Haiti’s leaders chose a pre-Columbian Taino name to supplant the French colonial one

Evidence

Contemporary sources on the history of the island claimed that its original Taino inhabitants had called the land “Haïti.” Versions of this name had been used a few times by residents, notably in a 1788 pamphlet calling for a colonial reform that would include renaming the colony “Aïti.” … Educated officers such as Boisrond-Tonnerre, who had studied in Paris, were familiar with such historical sources. And the broader population had an “awareness” of the island’s former inhabitants who had left remains of their presence scattered throughout the mountains and plains, where they were frequently uncovered by those working the land. Dessalines and his officers decided to baptize the land they had conquered “Haiti.” — Dubois, Laurent, Avengers of the New World_ The Story of…, 1054