Alternative History

Argentina[]

  • Rio de La Plata
  • New Andalusia, (Spanish Nueva Andalucía) name of the original governorate that led to the formation of Argentina
  • the Argentine, archaic English language name.

Bahamas[]

  • Lucayas, original Spanish name of the Bahamas.

Belize[]

  • British Honduras, until 1973

Bolivia[]

  • New Toledo, (Spanish Nuevo Toledo) colonial name for what is now northern Chile, southern Peru and the Bolivian heartland
  • Upper Peru, (Spanish Alto Perú) colonial name for the region
  • Charcas, name of the entity that governed the region of Upper Peru

Brazil[]

  • Brasil, Portuguese name
  • Cabralia, (Portuguese Cabrália) after explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, name attested before colonization began
  • Ilha de Vera Cruz, name given by Portuguese captain Pedro Álvares Cabral, after discovery of the land
  • New Lusitania, (Portuguese Nova Lusitânia) popular Portuguese name for Brazil attested before colonization began
  • Pindorama, native name for the region meaning "land of palm trees"
  • Terra de Santa Cruz, renamed of above after finding out it was not an island.
  • Terra di Papaga, (Portuguese Terra dos Papagaios) name by Italian merchants after interviewing returned crews meaning "land of parrots"
  • Terra do Brasil, original full name in Portuguese before it was shortened to simply "Brasil"

Amapá[]

  • Cabo Norte, Portuguese colonial name for the region
  • Counani, name of a French state in the region
  • Oiapóquia, (obsolete spelling Oyapókia) proposed name for provincehood in 1853
  • Pinsônia, proposed name for provincehood in 1868

Amazonas[]

  • São José do Rio Negro, portuguese colonial name for the captaincy in the region

Bahia[]

  • Baía, respelling used during the WWII era
  • Todos os Santos, alternate shortening from "Baía de Todos os Santos"
  • Santos, further shortening from above

Ceará[]

  • Siará, very early colonial name

Goiás[]

  • Goyaz, obsolete spelling

Maranhão[]

  • Equinoctial France, (French France équinoxiale, Portuguese França Equinocial) French name for their colony in the region.

Mato Grosso[]

  • Mato Grosso do Norte, proposed name change when Mato Grosso do Sul was split from the rest of the state in 1977.
  • Matto Grosso, obsolete spelling

Mato Grosso do Sul[]

  • Amambaí, (obsolete spelling "Amambahy") from a proposed province map by the last governor of imperial Santa Catarina
  • Campo Grande, proposed name to differentiate from Mato Grosso, from the name of the capital city and the first name proposed during debates about the creation of the state in the 70s
  • Itatín, short-lived Spanish colony in the region
  • Maracaju, name used during the constitutionalist revolution of 1932.
  • Pantanal, proposed name to differentiate from Mato Grosso

Minas Gerais[]

  • Minas de Ouro, original name for the area before being split off from São Paulo in 1720.
  • Minas Geraes, obsolete spelling

Pará[]

  • Feliz Lusitânia, Portuguese name used until 1534
  • Grão-Pará, name used prior to declaration of the republic.

Paraíba[]

  • Parahyba, obsolete spelling
  • Itamaracá, name of captaincy roughly corresponding to the territory of Paraíba

Paraná[]

  • Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Paranaguá, name of the first captaincy headquartered in the region.
  • Rosário de Paranaguá, shortened name of above.
  • Rosário or Paranaguá, further shortened name of above.

Pernambuco[]

  • New Holland, (Dutch Nieuw Holland, Portuguese Nova Holanda) Dutch name for their colony in the region.

Piauí[]

  • Piauhy, obsolete spelling

Rio de Janeiro[]

  • Antarctic France, (French France Antarctique, Portuguese França Antártica) French name for their colony in the region.
  • Guanabara, name of the State consisting only of the city of Rio de Janeiro between 1960 and 1975. The surrounding rest of the state was still called Rio de Janeiro despite not having the city within its borders.

Rio Grande do Sul[]

  • d'El-Rei, first name of the region was the Captaincy of d'El-Rei
  • São Pedro, alternative shortening of "São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul" and "Rio Grande de São Pedro"

Rondônia[]

  • Guaporé, original name of the territory that would become Rondonia

Roraima[]

  • Rio Branco, original name of the territory that would become Roraima as well as the river that runs through the state.

Santa Catarina[]

  • Santana, original name of the captaincy from 1534 to 1656
  • Santa Catharina, obsolete spelling

São Paulo[]

  • São Vicente, original name of the captaincy from 1534 to 1709

Tocantins[]

  • São João das Duas Barras, short-lived captaincy in the area though with additional territory.
  • São João da Palma, later name for same short-lived captaincy in the area.
  • São João shortening of above names.
  • Duas Barras or Palma, alternate shortenings of one of the above names.

