United States.The state is named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. In 2006 the Census Bureau estimated the state's population at 6,395,798. Residents are called "Washingtonians" (emphasis on the third syllable, pronounced as tone). Washington is sometimes called Washington state to distinguish it from Washington, D.C., the nation's capital.