I know the obvious answer is "an American" but that isn't quite right, is it?
For a start, the continent of (North) America includes Canada, and "American" might refer to someone from South America (or Mexico). Plus people from Hawaii are hardly "American".
So, is there a word (eg. French, Spanish, Italian) that means "a citizen of the United States of America" (including Alaska, Hawaii etc.)?
Except Texas citizens who may someday no longer enjoy the "American" moniker...
https://www.google.com/search?q=texas+secede
]
Oh, but it is...
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2110.html#us
More CIA misinformation 
Would 'Yankee' offend?
[Steer away if you can't take a joke]
I have always wondered about this. Overblown ego or lack of better words? They didn't grow out of tribes for sure and had no tribal names. I opt for citizens of USA if I want to be unambiguous and not bother with their egos. In fact, they should probably consider "New Chinese". It means the citizens of the center of the new world 
, geographically a bit off to the north but politically, economically, technologically and militarily quite accurate. FYI, there are ancient tribal names for "China" still in regular use but "center of the world" sounds quite egocentric and dark age. Sound more stupid each time I think of it. So pad in the back Americans, there are worse country and countryman names out there 8)
Wait till you see how they will name cities/states on Mars and the Earth Moon. Is there a formal name of our sun, cause every solar system has a sun or more?
cause every solar system has a sun or more?
Yes, they have a sun, but not The Sun
I prefer earth-dweller. 
It saves me a lot of time keeping track of changing borders in a lot of countries and it's true except for a few astronauts.
Maybe "earth-originator" then. Until we get off-planet babies anyway.
American is fine by me. I don't think the Canadians, Mexicans, Hondurans, Brazilians, Argentinians and others will mind. Especially at World Cup time.
We, in Italy, usually use the therm "Americani" (Americans) to mean "citizens of USA".
A more correct therm is "Statunitensi", a neologism made by the union of the words "Stati" (states) and "Uniti" (united), that means citizen of United Stated (of America).
AWOL:
cause every solar system has a sun or more?
Yes, they have a sun, but not The Sun
Well I would go with, every solar system has a star(s). But then again I'm a hardware type.
The name Sun is surely someone's Trademark?
liudr:
Is there a formal name of our sun, cause every solar system has a sun or more?
Sun with the capital "S" is the formal name of our star. Another name, sometimes used in sci-fi, is "Sol": it's the latin name of the Sun, used in other languages too.
leo72:
liudr:
Is there a formal name of our sun, cause every solar system has a sun or more?Sun with the capital "S" is the formal name of our star. Another name, sometimes used in sci-fi, is "Sol": it's the latin name of the Sun, used in other languages too.
Yep. And many other stars have formal names, but I've never heard of one named sun or Sun or Sol except the star at the center of our solar system.
Well, we'll have to wait for some of the extra-terrestrials to pipe in & see how our sun is referenced outside of our Solar System.
Riva:
Would 'Yankee' offend?
Depends on who you direct it at. Yankee generally refers to people in the northeasern US, people from the south tend to take offense.
I see it as a shortening of "The United States of America". You can't say USian, or United Statesian, so it becomes "American", the suffix of the full country name. People generally don't refer to themselves by the continent they live on, since its way too generic. You might as well just say "Earthling".
Another way to look at it is through the intentions of founders. The US was created as a conglomeration of individual state governments (much like the UK or EU, really), we are citizens of our states, rather than the country.
You know that's a heck of a good point... if people ask me where I'm from, I don't say "America" and I don't say "The United States" I usually say "Colorado" and if they want to know more I say "Denver, West Side"
wizdum:
Riva:
Would 'Yankee' offend?Depends on who you direct it at. Yankee generally refers to people in the northeasern US,...
Haven't spent much time in the Upper Midwest, eh?
...people from the south tend to take offense.
Shortly after moving to Houston I stopped at a grocery store to buy a Mountain Dew. Unable to locate the cooler, I walked to an employee who was stocking a freezer. I politely asked, "Excuse me ma'am. Would you mind telling me where the pop is?" She turned slowly, glared into my eyes, then announced to everyone within earshot, "Y'all sound like a bunch uh damned Yankees! The Cokes is over dere."
Folks south of the Mason-Dixon line, west to Texas, will most certainly take offense at being labeled "Yankee". A few will actually take so much offense as to resort to violence.
AWOL:
Oh, but it is...
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2110.html#usMore CIA misinformation
Whew! I was a bit concerned someone would not snag that low hanging fruit. (For what it's worth, I've found the CIA Fact Book to be very accurate. Unlike a few of their other endeavors.)
On the American Continents there are a number of individual countries. On the North American Continent the citizens of The United States of America arerefered to as Americans. (includes those from Hawaii) (or Yanks to some of the rest of the world, Reference to Yankee Doodle from Revolutionary times). Those from Canada (Eh!) are referred to (politely) as Canadians (or Canadiennes) and impolitiely as Canucks, though some may not take that as derogatory, depends on the source. And those from Los Estados Unidos de Mexico are referred to by English speakers as Mexicans (and by Spanish speakers as Mexicanos or Mexicanas, with the X pronounced as an H)
Well, some of my worst grades in school were in history, but I have taken an interest in it the past few years, and it looks like much of the confusion can be blamed on the American Civil War (a.k.a. "War Between the States"). Apparently, prior to that Great Unpleasantness, most people said "The United States of America are..." implying that we were a collection of individual sovereign entities (states), located on the continent of America, united in a coalition of sorts, which provided a unified interface to other countries, sort of like a labor union or a professional society. After the GU, people started to say "The United States of America is...", giving form to the "... one nation, [under God], indivisible..." concept that prevails today. Since calling people "United States of Americans" is a bit clumsy, it got shortened to just "Americans", which is certainly unjust to the others on the continent, but there it is.
As to the "yank[ee]" term, during the 1776 Revolution it referred to the American Colonists, and still has that meaning in some contexts. However, during the Civil War, the North (Union) people were called the "yankees" by the South (Confederate) people, who in turn were called "rebels" by the North. It is for this reason that folks in the old Confederate States of America will often take umbrage at being called "yank[ee]".