Place names in 19: Ordnance and imperial surveys

Toponymy studies those ruins: Celtic under English, Ainu under Japanese, Indigenous names under colonial English and Spanish. Renaming is one of the most visible naming laws there is. This page stays with places. It will not treat a town’s etymology as a personality, and it will not invent a live “most popular” place-name fashion.

The study of place names — their origins, layers and use. It is the hero field for this topic. Endonyms (used by locals) and exonyms (used by outsiders), plus official renamings after regime change. National names boards (e.g. the U.S. BGN), legislatures, and sometimes UNGEGN coordination — not SSA baby-name staff.

Names on the Land (1945, later editions) is a classic narrative of U.S. place-naming — a voice, not a statute. Are commemorative street names a good idea? They are a political choice. They also create the next renaming fight. This atlas describes; it does not score heroes. Much more slowly. A new suburb or a renamed capital is an event, not an annual ONS-style sport.