperate continents.

Answer 4

Because we are the United States of America located on the North American continent. If we were South Canada, we'd we be South Canadians instead of Americans.

Answer 5

Because the official name of the US is The United States of America. USA. America is in the title, so instead of calling ourselves United Statesians, we call ourselves Americans. Flows a little bit better, don't you think? So America is the name of our country, as well as part of the continents name. We could (along with Canadians) call ourselves North Americans if we wanted to reference the continent.

Answer 6

because the name is the 'United States of America' and America is just short for that. I think it does annoy some other North, Central,South Americans, but it's just easier to say. It's certainly easier to say American than United Statesian or whatever it would be (USA-ers?). And people from other continents call us Americans. Bottom line, America is part of our country's name, so we use it.

Answer 7

This is a really old question. Let me cover it again, slowly, so that you can understand.

The name of the country is the United States of America, abbreviated USA. I don't live in America, I live in the US. However, I am American. What's the alternative? "USan" doesn't really work.

Look at the United Kingdom. You can say you're from the UK, but you are British, English, etc.

Answer 8

Because of Amerigo Vespucci the explorer. I agree with you on the "americans" part. It just indicates the country you are a resident of really. I'm german and irish but I can't call myself a German or Irishmen. Only in heritage.

Answer 9

We're named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who deserves more credit for finding us than Columbus. No kidding.

Answer 10

Because Americans is easier to say than UnitedStatesians.