{{Short description|Ways to refer to people from the United States of America}} {{about|demonyms for the people of the United States of America at large|demonyms of people from individual states|List of demonyms for US states and territories}} {{Use American English|date=July 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} thumb|Street sign in Luxembourg showing ''Rue des États-Unis'' (United States Road)
People from the United States of America are known as and refer to themselves as Americans. Different languages use different terms for citizens of the United States. All forms of English refer to US citizens as Americans, a term deriving from the United States of America, the country's official name. In the English context, it came to refer to inhabitants of British America, and then the United States.<ref name="OED">{{cite encyclopedia |title= American, ''n.'' and ''adj.''|encyclopedia= Oxford English Dictionary |year= 2008 |publisher= Oxford University Press|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/6342?redirectedFrom=American&|url-access=subscription }}</ref> There is some linguistic ambiguity over this use due to the other senses of the word ''American'', which can also refer to people from the Americas in general.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&q=Merriam-Webster%27s+Dictionary+of+English+Usage ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', p. 87]. Retrieved November 28, 2008.</ref> Some languages, including French, Japanese, and Russian, use cognates of ''American'' to refer to people from the United States. Others, particularly Spanish and Portuguese, primarily use terms derived from ''United States'' or ''North America''. There are various other local and colloquial names for Americans. The name America is the feminine form of the first name in ''Americus Vesputius'', the Latin name for Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
== Development of the term ''American'' == {{see also|American (word)|l1=''American'' (word)}}
Amerigo Vespucci first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as conjectured by Christopher Columbus, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to the peoples of the Old World. Martin Waldseemüller coined the term ''America'' (in honor of Vespucci) in a 1507 world map.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Holloway, Thomas H.|title=A Companion to Latin American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdrBUR6jtIYC&pg=PA6|year=2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Hoboken, NJ|isbn=978-1444338843|page=6}}</ref>
First uses of the adjective ''American'' referenced European settlements in the New World. Americans referred to the indigenous peoples of the Americas and subsequently to European settlers and their descendants.<ref name="OED"/> English use of the term ''American'' for people of European descent dates to the 17th century, with the earliest recorded appearance being in Thomas Gage's ''The English-American: A New Survey of the West Indies'' in 1648.<ref name="OED"/> In English, ''American'' came to be applied especially to people in British America and thus its use as a demonym for the United States derives by extension.<ref name="OED"/>
The United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 refers to "the thirteen {{Sic|united|expected=United}} States of America",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/charters_downloads.html|title=The Charters of Freedom|publisher=National Archives|access-date=2007-06-20}}</ref> making the first formal use of the country name, which was officially adopted in 1777 by the nation's first governing constitution, the Articles of Confederation.<ref>Articles of Confederation, Article 1. Available at the Library of Congress' [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127 American Memory].</ref> The ''Federalist Papers'' of 1787–1788, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison to advocate the ratification of the United States Constitution, use the word ''American'' in both its original Pan-American sense, but also in its United States sense: Federalist Paper 24 refers to the "American possessions" of Britain and Spain<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa24.htm|title=The Federalist no. 24|author=Alexander Hamilton}}</ref> (i.e. land outside of the United States) while Federalist Papers 51<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm|title=The Federalist no. 51|author=James Madison}}</ref> and 70<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa70.htm|author=Alexander Hamilton|title=The Federalist no. 70}}</ref> refer to the United States as "the American republic". People from the United States increasingly referred to themselves as Americans through the end of the 18th century and the 1795 Treaty of Peace and Amity with the Barbary States refers to "American Citizens"<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/barbary/bar1795t.htm | title=The Barbary Treaties: Treaty of Peace and Amity | access-date=2008-11-10 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120145942/http://www.yale.edu./lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/barbary/bar1795t.htm | archive-date=2008-11-20 | url-status=dead }}</ref> while George Washington spoke to his people of "[t]he name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity" in his 1796 farewell address.<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp "Washington's Farewell Address 1796"]. From The Avalon Project. Retrieved November 10, 2008.</ref> Eventually, this usage spread through other English-speaking countries and the unqualified noun ''American'' in all forms of the English language now chiefly refers to natives or citizens of the United States, though other senses are generally specified with a qualifier such as Latin American or North American.<ref name="OED"/>
== International use == International speakers of English generally refer to people from the United States as Americans while equivalent translations of American are used in many other languages, namely Italian ({{lang|it|americano}}), Dutch (''{{lang|nl|Amerikaan}}''), Afrikaans (''{{lang|af|Amerikaner}}''), Japanese ({{lang|ja|アメリカ人}}, rōmaji: ''amerika-jin''), Filipino (''{{lang|fil|Amerikano}}''), Hebrew ({{lang|he|אמריקני}} or {{lang|he|אמריקאי}}), Arabic ({{lang|ar|أمريكي}}), Portuguese ({{lang|pt|americano}}), Russian ({{lang|ru|американец, американка}}) and Hindi (अमरीकी transliteration: ''Amreeki'').
