Johannes Vingboons. 1650. | Image from the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division

From Beijing to Buenos Aires, from Moscow to Mecca, all around the world people know of California. And it is a place that exists in our imagination, as much as it does a physical location. Geographically standing at America’s western frontier, California has psychologically come to represent a land of promise, possibility, and opportunity. And over the last century, waves of migrants, from filmmakers to oil men, from farmers to “dot com” entrepreneurs, have journeyed to the state in hopes of attaining their own piece of the California dream.

But even though the name “California” is known throughout the world, most people, including its own residents, are unaware of the origin of its name. And this origin story demonstrates that the California dream is not a new phenomenon, but rather has existed in the imagination of men and women for hundreds of years.

The California of 16th Century Spanish Explorers
The name “California” derives from a 16th Century romance novel written by a Spanish author named Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo. It was titled, “Las Sergas del muy esforzado caballero Esplandian, hijo del excelente rey Amadis de Gaula,” meaning “The exploits of the very powerful cavalier Esplandian, son of the excellent king Amadis of Gaul.”

The novel described an island, very close to the Garden of Eden, full of gold, which was ruled by strong and beautiful black women. This island was also populated by griffins, a fantastical lion-eagle hybrid, which the women kept as pets. Any man who found his way onto this island was killed and fed to the griffins. The name of this mythical island? California.

Mural of Queen Calafia and her Amazons in the Room of the Dons at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco, California. | Photo from | Wikimedia Commons

Montalvo described it as follows:

How did the name of this mythical island become the name of the 31st state of the union? Spanish explorers during the 1500s were familiar with the story and applied the name to what is now called Baja California, which at the time, they thought was an island. Based on legends prevalent at the time, Spanish explorers were searching for a mythical island paradise. Even though it later became clear that Baja California was not an island, once the name started being used on maps, it stuck.

California’s Islamic Origin
So 16th century Spanish explorers got the name from Montalvo’s story, but where did Montalvo get the name? Muslims.

The inspiration for the word was likely “Khalif” or “Khalifa” which means “successor” in Arabic but more specifically refers in Islam to a head of state or leader of the Muslims. Montalvo was surely familiar with these words. Portions of Spain were ruled by the Moors, who were Muslim, from 757 to 1492. And it fits the story’s narrative. Montalvo’s novel was a fanciful rehash of the struggle between Christians and Muslims during the crusades.