What bugs me with this locution is that it leads one to believe the river didn't have a name, when it's had lots of perfectly good ones before "Hudson." (I am less familiar with Champlain, but I'm assuming it's the same.) I like to tell people, "In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the Muhheakan'tuck River. Later renamed for Hudson...." -- James Nevius http://www.walknyc.com