What was the original name of New York City?

The story behind the answer

New Amsterdam is correct because the Dutch founded the settlement on the southern tip of Manhattan in the early 1600s as the capital of New Netherland. In 1664, the English seized it and renamed it New York in honor of the Duke of York.

To remember: Dutch → Amsterdam → New Amsterdam. Traces of this Dutch origin still echo in city names—Brooklyn (from Breukelen), Harlem (Haarlem), and the Bronx (Bronck). Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch director-general, and the famed (though oversimplified) 1626 purchase of Manhattan from local Lenape people are part of this story, illustrating how colonial rivalries shaped modern cities and names.