Canada[]

  • Acadia, the French colony.
  • Francisca (as labeled in an old map)

The names proposed for the Dominion formed in 1867:

  • Albertsland (after Prince Albert).
  • Albionora ("northern Albion").
  • Borealia (from a latin word meaning north).
  • Britannia
  • Cabotia (after John Cabot, one of the early european navigator to land in modern day Canada).
  • Colonia
  • Efisga (a combination of the first letters of England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and Aboriginal lands).
  • Hochelaga (a name used on early map to represent a large part of modern day central Canada, also former name of Montreal).
  • Norland
  • Superior
  • Transatlantia ("over the atlantic" from the british point of view).
  • Tupona (an acrostic for the United Provinces of North America).
  • Ursalia ("land of bears")
  • Vesperia ("land of the evening star")
  • Victorialand (after Queen Victoria)
  • Vinland

In addition, "Kingdom of Canada" was the prefered name among Canadians. "Dominion" was chosen largely as a result of American objections.

British Columbia[]

  • Cascadia, name for the Pacific Northwest + British Columbia
  • Columbia, the adjective of British was added to differentiate from the now-extinct American "Columbia District".
  • Nootka, name of the natives of the Cascadia region
  • Nutca, name of Spanish claim to the Oregon territory as a whole.

Labrador[]

  • Lavrador, original Portuguese name for the region
  • Markland, most likely place to have been called Markland by the Vikings is Labrador.

New Brunswick[]

  • Upper Acadia, colonial name

Newfoundland[]

  • Avalon, name of an English colonial project on the island in the early 17th century, today still used for the Avalon Peninsula.
  • Terranova, original name which was translated into "Newfoundland" English.
  • Vinland, most likely place to have been called Vinland by the Vikings is Newfoundland.

Northwest Territories[]

  • Denendeh, proposed name for the territories meaning "our land"
  • Nunatsiaq, native name for the territories meaning "beautiful land"

Nova Scotia[]

  • Lower Acadia, colonial name
  • New Scotland, English form of the Latin name

Nunavut[]

  • British Arctic Territories, British colonial name for what is now northern Nunavut
  • Helluland, most likely place to have been called Helluland by the Vikings is Baffin Island.

Ontario[]

  • Upper Canada, original colonial name

Prince Edward Island[]

  • Île Saint-Jean, (English St. John's Island) original French colonial name

Quebec[]

  • Canada: in earlier usage, the name Canada referred only to what is now Quebec.
  • Lower Canada, original colonial name.
  • New France, (French Nouvelle France) the capital of New France was the city of Québec.

Colombia[]

  • Cundinamarca, department of Gran Colombia in 1820-1824 corresponding to modern Colombia and Panama.
  • Gran Colombia Name of the federation of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.
  • New Andalusia, (Spanish Nueva Andalucía) colonial name for the atlantic coast of Colombia, the first part of the country to be reached by the Spanish
  • New Granada, (Spanish Nueva Granada) until 1819
  • Santa Fe, name of the audiencia that would become Colombia

Costa Rica[]

  • New Carthage, (Spanish Nuevo Cartago) name of the colonial province that would later become Costa Rica.

Cuba[]

  • Isla Juana, (English Jane Island) early Spanish colonial name for the island
  • Ilha Isabela, (English Isabelle Island) early Portuguese name for the island

Dominican Republic[]

  • Quisqueya, from a Taino name for either the whole island or one northeastern part of it.
  • Santo Domingo, Spanish colonial name.

Ecuador[]

  • Quito

Guyana[]

  • British Guiana, until 1966.

Haiti[]

  • Saint-Domingue, French colonial name.

Honduras[]

  • Comayagua, name of the colonial province that would later become Honduras.
  • Guaymuras, (or also Guaimura)
  • Higueras

Jamaica[]

  • Santiago, Spanish colonial name of the island

Mexico[]

  • México or Méjico, the name in Spanish, after the name of the City of México-Tenochtitlan.
  • Mēxihco ("Place where Mextli (god of the moon) lives" or "Place at the center of the Lake Moon") or Meshiko (rough rendering of the pronunciation into English), original name of city of México-Tenochtitlan in Nahuatl.
  • Aztlán (in Spanish), Aztlān (in Nahuatl), the legendary ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, the name used by various Mexican nationalist and indigenous movements, also was applied to the lands ceded by Mexico to the United States.
  • Anahuac (Close to water) Name given by the Aztecs to the Mexico basin and the rest of the core lands of Mexico
  • New Spain, until 1821

Chihuahua[]

  • New Biscay, (Spanish Nueva Vizcaya) Spanish colonial name of Chihuahua and Durango.

