Where did the island of Cuba get its name? Columbus named it. He thought he'd reached the mainland he was looking for, but he didn't call it India. It was the largest island he would discover in all four journeys to the new world.

At that time, 1492, there was only one other Cuba, a village and parish north of the town of Beja in the Alentejo. Canonical historians tell us that Columbus was a Genovese employed by the Spanish King and Queen. Why did Columbus name this island after a village in southern Portugal?
  ¶ 9:50 PM