Toponyms are names given to places. Toponymy is the study of place names.

Toponymy

The Encyclopædia Britannica defines toponymy as:

The taxonomic study of place-names, based on etymological, historical, and geographical information. A place-name is a word or words used to indicate, denote, or identify a geographic locality such as a town, river, or mountain. Toponymy divides place-names into two broad categories: habitation names and feature names. A habitation name denotes a locality that is peopled or inhabited, such as a homestead, village, or town, and usually dates from the locality’s inception. Feature names refer to natural or physical features of the landscape and are subdivided into hydronyms (water features), oronyms (relief features), and places of natural vegetation growth (meadows, glades, groves).

Toponymy is concerned with the linguistic evolution (etymology) of place-names and the motive behind the naming of the place (historical and geographical aspects). Most toponymy, however, has concentrated on the etymological study of habitation names, often neglecting the study of feature names and the motive behind the naming of the place (see the Britannica entry for the complete description).

What is Toponymy? "There is a name for every place and thing on a map. Have you ever wondered how the places and things that you see on a map got their name? Guillaume Valtat, a Geographic Information Engineer, explains Toponymy."

Toponymy (Wikipedia). The study of place names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology. Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds. This page contains

a nice variety of toponymic oddities. Look at the lists of various topics, such as: List of places named for their units of production, or List of tautological (redundant) place names.

Sometimes a name is based on a foreign language and when used, redundencies occur (e.g., Rio Grande River; Picacho Peak). There is a list of some of these: double placenames.

• Inundated with place names. Map showing variant words in names meaning "stream."
• Naming Rivers and Places. Similar to above, but for the United Kingdom (map 1, map 2).
• Areas with population density over 5 people per square kilometer. Slide the scale on top and see what areas have higher densities.
• Population Lines Map. A different visualization of population.
• Place names of Native American origin in New York. List of names.
  • See also: Western New York Names.
• United States Placename Etymology.
• Place name origins. About the origins of place names.
• Placeness, Place, Placelessness. Blog by a professional with good resources and information.

Longest placename in the World (New Zealand)

Å is a village in the municipality of Moskenes, in Lofoten, Norway

Shortest placename in the World (Finland)

Names Related to Places, People, Ethnicity, and What Other People Think of Them (links to Wikipedia entries)

• demonym: a name, derived from a place name, for residents of that place (e.g., Utahn, from Utah, or Sioux Cityan, from Sioux City) — coined by George H. Scheetz, according to Paul Dickson in What Do You Call a Person From...? A Dictionary of Resident Names. The term first appeared in print in 1988 in Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon by George H. Scheetz. See also taxonym.
• endonym: A self-assigned name by locals of a place. Also known as an autonym (not to be confused with the autonym in botany).
• exonym: a name used by one group of people for another group, but who call themselves by a different name, such as "Germans" for "Deutsche"; a place name used by one group that differs from the name used by the people who live there, such as "Cologne" for "Köln."
• ethnonym: a name of an ethnic group. A type of taxonym. Related to: exonyms and endonyms (autonyms).
• A toponymic surname is a surname derived from a place name. Think of German "von" or Irish "O'--." Originally, surnames were not common, especially among common people. Surnames became more prevalent once property and other laws made it necessary.

Nicknames

Nicknames can be created by the local population, by outsiders' perceptions, or can be derived from characteristics of a place.

Western New York Names

Names in the area reflect both the Native American and classical words.

Buffalo, NY. Origins of the name (French or Indian?). Named after Buffalo Creek, which was either from French: Beau Fleuve "Beautiful River" or the French: Boeuf a Leau, "Oxen or Cattle at the Water." It may have been named for the American buffalo, which was known to roam the area. Or it was a misrepresentation of the Indian word for beaver. Another theory is that there was an Indian living there who looked a lot like a buffalo, or whose name meant buffalo ("De-gi-yah-goh," or "Buffalo")..

• Origin of the name 'Buffalo."
• Origin (section).

Native American place names in WNY

• Cattaraugus = Gah-ta-ra-ke-ras "stinking shore" or "foul-smelling river bank." Named because of the natural gas that oozes from the river mud.
• Chautauqua = Either “a bag tied in the middle” or “two moccasins tied together.” Describes the shape of Chautauqua Lake.
• Cheektowaga = Chictawauga, Ji-ik-do-wah-gah, "land of the crabapples" (Seneca).
• Erie = named for the Erie people (also called: Erieehronon, Eriechronon, Riquéronon, Erielhonan, Eriez, Nation du Chat). Erie tribal name means "long-tail."
• Niagara = On-ga-ria, On-guia-ahra, "The Throat" or "The Strait."
• Oatka Creek = means "leaving the highlands" or "approaching an opening" (Seneca).
• Tonawanda = Te-ni-wun-da; Ta-na-wan-deh. "swift water" or "confluent stream" (Erie or Tuscarora).
• Wyoming = "broad bottom lands" (Delaware).

