Claim:
California was named for an imaginary island populated solely by Black women who kept griffins as pets and were led by Calafia, its queen. [Ratings of this claim:]. 6.5 [out of 9].
Years have gone by with speculations afoot that California was named after an island depicted in an early 16th-century Spanish romance novel:
This post, posted in 2020, earned over 12,000 upvotes on Reddit alone; additionally shared across several social media platforms such as Instagram, X and TikTok.
After Christopher Columbus arrived on an island in the Caribbean, Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo published “Las sergas de Esplandian” – “The Adventures of Esplandian.”
Rodriguez de Montalvo recounted Esplandian, son of Amadis of Gaul. Within this novel he detailed an island known as California that lay “on the right-hand side of Indies near Earthly Paradise. “
Rodriguez de Montalvo described that Black women dominated it completely without male presence; their lifestyle closely resembling that of mythical Amazons; their bodies being strong yet graceful while hearts being warmly passionate. Strong weapons made of gold were available; weapons could only be tamed when warring against men were present and sometimes kept for mating before killing; girls born to them would be raised while boys killed off as war prisoners or used for mating before slaughtering either way; they also trained mythical griffin-eagle hybrids to attack against both males or boys as they warred against men before killing off male war prisoners before turning against each other instead. Rodriguez de Montalvo wrote that Black women dominated an island, leaving only women to inhabiting it, without male influence whatsoever among its inhabitants – much like how Amazons once did so much so long ago! griffin hybrid lion-eagle hybrids trained them attack and devouring men or boys at warring against men! He wrote:
Calafia was queen of an island. Rodriguez de Montalvo did not discuss how her name originated, however Spain at the end of 15th and beginning of 16th century was still heavily influenced by Arabic influence; an estimated 4,000 Arabic words remain part of Castilian Spanish today, out of 93,000 total words used today according to Real Academia Espanola estimates. A popular TikTok video illustrates this linguistic influence:
“Calafia” likely derives its name from Arabic “khalifa,” the feminine form of “khalif” — which literally translates as successor but more frequently refers to leaders or heads of states.
Naming of California
In 1510, Spanish conquistadors had only just begun exploring America, though by 1562 Royal Cartographer Diego Gutierrez first used the name California when mapping it (view full image here)
(Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division)
At first sight, Mexican explorers mistook Baja California as an island. However, its name stuck: California the “island” became California the peninsula; eventually this name evolved into Baja California after becoming part of U.S. territory and statehood.
