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Geographical renaming

Change of name of a geographical entity

  • 28 min read
  • 7 chapters

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Background

A change might see a completely different name being adopted or may only be a slight change in spelling. Some names are changed locally but the new names are not recognised by other countries, especially when there is a difference in language. Other names may not be officially recognised but remain in common use. Many places have different names in different languages, and a change of language in official or general use has often resulted in what is arguably a change of name. There are many reasons to undertake renaming, with political motivation being the primary cause; for example many places in the former Soviet Union and its satellites were renamed to honour Stalin. Sometimes a place reverts to its former name (see, for example, de-Stalinization).

One of the most common reasons for a country changing its name is newly acquired national independence. When borders are changed, sometimes due to a country splitting or two countries joining, the names of the relevant areas can change. This, however, is more the creation of a different entity than an act of geographical renaming.

Place names may revert to an earlier name; for instance in Australia, pre-colonial names established thousands of years ago by Aboriginal peoples have been reclaimed as official names. Examples include K'gari (formerly Fraser Island and various other names since settlement), and Uluru / Ayers Rock, where a dual naming strategy was adopted but it is now commonly known as Uluru.

Other more unusual reasons for renaming have included getting rid of an inappropriate or embarrassing name, or as part of a sponsorship deal or publicity stunt.

In some cases established institutions preserve the old names of the renamed places in their names, such as the Pusan National University in Busan, South Korea; the Peking University in Beijing; Bombay Stock Exchange, IIT Bombay and the Bombay High Court in Mumbai; University of Madras, Madras Stock Exchange, the Madras High Court, and IIT Madras in Chennai; the University of Malaya, Keretapi Tanah Melayu, in Malaysia; and SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organization), the ruling party of Namibia. Often the older name will persist in colloquial expressions. For example, the dish known in English as "Peking duck" retained that name even when the Chinese capital changed its transliteration to "Beijing".

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