Origins of place names: how names begin and how they change

How places are named

The study of place names is called toponymy. A name is like a label that people give a place so they can talk about it. It usually starts as a simple description in the local language.

1. Names from the land (physical features)

• A hill, river, lake, forest, coast or desert: Himachal = snow + mountain; Punjab = five + waters (five rivers); Doab = two waters (land between two rivers).
• In China: Hubei and Hunan mean "north of the lake" and "south of the lake" (Dongting Lake).

2. Names from direction and position

• Hebei and Henan are north and south of the Yellow River. Shandong and Shanxi are east and west of the Taihang mountains.
• Beijing = northern capital, Nanjing = southern capital. Uttarakhand = northern part (uttar = north).

3. Names from people, events and beliefs

• Cities named after a leader, a saint, a god or a battle. Example: Mumbai takes its name from the goddess Mumbadevi.

4. Names from products, trade or plants

• A market for tea, salt or silk; a place with many mango or bamboo plants. Many "-pur" and "-ganj" towns started as markets.

5. Names from older languages

• A name may keep a word from a language no one speaks now. Linguists study such words to learn who lived there long ago.

Changes of names over time

A name can live for thousands of years or change in a lifetime. Here are the usual reasons, with examples.

• New rulers or a new capital: Chang'an became Xi'an ("western peace") in 1369. Edo became Tokyo ("eastern capital") in 1868 when the capital moved.
• Bringing back a local-language name: Bombay to Mumbai (1995), Madras to Chennai (1996), Allahabad to Prayagraj (2018).
• A new spelling or writing system: Calcutta to Kolkata (2001) matched the Bengali sound; Peking to Beijing (pinyin spelling) matched the Chinese sound.
• Joining or splitting towns: two villages merge and take a joint name.
• Honouring someone or removing an old tie: Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City; Ceylon became Sri Lanka.

Important: the place is the same. Only the label changed. Old names often live on in books, songs, old stations and nicknames.

How to find the origin of a name (interdisciplinary)

• Geography: look at the land and the map. Is there a river, hill or lake?
• History: read old records and old maps. When did the name first appear?
• Language: break the name into parts. What does each part mean in the local language?
• Maths and data: make a timeline of names and years.
• People: ask elders for stories. Say clearly which facts are records and which are stories.

Be careful: some popular explanations of names are legends, not proven facts. Check at least two sources.

Try it: investigate your own place

1. Pick your village, town or street. Write its name in your language and in English.
2. Split the name into parts and guess the meaning. Which type is it: land, direction, person, product or old language?
3. Ask two elders and look at one old map. Did it have another name earlier?
4. Draw a timeline: old name, new name, year, reason. Share it with your class.

Key formulas and definitions

• Toponymy: the study of place names
• Physical-feature names: from hills, rivers, lakes (Himachal, Punjab)
• Direction names: north/south/east/west of a feature (Hebei, Henan)
• Commemorative names: after a person, god or event
• Product or trade names: from a market or plant
• Why names change: new ruler, local language, spelling system, merging
• The place stays the same; only the label changes

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Thinking a name change moves or changes the place. Only the label changes.
• Believing every popular story about a name is true. Many are legends; check two sources.
• Thinking names only come from rulers. Most start from the land, direction, trade or local language.
• Using the old name as if it were wrong. Old names are historical facts; the current official name is used today.