However, Scajaquada is not an Indian word. Conjockety Creek is the original name of what is now, and has long been written, Scajaquada Creek. The creek was named after Philip Conjockety.

Other Local Names

• Amherst. Named for Lord Jeffery Amherst.
• Bagdad. Hamlet in the town of Collins.
• Brant. Named for Joseph Brant, the Mohawk chief (Tha-yan-da-nee-gah).
• Looneyville. Hamlet in the town of Lancaster.
• Wales. Named because its hills and green fields reminded settlers of the nation of Wales.

Native American Names

Native American terms used for place names occur across the United States and Canada. Some names are not even known to be from indigenous people, having been used for so long that no one is aware of their origin. For example, "Podunk," meant to describe a insignificant town out in the middle of nowhere, comes from a Natick Indian word meaning "swampy place."

• List of place names of Native American origin in New York.
• Say what? 20 hard-to-pronounce Upstate NY towns. Not all of these are Native American, proving that even Europeans came up with unusual names.
• List of place names of Native American origin in the United States. Partial listing of names with their meaning and current name. Listed by state.
• 11 Native American Names for Modern U.S. Cities.
• American Indian Place Names. State names that are derived from Indian names.
• Native Americans Gave Places, Animals, Plants Their Names.
• Denali and America's Long History of Using (or Not Using) Indian Names.

Native American Names of 11 Major Cities

Native Names Worldwide

Ayers Rock = Uluṟu (Australia)
Mount Everest = Sagarmatha (Nepali) and Chomolungma (Tibetan).

Several countries are making an effort to restore earlier indigenous names to their geography. Here are a few articles on this, or on native place names and the modern world:

• Indigenous Place Names (Natural Resources Canada).
• New map honors indigenous place names in Canada
• Teaching Through Toponymy: Using Indigenous Place-Names in Outdoor Science Camps. Book that discusses the importance of learning native place names.
• Vancouver Park Board passes motion to learn Indigenous place names.
• What's in a Name? Place Names, History, and Colonialism...
• Indigenous and Minority Placenames: Australian and International Perspectives
• Indigenous meanings of Australian town names .
• NEW ZEALAND: Re-instatement of indigenous place names.

Native American Riddles

American Indians were traditionally known to use riddles in various ways, including place naming, among others. Many times they would create a short riddle when referring to a concept that might be one that they would not speak aloud. This amounted sometimes to an unspoken code that other Indians (or those with patience to understand riddles) would be able to appreciae. Several resources include samples of these riddles from North American Indian speech.

• Bierhorst, John. Lightning Inside You: And Other Native American Riddles. HarperCollins, 1992 (ISBN: 9780688095826).
• Taylor, Archer. “American Indian Riddles.” The Journal of American Folklore 57, no. 223 (1944): 1-15. doi:10.2307/535750.
  

Critical Cartography

Critical Cartography is a set of new mapping practices and theoretical critique grounded in critical theory. It differs from academic cartography in that it links geographic knowledge with political power. Critical cartographers do not aim to invalidate maps. Instead the critique is careful analysis of maps identifying attributes of the maps that are taken for granted. The eventual hope is to better understand the maps and gain more knowledge.

Critical cartography is the idea that maps are not neutral. They reflect and perpetuate relations of power. And these reflections are usually in the interest of dominant groups. Maps project our desires onto the landscape, they can map our hopes for the future, what we desire to see and that which we wish to ignore. The process of mapping can bring new ways of being and relating into the world.--Wikipedia article

• Introduction to Critical Cartography.
• Critical Cartography
• Examples:
  • Map on Woman's Sufferage.
  • Map Showing Journeys to Work. Routes people take to work in the United Kingdom.
  • Loneliness Maps. Research on loneliness and its effects.
• You Can't Hide (Satellites and Security). Examples:
  • North Korea: Kaechon Reeducation Camp no. 1; Yodok Concentration Camp; West Valley Nuclear Services, NY; West Valley (censored view).
• See also:
  • Spatial citizenship
  • Counter-mapping
  • Map Projection

Propaganda Maps

• Cartographic Propaganda (Wikipedia). How maps are used to persuade, change opinions, mislead, and cause other influence.
• Examples of Persuasive Cartography.
  • Woman's Sufferage Map. Puck Magazine, 1915.
  • Europe Under the Threat of Prussia, 1917. French map showing Prussian desires during World War I.
  • Propaganda Maps (google search). Image search
• Maps as an Instrument of Propaganda, Part 1 (GeoCurrents). This is a reprint of the text of the article, with great illustrations.
• Maps as Propaganda (pdf of presentation).
• Mapping Stereotypes. Look at images or at any of the entries that discuss this work.
• 31 Maps Mocking National Stereotypes Around the World. (Sample). Described further here.
• Atlas of Prejudice: The Complete Stereotype Map Collection(ISBN: 9788461795666), 2017. Read the author's blog.

Pre-1492

• Early world maps
• Mappa mundi
• Cartographic Images

Mayhem From Previous Classes

• Mapping Pangaea
  • Historical Perspective (USGS).
  • Pangaea Maps.
  • Plate Tectonics: Pangaea Continent Maps.
• Toponyms and Maps. Previous class topics.

