By mid-1972, the village population had reached 800, and buses linking Cuiabá in Mato Grosso to Porto Velho in Rondônia would stop at the townsite, now having the status of a sub-district. Wanting a new name to replace the prosaic "Vila 33", they put plaques in front of their houses suggesting various names, such as Getúlio Vargas, Presidente Médici, Fátima do Norte, Cruzeiros do Sul, as well as Nova Canaã, Nova Jerusalém, and others. By plebiscite the residents eventually chose "Presidente Médici", a name which Rondônia territorial governor Teodorico Gahyva confirmed as official on July 30, 1973.