Alternative termsThe only officially and commonly used alternative for referring to the people of the United States in English is to refer to them as citizens of that country. Another alternative is US-American, also spelled US American. Several single-word English alternatives for American have been suggested over time, including Usonian (popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright) and the nonce term United-Statesian. Writer H. L. Mencken collected a number of proposals from between 1789 and 1939, finding terms including Columbian, Columbard, Fredonian, Frede, Unisian, United Statesian, Colonican, Appalacian, Usian, Washingtonian, Usonian, Uessian, U-S-ian, Uesican, and United Stater. Nevertheless, no alternative to American is common in English. Names for broader categories include terms such as Western Hemispherian, New Worlder, and North Atlantican.YankeeYankee (or Yank) is a colloquial term for Americans in English; cognates can be found in other languages. Within the United States, Yankee usually refers to people specifically from New England or the Northern United States, though it has been applied to Americans in general since the 18th century, especially by the British. The earliest recorded use in this context is in a 1784 letter by Horatio Nelson.
The Australian slang term seppo derives from rhyming "yank" with "septic tank."
