Does the name Columbia have the same origin as Colombia?

Answer 1

Yes, it does. Both Columbia and Colombia, along with their sister Colón, have been derived from the famous Italian explorer, navigator and colonizer, Cristoforo Colombo (in Italian, his mother tongue), who was best known in English-speaking world as Christopher Columbus and Spanish-speaking world, Cristóbal Colón. The name Columbia was first used for America in 1738 in Britain. It also was the formal name of the capital city Washington, as "Washington, District of Columbia", and many cities in Canada and United States, and the river Columbia. The word Colombia was first used as the name of "Gran Colombia" (Greater Colombia), the short-lived Republic that encompassed much of southern Central America and northern South America from 1819 to 1831 and included territories of modern Colombia and other countries. It is also the name of a city in Cuba, a town in Huila, modern Colombia and a community in Mexico. The name Colón is also the name of many cities, towns, counties, streets, and plazas (called Plaza Colón or Plaza de Colón) in Latin America and Spain.