In French, ''{{lang|fr|Américain}}'' is used in a colloquial way. ''{{lang|fr|États-unien}}'', derived from ''{{lang|fr|États-Unis}}'' (United States), while rarer, is increasingly used, including by some scholars.
In Italian, both ''{{lang|it|americano}}'' and ''{{lang|it|statunitense}}'' are used, although the former is more common.
In German, the designation ''{{lang|de|US-Amerikaner}}'' and its adjective form ''{{lang|de|US-amerikanisch}}'' are sometimes used, though ''{{lang|de|Amerikaner}}'' (adjective: ''{{lang|de|amerikanisch}}'') is more common in scientific, official, journalistic, and colloquial parlance. The style manual of the {{Lang|de|Neue Zürcher Zeitung}}, the leading German-language newspaper in Switzerland, dismisses the term ''US-amerikanisch'' as both "unnecessary" and "artificial" and recommends the term ''{{lang|de|amerikanisch}}''.<ref>''Vademecum. Der sprachlich-technische Leitfaden der «Neuen Zürcher Zeitung»'', 13th edition. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich 2013, p. 102, s. v. ''US-amerikanisch''.</ref> Moreover, respective guidelines of the foreign ministries of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland all dictate ''{{lang|de|Amerikaner/amerikanisch}}'' for official usage.<ref>Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten: [http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/topics/intla/cintla.Par.0011.File.tmp/lt_080506_statenames_de.pdf „Liste der Staatenbezeichnungen“] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103122940/https://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib/downloads/edazen/topics/intla/cintla.Par.0011.File.tmp/lt_080506_statenames_de.pdf |date=2015-11-03 }} (PDF)</ref><ref>Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten: [http://www.bmeia.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/oracle/staatennamen_de.pdf „Liste der Staatennamen und deren Ableitungen in den vom Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten verwendeten Formen“] (PDF)</ref><ref>Auswärtiges Amt: [http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/cae/servlet/contentblob/332368/publicationFile/3097/Staatennamen.pdf „Verzeichnis der Staatennamen für den amtlichen Gebrauch in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“] (PDF)</ref> ''Ami'' is a slang term common in colloquial speech.
In Spanish, the ''{{lang|es|Diccionario panhispánico de dudas}}'' ({{langx|en|Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts|italic=yes}}), published by the Royal Spanish Academy and the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, recommends the genderless term ''{{lang|es|estadounidense}}'' (literally ''United Statesian'', sometimes spelled as ''{{lang|es|estadunidense}}''),<ref>{{Cite web |last=ASALE |first=RAE- |last2=RAE |title=estadunidense {{!}} Diccionario de la lengua española |url=https://dle.rae.es/estadunidense |access-date=2026-02-14 |website=«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario |language=es}}</ref> because ''{{lang|es|americano/a}}'' also refers to all the inhabitants of the continents of North and South America.<ref>{{in lang|es}} "El gentilicio recomendado, por ser el de uso mayoritario, es estadounidense" [http://lema.rae.es/dpd/?key=americano] Real Academia Española. Retrieved January 22, 2019.</ref> ''{{lang|es|Norteamericano}}'' and ''{{lang|es|norteamericana}}'' are also common. In Latin American Spanish colloquial speech, Americans may be referred to as ''{{lang|es|gringos}}'', but the word usually carries a disparaging connotation; in Spain and Argentina, a more common word with a similar meaning to ''{{lang|es|gringo}}'' is ''{{lang|es|yanqui}}'' (from the English ''Yankee'').<ref>{{in lang|es}} "Yanqui" [http://dle.rae.es/?id=c9FZ3zH] Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Retrieved November 8, 2019.</ref>
In Portuguese, the terms are ''{{lang|pt|americano}}'', ''{{lang|pt|norte-americano}}'' and ''{{lang|pt|estado-unidense}}''. The term ''{{lang|pt|americano}}'' is the mostly used in colloquial speech, but the press usually uses ''{{lang|pt|norte-americano}}''. The everyday use of the term ''{{lang|pt|estado-unidense}}'' and its variant ''{{lang|pt|estadunidense}}'' (only registered in Brazilian dictionaries) is less common, especially in Portugal, but its use is defended as the preferred by some academics.<ref>[https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2022/08/01/americano-estadunidense-ou-norte-americano-as-disputas-sobre-o-uso-do-termo-para-nascidos-nos-eua.ghtml Americano, estadunidense ou norte-americano, ''Globo'', 2022]</ref>
In Chinese, there are distinct words for American in the continental sense and American in the national sense. The United States of America is called {{lang|zh|美国}} (Pinyin: ''měiguó''; Jyutping: ''mei5 gwok3'') while the continents of the Americas are called {{lang|zh|美洲}} (Pinyin: ''měizhōu''; Jyutping: ''mei5 zau1''). There are separate demonyms derived from each word and a United States citizen is referred to as {{lang|zh|美国人}} (Pinyin: ''měiguó rén''; Jyutping: ''mei5 gwok3 yan4'').
