Mexico President wants to get ‘United States’ out of the country’s name

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Mexican President Felipe Calderon wants to change the country’s name to… Mexico, El Universal reported today.

The country’s formal name is the United Mexican States, but few people use it and Calderon said today it was time for Mexico to stop emulating its northern neighbor.

"Mexico is the name that corresponds to the essence of our nation. The name of Mexico is Mexico,” Calderon told reporters at Los Pinos, the presidential residence in Mexico City, according to CNN Mexico.

Mexico adopted the name in 1824 to emulate the United States of America, Calderon said.

With nine days left in office before President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto takes the helm, Calderon signed a bill proposing the name change, CNN Mexico reported.

According to the Associated Press, the constitutional reform would require approval by both houses of Congress and a majority of the country’s 31 state legislatures.

El Universal and the AP reported that Calderon first proposed the name change in 2003 when he was a congressman, but it failed to get support.

More from GlobalPost: Sandy Island 'proven not to exist,' according to Australian scientists