What does CALIFORNIA mean? - Etymology of California

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Etymology of California
The story of how California got its name is more wild than you might think. I definitely had no idea of its origins...
What if I where to tell you that the state of California got it’s name from a fantasy novel, like Lord Of The RIngs, in which a race of beautiful, fierce, black warrior women, lived on a garden of eden-like island where they rode Griffins, fantastical lion-eagle hybrids, which the women kept as pets. And any man who found his way onto this island was killed and fed to these mythical beasts.?
Would you believe me?
No. I probably wouldn’t either.
But this is, in fact, the truth.
This fantasy novel full of such romance and adventure is called “Las Sergas De Esplandian”, (The Adventures of Esplandian). It was written by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo and was the Lord Of The Rings of the 16th Century. The leader of these Amazonian woman was Queen Califia (Califia meaning Female Leader) and the enchanted mythical island they inhabited, named after her, was called California.
Not only was this island inhabited by beautiful woman and strange creatures, it was also full of gold. In fact, it was the only metal they had.
Montalvo described it as follows:
"Know that, on the right hand of the Indies was an island called California, very near to the region of the Terrestrial Paradise, which was populated by black women, without there being any men among them, that almost like the Amazons was their style of living. They were of vigorous bodies and strong and ardent hearts and of great strength; the island itself the strongest in steep rocks and cliff boulders that is found in the world; their arms were all of gold, and also the harnesses of the wild beasts, on which, after having tamed them, they rode; that in all the island there was no other metal whatsoever…"
“There ruled on that island of California, a queen great of body, very beautiful for her race, at a flourishing age, desirous in her thoughts of achieving great things, valiant in strength, cunning in her brave heart, more than any other who had ruled that kingdom before her ... Queen Calafia."
So, such stories of a secret island full of women and gold were fresh in the mind of Spanish explorers as they set sail in search of new lands out west.
When they laid eyes on the coast of the Baja Peninsula, with visions of the storied island forever dancing in their minds, they mistook it for a great island and naturally called it, California.
Sure, it was soon found out that their great island was actually a peninsula and there were no race of gold adorned Amazonian women riding Griffins through the skies, and a good thing, too, for these men seeing as they surely would have made fast meals for the Griffins.
Yet the name California had already been used on maps, so the name stuck.
Little did these early explores know that this new found land actually contained one element from the stories, vast amounts of gold, that wouldn’t be discovered until much later.
So if you think that the stereotype of California being full of a bunch of beautiful women and the hills being full of gold is a modern creation, think again. It goes back hundreds of years to the age of exploration and the stories those eager explores shared.