Usonia is an alternative name for the United States of America coined by Scottish writer James Duff Law.[1][2] The term was repurposed and re-popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in a style of affordable, and modern residential style, distinctly American architecture and lifestyle.[3]

Wright thought “United States” was mainly a political label, describing a federation of states rather than a cultural identity. He was interested in defining what he believed was a uniquely 'American way' of living beyond politics, not just the constitutional structure behind it.[4][5]

Wright expresses support for 'Usonia' in his 1957 work 'A Testament'.[6] He wanted a term that uniquely identified the U.S. without ambiguity, since 'Americas' refers to two continents and he also argued many countries can be described as 'United States of' - as the term is also used in the name of other Federal states such as The United Mexican States, United States of Brazil, and United States of Indonesia). Lloyd associated Usonia with Middle-Class, Democratic societies rather than European old-world class systems.[7][8][9]

In 1903, Duff wrote:[10]

“We of the United States, in justice to Canadians and Mexicans, have no right to use the title ‘Americans’ when referring to matters pertaining exclusively to ourselves.”

Puerto Rican Philosopher and Sociologist Jose F. Buscaglia uses the term 'Usonian' when criticizing American imperialism.[11][12]

Etymology

James Duff Law derived the term from 'United States of North America', but suggested 'Usonia' over 'Usona' as a "more euphonious" alternative [13]

According to some accounts, the term may have circulated informally in Europe around 1910 as a proposed alternative to “U.S.A.,” possibly to avoid confusion with the newly formed Union of South Africa.[14]

According to Philologist Charles Alphonso Smith in his 1919 work 'New-Worlds Self-Defined' the term 'Usonia' was first used in 1885 in Toronto, Canada.[15]

In Esperanto, The word, usono, was chosen to avoid ambiguity.[16][17]

In the 2020 real-time strategy video game Iron Harvest, 'Usonia' is a name given to an alternative history version of the United States.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "James D. Law". electricscotland.com. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  2. ↑ "Here and there in two hemispheres (full text PDF)" (PDF). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  3. ↑ "Usonian Houses: Everything You Need to Know About Frank Lloyd Wright's Affordable Homes". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
  4. ↑ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1932). An Autobiography. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
  5. ↑ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1932). The Disappearing City. New York: William Farquhar Payson.
  6. ↑ Frank Lloyd Wright (1957). A Testament. New York: Horizon Press. p. 160. Available at: Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/testamentbyfrank0000unse/page/160/mode/2up
  7. ↑ Watson, Joseph M. (2017). "The Antinomies of Usonia: Neil Levine's *The Urbanism of Frank Lloyd Wright*". The Avery Review. Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Retrieved 2026-06-13.
  8. ↑ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1932). An Autobiography. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce.
  9. ↑ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1932). The Disappearing City. New York: William Farquhar Payson.
  10. ↑ Watson, Joseph M. "The Antinomies of Usonia". The Avery Review. Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Retrieved 2026-06-13. The term "Usonia" predates Frank Lloyd Wright and is generally traced to earlier proposals such as those of James Duff Law, who suggested it as a shorter alternative name for the United States.
  11. ↑ Buscaglia-Salgado, José F. (2003). Undoing Empire, Race, and Nation in the Mulatto Caribbean. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3574-9. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  12. ↑ "El Caribe al final de la Era Usoniana: Hacia un nuevo modelo de confederación". scholar.google.com.
  13. ↑ "Here and there in two hemispheres (full text PDF)" (PDF). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
  14. ↑ Sergeant, John (1984). Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses: The Case for Organic Architecture. p. 16.
  15. ↑ Smith, Charles Alphonso (1919). New Words Self-defined. p. 198. As a matter of fact, the name Usona was first proposed by a Canadian, James P. Murray of Toronto, in 1885. (Quoted from a letter in the New York Times, 20 July 1918.)
  16. ↑ Moch, Gaston (December 1905). "Usono". Espero pacifista. Vol. 1, no. 6. Neuilly-sur-Seine: Internacia Societo Esperantista Por La Paco.
  17. ↑ Linguistic and historical accounts of Esperanto usage note that the term "Usono" (and adjective "usona") was adopted in early Esperanto discourse to refer to the United States of America and to distinguish it from other similarly named political entities, including the United Mexican States and the Union of South Africa.
  18. ↑ "Usonia has landed with Operation Eagle". King Art Games. Retrieved 2026-06-16.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usonia_(name)