Jacques Cartier was the first person to document the name ‘Canada’.

One of the interesting facts about Jacques Cartier is that he is credited with naming Canada. The path to Kanata, as described to French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535, was really the settlement of Stadacona, the location of the modern city of Québec. For lack of a better name, Cartier referred to the hamlet and the territory ruled by its ruler, Donnacona, as "Canada."

The name was soon used to refer to a considerably greater area; maps from 1547 identified Canada as the country extending north of the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence River was also referred to as the "rivière du Canada" by Cartier, a term that persisted until the early 1600s. The territory along the great river of Canada and the Gulf of St. Lawrence was still referred to as Canada in 1616, even though the entire region was known as New France.

The region now known as Canada quickly expanded as a result of the exploration and commerce of furs. The term applied to all French territories in what is now the American Midwest and as far south as present-day Louisiana in the early 1700s.

In 1791, when the Province of Quebec was split into the colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, the term "Canada" was first used as an official name. The two colonies were combined in 1841 to become the Province of Canada. The rest of the nation wouldn't start using the term until some time later, in 1867.