How did California get its name?

A true how-it-works story for kids 6-8.

Watercolor illustration for A Name From a Storybook

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Can a real place get its name from a pretend island? California did! Long ago, a Spanish writer told a story about an island called California. It was home to mighty women warriors called Amazons. Their queen was named Calafia.

That island was make-believe, like a place in a bedtime story. But its name jumped out of the book and onto a real map! Spanish explorers gave the name California to land along this part of the world. So the state we're riding through has a name borrowed from an adventure story written about five hundred years ago. Good thing they didn't borrow the name Ticklish Pickle Island!

Try saying “California” in your grandest royal voice. Now imagine Queen Calafia saying it. A pretend queen, a pretend island—and a very real place!

Quiz the back seat

Where did California's name come from?

Show the answer

A pretend island in a Spanish story. A storybook island! The book was a novel—an adventure made up by a writer.

3 fun facts

California's name comes from a fictional island in a 16th-century Spanish novel.
The fictional island was ruled by Queen Calafia and inhabited by women warriors.
California borders the Pacific Ocean.

Questions kids ask

How did California get its name?: California borrowed its name from a fictional island in a Spanish adventure novel.
Who was Queen Calafia?: Calafia was the queen of the make-believe island of California.
How old is the story that named California?: The Spanish story was written about five hundred years ago.

For grown-ups

Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.