Why is it called DC in Washington?

'DC' stands for District of Columbia. The city was named 'Washington' to honor America's first president, and the surrounding federal territory was called 'Columbia' - an 18th-century poetic name for the United States, derived from Christopher Columbus. Together they produce Washington, D.C., a name that has been in use since three presidential commissioners settled it on a single afternoon in September 1791.

How the name came together

On July 16, 1790, Congress signed the Residence Act, designating a site on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia as the nation's permanent capital. President George Washington signed that act, which called for the capital to be on the Potomac - a compromise brokered between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.

In January 1791, Washington announced his choice: 100 square miles of land ceded by Maryland and Virginia. Then came the naming. Washington himself had been calling it simply 'the Federal City' up to a meeting in Georgetown on September 9, 1791. At that meeting, three commissioners agreed to name the federal district 'The Territory of Columbia' and the capital city 'the City of Washington.' The commissioners wrote to French-born city planner Pierre L'Enfant to make it official. Neither Washington nor Columbus attended, of course.

So the two halves of the name honor two very different men. 'Washington' honored the first president. 'Columbia' was for Christopher Columbus, who 'discovered' the New World - Columbia being the feminine form of Columbus.

What 'Columbia' actually meant to early Americans

The name Columbia, derived from explorer Christopher Columbus, was used during the American Revolution era as a patriotic reference for the United States. It was everywhere. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Americans frequently used Columbia as a personification of the nation, similar to how Britannia represented Britain.

One of the first times Columbus's namesake became a moniker for the country was in 1697, when Justice Samuel Sewall of Massachusetts used the term 'Columbina' in a poem meant to represent the colonies. Soon enough, Columbia was personified into a fierce goddess. The Atlantic once referred to her as 'Uncle Sam's older and classier sister,' always depicted as a strong, independent woman. Columbia prevailed as the dominant nickname for the United States for more than a century, before falling out of favor in the post-World War I era.

The name's fingerprints are still all over American culture. Columbia University, Columbia Records, and CBS (originally the Columbia Broadcasting System) all carry that same patriotic stamp.

From 'Territory' to 'District' - the name's final form

The word 'District' didn't arrive until later. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801 put the District under the jurisdiction of Congress. Then, 70 years after the commissioners' Georgetown meeting, the name was formalized for good. The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on February 21, 1871, repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown and established a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia. That's when 'Territory' was dropped in favor of 'District,' making it D.C. rather than T.C.

Because Washington is also the name of a U.S. state, people began adding 'DC' after the city name to avoid confusion, and over time the abbreviation became part of everyday language. Local residents often go further, calling it simply 'the District.'

The land itself shrank

The Residence Act of 1790 authorized the district from land ceded by both Maryland and Virginia, initially including land on both sides of the Potomac. In 1847, the portion south of the Potomac - originally contributed by Virginia - was returned to the state and became Arlington County and part of the city of Alexandria. Today the District covers 68.34 square miles.

Sources

• History.com - How did Washington, D.C., get its name?
• Library of Congress - A Capital City (Residence Act, July 16, 1790)
• Wikipedia - District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871
• Ghosts of DC - Why is Washington, DC Called the District of Columbia?
• WUSA9 - Why is DC called the District of Columbia?