In the constructed language Esperanto, ''{{lang|eo|usonano}}'', similar to ''{{lang|eo|Usonian}}'', is the standard term for an American. The United States itself is called ''{{lang|eo|Usono}}'', similar to ''Usonia''. Only in formal contexts is the United States referred to by the long-form official name ''{{lang|eo|Unuiĝintaj Ŝtatoj de Ameriko}}'' or ''{{lang|eo|Unuiĝintaj Ŝtatoj de Nord-Ameriko}}'' (United States of North America). L. L. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, used the ''{{lang|eo|Usono}}'' terms as early as 1910.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reta-vortaro.de/revo/ |title=Uson/o |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Reta Vortaro |access-date=5 May 2020 }}</ref>
== Alternative terms == The only officially and commonly used alternative for referring to the people of the United States in English is to refer to them as citizens of that country.<ref name="Columbia">Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). [http://www.bartleby.com/68/37/337.html "American, America"]. From ''The Columbia Guide to Standard American English''. Retrieved April 27, 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629061728/http://www.bartleby.com/68/37/337.html |date=June 29, 2008 }}</ref> Another alternative is '''US-American''',<ref>University of the Pacific (United States): [http://www2.pacific.edu/sis/culture/pub/1.4.4_-_Sources_of_US-Americ.htm ''1.5.4 - Sources of US-American Culture'']</ref> also spelled '''US American'''.
Several single-word English alternatives for American have been suggested over time, especially '''Usonian''', popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright,<ref>The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' (1999:1580) gives the first meaning of the noun ''Usonian'' as "a native or inhabitant of the United States".</ref> and the nonce term '''United-Statesian'''.<ref>[http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/cgi/entry/50267808?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=United+States&first=1&max_to_show=10 "United States"]{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. From the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Retrieved May 4, 2009.</ref>
Writer H. L. Mencken collected a number of proposals from between 1789 and 1939, finding terms including '''Columbian''', '''Columbard''', '''Fredonian''', '''Frede''', '''Unisian''', '''United Statesian''', '''Colonican''', '''Appalacian''', '''Usian''', '''Washingtonian''', '''Usonian''', '''Uessian''', '''U-S-ian''', '''Uesican''', and '''United Stater'''.<ref>''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'' (1994:88). First published in the December 1947 issue of ''American Speech''.</ref> Names for broader categories include terms such as '''Pan-American''', '''Western Hemispherian''', '''New Worlder''', and '''North Atlantican'''.<ref name="OEDPANAMERICAN">{{OED|Pan-American}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Matthews|first1=Allan|title=Sovereigns Peacefully Take Charge|date=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bartow|first1=Arthur|title=The director's voice|url=https://archive.org/details/directorsvoicetw00bart|url-access=registration|date=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/directorsvoicetw00bart/page/50 50]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Carlson|first1=Elwood|title=The lucky few|date=2008|page=15}}</ref>
Nevertheless, no alternative to "American" is common in English.<ref name="Columbia" />
== Yankee == {{main|Yankee}}
''Yankee'' (or ''Yank'') is a colloquial term for Americans in English; cognates can be found in other languages. Within the United States, ''Yankee'' usually refers to people specifically from New England or the Northern United States, though it has been applied to Americans in general since the 18th century, especially by the British.<ref name="Yankee">[http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/cgi/entry/50288716?query_type=word&queryword=yankee&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&result_place=1&search_id=870u-3SrWAT-7089&hilite=50288716 "Yankee"]{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. From the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Retrieved November 27, 2008.</ref> The earliest recorded use in this context is in a 1784 letter by Horatio Nelson.<ref name="Yankee"/>
The cockney rhyming slang and Australian derogatory slang term ''septic'' (and in the Australian case, ''seppo'') derive from rhyming "yank" with "septic tank".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/seppo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815072713/https://www.lexico.com/definition/seppo |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |title=Lexico: seppo |website=www.lexico.com |publisher=Oxford English Dictionary |date=2020 |access-date=October 16, 2020}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|Language|United States}} * List of demonyms for US states and territories
== References == === Notes === {{reflist}}
=== Bibliography === * {{cite book|title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage|publisher=Merriam-Webster, Inc.|year=1994|url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr|url-access=registration|quote=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.|isbn=978-0-87779-132-4}} * {{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=June 2002|url=http://dictionary.oed.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/}}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demonyms for the United States}} Category:Culture of the United States Category:Ethnonyms Category:Political terminology Category:Demonyms