What’s in a Name

Quite some years ago when the former state-owned airline of Belgium, Sabena, invited journalists on their inaugural flight from Atlanta to Brussels, welcome tours for this group to the different parts of their country were organized. Belgium is officially divided into Flemish and French speaking sections. The divide was so strong at those times that we had to disembark the group from the Flemish owned bus at the border between the two sections and reboard a Walloon – French speaking owned bus. Such politically fueled extremes are an example of changing names and re-naming when political climates change. 

Here in the United States, we are presently seeing racial and politically related movements to change or wipe out any name and reference related to colonialism and slavery. What people forget is that in doing so it is also destroying our rich and sometimes regrettable history. The smallest of our 50 states, the “State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,” had the longest name of any state in the nation until 2020 when the results of a voter’s referendum shortened the name to simply “Rhode Island.” It was the first and only state to ever change its name, but a year later “Providence Plantations” was still written in the marble near the State House dome and on bronze plaques at the entrance. It was even on the rug in front of George Washington's portrait in the state room.

For whatever reason people, countries and states change names and the latest this summer was the fascinating country of Turkey. "Türkiye – pronounced tur-key-yay - is the best representation and expression of the Turkish people's culture, civilization, and values," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in December 2021. In June this year the United Nations officially accepted the change. According to government sources the reasoning behind the change was that there was too much reference to the “Thanksgiving bird,” as well as the negative connotations of a stupid, or silly person. In my opinion it probably was more to celebrate and promote a new image at difficult times trying to deflect attention away from the dismal economic situation in the country. It is a fascinating country, and its largest city, Istanbul, is the only city in the world divided by two continents. Two thirds of it in Europe and one third in Asia with the Strait of Bosporus between them. Despite being 99% of the Muslim religion, the country is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has strong ties to the European Common Market, but relations with the rest of Europe and the United States have been somewhat strained at times. I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively along the spectacular scenic coast, the interior with the mesmerizing cone stone rock lunar landscape of Cappadocia, the glistening, snow-white limestone of Pamukkale, shaped by salt minerals and calcium and the many historical sites, still being excavated today. I have experienced the frank openness and friendliness of people in general. People showing a genuine interest in those from other countries and especially the United States. 

It has led to many spontaneous conversations over a small cup of tea or coffee at numerous cafes or at shops in the bazaars with locals sitting on a low wooden stool next to a curbside vendor.

Not so long before Türkiye changed its name, my home country, The Netherlands, did the same. And the reasoning was similar in creating new interest to visit. Holland was originally referring to North and South Holland, two provinces along the North Sea Coast well known for tulips and Dutch cheese. The tourism gurus wanted to create a newer image portraying the country’s technology, culture, agriculture, fishing industry and advanced education available in the remaining ten provinces as well. I have asked several sources why the country was not named “Nederland”- or “Low Lands” in Dutch -instead of “The Netherlands,” but could not get a straight answer. It probably dates to the days I grew up there and was taught that it was impolite not to try to address a foreigner in their language. Aside from Dutch, English, French and German were already part of the lesson plan in secondary schools. Many college level specialty manuals and books are not translated into Dutch and at many schools English is used as the instructional language instead of Dutch. Obviously, this makes for a very open and inviting country.

The continent of Antarctica was originally called “Terra Australis.” But when “New Holland '' changed its name to “Australia,” so the Southern Polar Landmass changed names to avoid duplicity. Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew used the name “Antarctica” for the first time around 1890. The name came from the Greek “antarktikos/antarcticus” meaning opposite of the arctic.

Czechoslovakia was the original name of this country in Eastern Europe dominated by the former Soviet Union from 1948 to 1989. In 1993 the country was reformed into two countries called Czech Republic and Slovakia. It proved to be one of the few peaceful changes in this part of the world, and in 2016 the Czech Republic changed its name again to “Czechia” to facilitate their image around the world.

From the above it is obvious that name changes are common around the world and in most cases, the reasoning behind these changes are political or seen from a point of view of marketing. Many go almost unnoticed to the world at large, like Cape Verde to Republic of Cabo Verde and the Republic of Macedonia to North Macedonia. When I referenced the country of Eswatini to my tour guide in Cape Town, he still only knew it as “Swaziland,’” although King Mswati III of this small land-locked country within South Africa had renamed his country the previous year to avoid further references to the colonial days. Northern and Southern Rhodesia were one of the first of many countries in Africa to change names to Zambia (1964) and Zimbabwe (1980) as well to wipe out the reference to Great Britain. 

Probably the most published country name change was Burma to Myanmar in 1989. The name of the capital was changed at the same time from Rangoon to Yangon. What is different from most other name changes is that our country and the United Kingdom do not officially recognize these changes as they were made by the military dictatorship of the country. 

During the first ever visit of a U.S. President in 2012, former President Obama diplomatically referred to both Burma and Myanmar. However, after the latest military coup in 2021, President Biden only used the name Burma in his comments about the coup.

There are many more name changes I could mention. However, it is pretty clear the two main reasons for such costly endeavors are either political, or economically motivated by drawing new attention.