The America’s got their names from Amerigo Vespucci an early explorer of the Americas eastern shores. So after the Americas were called America the natives were at first called Indians by Columbus but after it was learned that the Americas were not India a very slow change began to occur in looking for a new, more proper name for the Native inhabitants. Aborigines and First Nations were both used extensively, especially in Canada. Around 1950 a few people in the US started using the term Native Americans and it has been gaining popularity ever since.