Here's a verse I wrote about the curious portmanteau-name invented for Native Americans:
I'm an Amerind, nominally, By combining two names, as you see. But the merchant of Florence And Hindustan's torrents Mean equally little to me.
The name Amerind (American Indian) is derived from Amerigo Vespucci and the Indus river in Hindustan. Vespucci mapped the coast of South America, establishing the fact that it was not India after all.
Dave Wilton, of wordorigins.org, has some things to say about the Americke (or Ameryk. Spelling, even of names, hadn't quite jelled in those days) hypothesis. They may lead you to other sources, if you're interested in pursuing the matter.
Dave Wilton's piece is convincing all right; ". . . most of the claims by supporters of the Ameryk hypothesis are not supported by anything other than a coincidence in spelling and a fierce, English patriotism that wishes the tale were true."
I find this all quite interesting. I had never really thought about the name. I guess I had some vague idea that it probably had something to do with a friendly Roman goddess.
And, I always heard that Amerigo (Americus) was the Italian (Latinized) form of Emerich (d.h., immer reich 'always rich'), but it may be from a toponym, as there is an Emmerich (9th century in the Latin form villa Embrici) on the Rhine in Germany. (The Hungarian name Imre is also though to be related.) More speculation may be found here.
Oh!! Emmerik! Now I see . That's the border. Used to be a passport control place before.Wait! Portmanteau for a song. For when there will be a rainbow over Emmerich. It consists of two parts, try to hear them out both. Where classics meet the the classics
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