Just Fun Stuff

• Europe by Surname. Map showing the most popular surname of each country as its name.
• Europe as the Chinese Name it. Map showing all the Mandarin names of the European nations translated into English - only Russia remains the same.
• FloatingSheep. Geographers creating a better world through cartography. Worth looking at (one of the members of Floating Sheep is a professor at UB). Some samples of their work:
  • Mapping Racist Tweets in Response to President Obama's Re-election (see related map).
  • Great American Pizza Map (map)
  • Geography of Hate. Using Twitter data, the map shows various hate-related topics.
• How to Say "Cat" in Europe.
• World War I politics: England; Germany.
• Europe (Español ). European countries in Spanish.
• Spatial.Ly. Website and blog by Dr James Cheshire, a geographer with a passion for mapping data.
• List of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations. It may be spelled like a word you know, but it is not pronounced that way.
  • US: A-L, M-Z.
• Shibboleths. Words or customs whose variations in pronunciation or style can be used to differentiate members of ingroups from those of outgroups.
• 12 Mile Circle: An Appreciation of Unusual Places. Blog that visits the countryside and looks around.
• Largest U.S. Cities Named After a Food, and Other Mind-Boggling Geography Lists from Around the World. Book of place names. The selection below is from the book's website:
  • Domestic Oddities: Strange U.S. Place Names
  • Largest U.S. Cities to Share Their Name with No Other World Cities
  • States Where the Highest Percentage of Cities and Towns Have Spanish Names
  • Atypical Avenues: Weird Street Names (e.g., Candy Cane Lane--Redding, CA 96003)
  • Largest U.S. Cities to Be Named After a Food.

Backwards Names (ananyms)

Where are Alehagonom, Mateitna, Avalcalab? answers

Spell Backwards. Generates backwards spellings for text that you enter.

For geography, see: List of geographic names derived from anagrams and ananyms.

Make Your Own Names (Name Generators)

For use in writing, gaming, and anywhere that you need to create unique and fantastic names, while keeping to the spirit of the region you are naming.

• Fantasy Name Generators. Generate custom names based on real ones for a variety of contexts. Included are: Place names (pick a physical feature and get name list); Afterlife Names; City names; River names; Restaurant names, etc..

References

• Bright, William. Native American Placenames of the United States, 2007. 978-0806135984.
• Critical Cartography Related Entries (Making Maps: DIY Cartography blog).
• Douglas-Lithgow, R. Native American Place Names of Massachusetts, 2001, 1909.
• Map Projection. It is important to understand that projections (the method of representing real-world features on a 2-D space) have a purpose and that the wrong projections can be misused or will provide an unintentional view of the world.
• Maxwell, Brandt. The Largest U.S. Cities Named After a Food: And Other Mind-Boggling Geography Lists from Around the World, 2004.
• Room, Adrian. Alternate Names of Places: A Worldwide Dictionary. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009 Lockwood Ref G105 .R648 2009.
• ________. Nicknames of Places: Origins and Meanings of the Alternate and Secondary Names, Sobriquets, Titles, Epithets and Slogans for 4600 Places Worldwide. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006 Lockwood Ref G105 .R65 2006.
• Satellite map images with missing or unclear data. Security and other concerns cause maps to be blurred over sensitive regions.
• Silences and Secrecy: The Hidden Agenda of Cartography in Early Modern Europe. Imago Mundi. 40: 57–76. doi:10.1080/03085698808592639.
• Taylor, Archer. “American Indian Riddles.” The Journal of American Folklore 57:223 (1944): 1-15. doi:10.2307/535750.
• Toponymy and Place Names. Discussion on place names and their importance. Author blog: Placeness is all about place names and their impact on society. Included is a list of the author's publications on toponymy.
• UNGEGN-ICA Webcourse on Toponymy (UN). A tutorial on toponymic taxonomy for professionals. Offers reasons why toponymy is important.

Where to Go Next

• UB Map Collection. Provides an introduction and finding tools to the Map Collection.
• Guides:
  • Aerial Photographs of Buffalo and WNY
  • Buffalo, New York in Maps, Charts, and Images
  • Gazetteers. Find place names, historic and current, for any place in the world and the Solar System.
  • Maps & Cartography
  • Maps and Mapping Resources from Government Agencies
  • Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
  • Teaching With Maps
  • Topographic Maps
  • Western New York in Maps, Charts, and Images

Last modified: 16 October 2019
David J. Bertuca, Map Librarian, Emeritus, University at Buffalo Libraries.

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dbertuca/maps/toponymics.html

Nsaa (Adinkra (Sub-Saharan African language) = Hand-woven Basket
Symbol of Excellence, Genuineness, and Authenticity.
“This symbol extols excellence and eschews satisfaction with mediocrity.”

Adinkra design adapted from West African Wisdom: Adinkra Symbols and Meanings (a wonderful site to visit).