How did the Native Americans recieve the name "Indians"?

my friend and i know of two theories and were hoping to see if we could find any other theories or the actual truth. please answer!

How did the Native Americans recieve the name "Indians"?
Chistopher Columbus was originally going to India. When he landed in the Caribbean, he noticed that the people there looked Indian. So he called them Indians.
Reply:cos they used to ride indian bikes..................... i duno
Reply:Because when Colombus got to America, he thought he was in India
Reply:Christopher Columbus thought he landed in "the Indies", so he called the natives here "Indians".
Reply:some people believe that columbus wasnt really callingthem indians but indios (meaning indigenious in spanish)-so the word really doesnt bother me...even if it did mean an indian from india i still wouldnt mind...i had a lot of great convos with people from india because of this
Reply:Because he thought we were Indians. Indians from India that is. We're dark like East Indians, well at least in the southwest where there's still lots of full bloods.
Reply:Columbus was looking for the East Indies to open up trade from there to Europe. When he landed in Hispaniola he thought that he had reached the "Indies." So he called the people Indians.





I think it was several years before Europeans figured out that they had discovered a whole new continent. I'll accept correction if it wasn't Columbus, could have been any of the first explorers, but you get the point.





I would be powerful interested in what OTHER theory you give credence to? This is the only one I have ever heard.
Reply:Maybe cause they were probably settled in India ,duh!
Reply:From what I learned, Columbus believed he had landed in the West Indies, therefore naming the inhabitants "Indians."
Reply:When Christopher Columbus discovered America, he thought it was India, which was his destination. He wanted to go to India to get spices. So when he saw the Native Americans, he thought they were "India"ns
Reply:Because the first whites who saw them thought they bore a resemblance to the people of India.
Reply:Because Christopher Columbus was a racist dummy and he was supposed to be going to the West Indies. When he got here and saw the brown skinned people he wrote home that they were "Stupid and ill be easily enslaved" and then he declared them to be Indians.
Reply:The Native Americans Indians were called the Indians because of Columbus's belief that he had landed in India when he really had arrived in the Caribbean. Although Columbus's mistake was soon realized the name stuck and for centuries the native people of the Americas were collectively called Indians. (American Indians).
Reply:Because they originate from india.


They weren't actually native to the land, they were just the first there





I try to make my definitions clear, and to the point, so sorry for no real in depth answer.
Reply:stupid white guys didnt know where they were, and named the natives incorrectly.
Reply:Because when Columbus landed in North America, he mistakenly thought he had reached India (he was seeking a shortcut to the Spice route originally). Hence the misnomer "Indians."
Reply:an italian lost thinking he had found india thus the indians hahahaha stupid but true poor ol' columbus he had his mind on other things like the queen. lol