Amerigo Vespucci

About Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512) was an Italian explorer and cartographer whose voyages to the New World in the early 16th century proved instrumental in reshaping European understanding of the globe. While often overshadowed by Columbus, it was Vespucci's published accounts suggesting the lands he visited were an entirely separate continent, not the eastern edge of Asia, that led mapmakers to name the new landmass 'America' after him. This foundational contribution to global geography secures his high standing, ranking him #298 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index.

Vespucci maintains a relatively stable, though modest, presence in the modern digital sphere, attracting approximately 710,000 Wikipedia views in 2025. This places his Attention Gap at about 1x, indicating his internet visibility generally aligns with his historical importance within this research framework. For comparison, Hernán Cortés, another explorer ranked slightly lower at #369, garners 1.2 million views, suggesting figures from the Age of Exploration are still attracting varied attention online. Over the past year, his pageviews saw a modest increase of +7.7%, though recent short-term interest appears to be waning, as indicated by a -13% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.