Throughout Columbus's life, he referred to himself as Christobal Colom; his contemporaries and family also referred to him as such. It is possible that Colom is the shortened form of Columbus used for the Italian surname Colombo (which means "dove"). Colom can also be a Portuguese, French, or Catalan name, and in the latter means "dove". There was a wealthy mercenary and merchant noble named Joan Colom i Bertran living in Barcelona in the 15th century, who has been proposed as the real Christopher Columbus.
