Canada

Jacques Cartier was the first Frenchman to write the word Canada. In 1535, this "province", which was how he designated it, spread from Ile-aux-Coudres to Hochelaga. To get there he took an imposing waterway, the Saint Lawrence River, which he named the rivière de Canada. Alerted by his Amerindian guides, Cartier came across an encampment that they called Canada and Stadacona. In 1608, Champlain gave the site the name Québec.

The word Stadacona fell out of use and Canada became the name of a territory that kept on getting larger.