What makes New York or New Zealand new?

Across many Jetpunk quizzes we put in answers such as 'New Zealand', 'New Mexico' or perhaps the most famous example 'New York'. What are these places named after? Are they named after other places or people? It will not be possible to cover all places consisting 'New', but the most used ones will feature in this blog.

Explorers

In most cases the names consisting 'New' are given by explorers. Whenever they find new land they name it after something it has similarities with or just after a place at home. Maybe they want to honour their city or region back home, maybe it's a lack of creativity. Below there will be some examples of places and the place they were named after.

Places

New York vs Duke of York

New York is perhaps the most famous example. Sometimes people think it is named after the English city called York, but actually in 1664, the city was named in honor of the Duke of York, who would become King James II of England. James's older brother, King Charles II, had appointed the Duke proprietor of the former territory of New Netherland, including the city of New Amsterdam, which England had recently seized from the Dutch. New Netherland and New Amsterdam were named after the Netherlands and its capital; Amsterdam.

New Jersey vs Jersey

New Jersey is, unlike New York, named after an English place, or island rather. New Jersey was named by James, Duke of York (the brother of King Charles II of England), who was given New Jersey by his brother. James later gave New Jersey to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. James named the colony New Jersey to honor Carteret, who had been the Governor of Jersey, a British island in the English Channel.

New Zealand vs Zeeland

While some people tend to think New Zealand is named after the biggest Danish island called Zealand, it's actually named after a Dutch province, which is called Zeeland. In 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia, British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.

New Hampshire vs Hampshire

The naming of New Hampshire is actually quite straighforward. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire by Captain John Mason.

New Orleans vs Duke of Orléans

New Orleans got its name when it was the capital of French Louisiana. It was named for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was Regent of the Kingdom of France at the time. His title came from the French city of Orléans. So there is a connection between New Orleans and the French city, however not directly.

New South Wales vs Wales

In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook was the first European to visit New South Wales when he conducted a survey along the unmapped eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland, now Australia, which was named after the Dutch region of Holland. In his original journal(s) covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land "New Wales", named after Wales. However, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he "revised the wording" to "New South Wales".

New Delhi vs Delhi

Most of the places consisting "New" are named after a different place far way, or a person. However, this is not the case when it comes to New Delhi. New Delhi is actually a district within Delhi. Roughly speaking, Delhi is large metropolis. New Delhi is the area of Delhi which has all the Government bodies. Delhi has history and old monuments, while New Delhi came into being during the 20th century. So in this case "New" actually means less old.

New Mexico vs Aztec Empire

Nuevo México is often incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. However, it was named by Spanish explorers who believed the area contained wealthy Amerindian cultures similar to those of the Aztec Empire, centered in the Valley of Mexico, and called the land the "Santa Fe de Nuevo México". The indigenous cultures of New Mexico, however, proved to be unrelated to the Mexicas, and they were not wealthy, but the name persisted. Before statehood, the name "New Mexico" was applied to various configurations of the U.S. territory, to a Mexican state, and to a province of New Spain, all in the same general area, but of varying extensions.

Unclear etymology

New Guinea vs Guinea

The etymology of New Guinea, the island shared by Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, is unclear. The most logical theory is that "the name New Guinea was later used by Westerners starting with the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez in 1545, referring to the similarities of the indigenous people's appearance with the natives of the Guinea region of Africa.". However, there is no hard evidence for this theory.

If you have any additions or if you spot a mistake, tell me in the comments, I would appreciate it. Thanks for reading!