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How did California get its name and what does it mean?

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California was named by the Spanish following its discovery by Hernan Cortes, but there are two possible origins for its name. One theory says that the name comes from a few descriptive words in Catalan, and the other says that they came from the name of the mythical land of Queen Califa. read more

The name California originates from the Spanish conquistadors, after Califia, a mythical island paradise described in Las Serges de Esplandian by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo (a Spanish romance written about 1510). read more

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