# When, and by whom, was “$\mathbb{C}$ is algebraically closed” dubbed the “fundamental theorem of algebra”?

Wikipedia has this enigmatic sentence on the page for the fundamental theorem of algebra:

...its name was given at a time when the study of algebra was mainly concerned with the solutions of polynomial equations with real or complex coefficients.

While it sounds plausible, it begs the question:

Question: In which time period did the title "fundamental theorem of algebra" get assigned to this theorem? And who were the main contributors to this title?

Searching MathSciNet for "fundamental theorem of algebra" revealed:

Bôcher, Maxime; Gauss's third proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra. Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 1 (1895), no. 8, 205–209, MR1557382.

William E. Story, A New Method in Analytic Geometry, Amer. J. Math. 9, (1886), pp. 38-44.

However, it seems unlikely that these are the earliest references.

-
I was going to add (reference-request) to this question, but I'm not absolutely sure it's appropriate. Anyone else have an opinion? –  Ben Millwood Sep 10 '12 at 12:11
Gauss himself called (an extension of) the fundamental theorem of algebra Grundlehrsatz der Theorie der algebraischen Gleichungen in 1849. –  t.b. Sep 10 '12 at 12:12
@BenMillwood: I would have said it was definitely appropriate! –  user1729 Sep 10 '12 at 12:15
Fair enough. Also, if I was feeling super pedantic I might take issue with the questioner's use of "begs the question". –  Ben Millwood Sep 10 '12 at 12:39