What exact country name first appeared in the Declaration of Independence?

The country name United States of America first appeared in the Declaration of Independence.

The phrase appears in the document’s formal title: “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.” The Declaration used the wording while announcing that the colonies were separating from Great Britain and becoming independent states.

The phrase was not yet the name of an established federal government in the modern constitutional sense. In 1776, the colonies were declaring a new political identity, and the Articles of Confederation later supplied an early governing framework. The Constitution replaced that system in 1789.

The wording is sometimes confused with “United Colonies,” a phrase used before independence, or with the later legal language of the Constitution. The Declaration’s title is especially important because it shows the name emerging during the independence process.

In September 1776, Congress formally approved “United States” as the nation’s name. The Declaration therefore links the country’s familiar name directly to the founding document celebrated in 2026.