Christopher Columbus came across a group of islands in the Caribbean region. When he did so, he thought he had reached another part of the world. Because of this, he named the islands the ‘West Indies’. However, later it was realized that he found an entire region. It still had its natural resources. The name ‘Caribbean’ was later given to it by the Amerindian tribe, the Caribs. That is how it got its name: the Caribbean Sea.