Coahuila[]

  • Coahuila de Zaragoza, official name of Coahuila.
  • New Extremadura, (Spanish Nueva Extremadura) Spanish colonial name of Coahuila.

Durango[]

  • New Biscay, (Spanish Nueva Vizcaya) Spanish colonial name of Chihuahua and Durango.

Jalisco[]

  • New Galicia, (Spanish Nueva Galicia) Spanish colonial name of Jalisco and surrounding states.

Sonora[]

  • New Navarre, (Spanish Nueva Navarra) Spanish colonial name of Sonora and Sinaloa.
  • Occidente, name used before the division of Sonora and Sinaloa.
  • Sonora and Sinaloa, (Spanish Sonora y Sinaloa) name used before the division of Sonora and Sinaloa.

Sinaloa[]

  • New Navarre, (Spanish Nueva Navarra) Spanish colonial name of Sonora and Sinaloa.
  • Occidente, name used before the division of Sonora and Sinaloa.
  • Sonora and Sinaloa, (Spanish Sonora y Sinaloa) name used before the division of Sonora and Sinaloa.

Tamaulipas[]

  • New Santander, (Spanish Nuevo Santander) Spanish colonial name of Tamaulipas.

Panama[]

  • Castilla del Oro or Castilla de Oro, colonial name of the region
  • Isthmus, (Spanish Istmo) name of the Colombian department that would later become Panama

Paraguay[]

  • Guayra, (Spanish Guayrá) original name of the governorate that would later become Paraguay

Peru[]

  • Birú, Pirú early names from which the current name is derived, before the Spanish conquest
  • Tawantinsuyu, (Spanish Tahuantinsuyo) native name for the Inca Empire

Suriname[]

  • Dutch Guiana, former colonial name.

United States[]

  • Vinland
  • Columbia, poetic name for America.
  • Freedonia, name briefly used by some people after the revolution.
  • Appalachia, proposed name by Washington Irving.
  • Gringolandia, name used by some Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.
  • United States Of North America, briefly used in revolutionary war.
  • Usonia, Usona, a term based on the above, proposed by James Duff Law. Usono, the name for the United States in Esperanto.
  • Hesperia ("Land of Evening/Sunset"), as one of the countries the Romans located beyond the Ocean.
  • New England
  • Republic of America, briefly used in the revolutionary war
  • Amerika, germanized named for America
  • United Colonies of America, briefly used in the revolutionary war

Alaska[]

  • Alyeska, original Russian name.

Arkansas[]

  • Arkansaw, alternate historic spelling

California[]

  • Upper California, (Spanish Alta California) Name for differentiating from Lower/Baja California.

Colorado[]

  • Jefferson, after the Jefferson Territory.

Delaware[]

  • Delorbee, (French Delorbée) French colonial name.
  • New Sweden, (Swedish Nya Sverige) Swedish colonial name.
  • The Three Lower Counties, the name of Delaware colony while it was administered by Pennsylvania.

Louisiana[]

  • Acadiana, name for the land inhabited by French Louisianans and Cajuns.

Pennsylvania[]

  • New Wales, first name proposed by William Penn.
  • Sylvania, second name proposed by William Penn.

New Jersey[]

  • Scheyichbi, native name of New Jersey.

New York[]

  • New Netherland, (Dutch Nieuw Nederland) Dutch colonial name.

Oklahoma[]

  • Sequoyah

Puerto Rico[]

  • Boriken, (Spanish Borinquén) native name for the island.
  • Porto Rico, English name used between 1898 and 1932.

Rhode Island[]

  • Providence Plantations, official name of the colony from 1643 to 1663.
  • Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, official name until 2020.
  • Red Island, translation of original Dutch Roodt Eylant

Texas[]

  • New Philippines, (Spanish Nuevas Filipinas) Spanish colonial name for the region.
  • Tejas, Spanish name for Texas.

Utah[]

  • Deseret

Vermont[]

  • Vermont Republic
  • Green Mountain
  • Greenmountland

Washington[]

  • Columbia, original name proposed for the territory.
  • Tacoma, name proposed during statehood.

West Virginia[]

  • Appalachia, West Virginia is the only state located entirely within Appalachia.
  • Kanawha, original name proposed for the state.
  • Vandalia, failed British colony in West Virginia and adjacent areas.
  • Westsylvania, state proposed during the American Revolution for in the same region.

Uruguay[]

  • Cisplatina, archaic Portuguese and Brazilian name for the region meaning "On this side of the La Plata river"
  • the Cisplatine, archaic Anglicism of Cisplatina
  • Banda Oriental, original Spanish and Argentine name for the region meaning "Eastern Bank"

Venezuela[]

  • El Libertador, after Simón Bolívar the Liberator, proposed name.
  • Klein-Venedig ("Little Venice"), failed German colony.
  • Little Venice