why are there states of usa with spanish name?
but are not very big spaniards americans? some states wee of spain, but a big part of people with spanish surnames are mexicans or puerto ricans or cubans? why are thee not very spaniards americans? if some states of usa were of spain?
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answers:
Andrew say: The Spanish gave the states of California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Montana their names. The etymology of California has been hotly debated for centuries, but it's generally accepted that it was derived from an old Spanish text, though some insist that it is a corruption of a native phrase. That seems unlikely as the name was recorded in Spanish texts prior to contact with indigenous Americans... Colorado comes from the Spanish for "the colour red", and initially used to refer to the river, later expanded to the surrounding territory... Florida comes from the Spanish for "flowery", a name associated with Easter, which is when it was "discovered" by the Spaniards... Nevada comes from the Spanish for "snow-covered", originally applied to the mountain range The Sierra Nevadas... New Mexico is derived from an Aztec place-name that the Spanish adopted, and its modern pronunciation has been modified to roll off the English-speaker's tongue more naturally... Montana is Spanish for "mountain", obviously because there are a lot of them in that part of the United States.

Many people do not realise that the early Spanish expeditions in North America covered a staggering amount of territory. The Spanish marched from their base in Mexico all the way north into what is today Kansas, so if they had managed to retain their claim to territory in the New World, they would have held a vast swathe of land from Florida, across parts of the South, Midwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Coast regions all the way to California.

But of course, they did not. Their operations were centered in Mexico and they were far more concerned with that area, Central and South America and the Caribbean than they were with North America. Firstly, they had to cross an immense desert to get to locations between their outposts north of Mexico City. To reach California, they had to traverse the Great American desert through parts of what is today Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and it was an arduous trek. Secondly, their primary concern was bringing back as much gold and silver as they could carry. It was obvious that the natives of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean had a lot more gold than the Native Americans of the Southwest or the Great Plains did. So the Spanish weren't as interested in putting down roots in those areas.

If you want to look at it that way, the United States gained a tremendous piece of formerly French land in the Louisiana Purchase. The French had been hunting and trapping and fishing and trading in the New World for almost as long as Spain had. Yet today, only about 3% of American citizens claim French ancestry and the figure that claim partial French ancestry is only slightly higher. Why?

Well, the English (later British), effectively made it very difficult for the French and Spanish. While the Spanish were well-embedded in parts of Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean, the English/British controlled the seas. It was a lot easier to raid the treasure ships heading back to Spain laden with riches than it was to attack the settlements themselves. And because the Spanish were not really interested in building permanent settlements to relocate common people from Spain Proper, it was mostly mariners, military personnel and clergymen who came over.

French settlements fared better, but took a big hit when Britain expelled many French Acadians from North America, and after being resettled to other locations, notably Louisiana and other places in the Caribbean, many of the French more or less became absorbed and amalgamated into the general dynamic and lost their sense of identity, though obviously this is a generality as the Cajun culture of Louisiana is still very visible and vibrant.

Most of the people living in the US today who profess to having some Spanish ancestry are mixed - Spanish and some sort of indigenous blood. Many Mexicans, Central Americans, and people from Caribbean islands such as Cuba, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, etc., are mixed-blood, with people from some areas (such as Cuba) having a much higher percentage of Spanish blood than people from other areas (mainland Central America.)

Today, demographic shifts in the US have put a slew of Spanish-derived surnames on the lists of most common surnames, but as far as people descended from immigrants from Spain proper, they're a relative minority in the Great American Melting Pot.
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lenpol7 say: The Spanish first colonised the Americas. They landed in South America and Central America and explored/moved north . The French and the English came later.
With in the USA California, New Mexico , Arizona, Texas and Florida are Spanish named states.

Later the French colonised the Mississippi River and the St. Lawrence River and eventually joined together in the Mid-West
The English colonised the Atlantic Coast and Hudson's Bay (Canada) .

The English were the dominant group . First forming the 13 states of the union at the declaration of Independence. They eventually moved west to include the Mis-West into the Union, and latterly the 'Spanish' States into the Union.
The Alamo was probably the most famous event in the taaking over of the 'Spanish' States.
Since the English were the dominant race, then English became the official language.
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John P say: What about the hundreds of town and cities in the USA with Spanish names, e.g. San Francisco, Las Vegas.

And then there are all the French names, including Louisiana. And of course German names such as Pittsburgh.
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iansand say: The southern parts of what is now the USA were first explored by Spanish explorers - the main ones were Coronado, de Soto and de Leon. The convention with European exploration was the first European discoverer got to name stuff, notwithstanding that the locals already had perfectly adequate names. As the explorers were Spanish they gave Spanish names to stuff.

On top of that, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, the South West and California were originally Spanish colonies so places had Spanish names.
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tham153 say: Spain discovered Florida and the first European settlement in what became the uSA was at St. Augustine, FL
California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona historically were in the area Spain owned, as was Texas, although that name is from a Native American word for welcome
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Bill-M say: Because some states used to belong to Mexico. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California were once part of Mexico. Haven't you ever heard of the Alamo??
Texas fought for independence from Mexico and one battle was at the Alamo.
Read your history on the United States.
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Elaine M say: People move around, nobody says they have to live generations in one place.
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say: Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico

Approximately
ONE THIRD of the current USA was French or Spanish colonies.

The USA acquired land via, The Louisiana Purchase (France),
And
the Mexican Cession. Mexican Cession lands were captured in the Mexican–American War in 1846–48, and ceded by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, where Mexico agreed to the present Mexico–United States border except for the later Gadsden Purchase.
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Alex say: There are none. There is one with a mexican name but that's it.
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DON W say: When each region petitioned to become a state of the United States of America, they proposed the name they would use. Some used names reflecting their Spanish colonial heritage (such as Florida and California), and some did not. Most Americans with Hispanic roots trace them to the Caribbean (such as Puerto Rico) and Central and South America, rather than directly from Spain.
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