Nov 24, 2012 1 min read

The name of the country that borders Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California? It’s Mexico, of course.

Well, not exactly. When the country was founded in 1824, the name it was given was “United Mexican States,” after its northern neighbor. But “United Mexican States” is only used in the most formal of settings, on currency or official documents.

With the clock ticking down on his tenure, President Felipe Calderone has proposed officially changing Mexico’s name from “United Mexican States” to plain-and-simple “Mexico.”

“Mexico doesn’t need a name that emulates another country and that no one uses on a daily basis,” said Calderone, whose presidency ends Saturday. “It’s time for Mexicans to return to the beauty and simplicity of the name of our country.”

Calderone’s proposal was widely seen as symbolic and was subjected to no small amount of snickering and ridicule.

But, if you think about it, Calderone has a point.

Wouldn’t it make sense to actually call a country what a majority of its citizens call it and how it appears on maps and globes?

People shouldn’t shy away from complexity, but, at least in this case, simplicity would indeed be a virtue.