In whose honor was America named?

America was named in honor of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. His voyages to the New World in the late 15th and early 16th centuries contributed to the understanding that the lands discovered were part of a separate continent, distinct from Asia. The name "America" was first used to refer to the continent in a map published in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller.