|
|
 |
The Naming Process
About the Naming Process
How is an official name proposed or changed?
Under the Guiding Principles, any citizen or organization may propose a new
name or name change for a place or geographical feature. Proposals must be accompanied
by well-documented justification, usually beginning with a community petition
supporting the proposal. Municipal Council's support, in the form of a motion,
and a letter of support from the local MLA should be included. The location
should be identified on a map and the origin and meaning should be noted. Often,
additional detailed research is required to confirm the accuracy of the information.
Interviews with area residents and other interested parties, and research of
archival records, may also be undertaken.
Completely new names may require Cabinet approval. If Cabinet approves the
new name, the Gazetteer of Canada and the Nova Scotia Geographical Names Database
are updated. In the case of minor changes, such as location, boundary or spelling
corrections, the Provincial Coordinator will approve changes without applying
to Cabinet.
Guiding Principles
The principles of nomenclature which guide the decisions of the Geographical Names
Board of Canada are summarized as follows:
- Names Governed by Statutory Authority
The names of municipalities, territorial divisions, reserves, parks, and other
legal entities as created by, or resulting from, legislation by the appropriate
government shall be accepted.
- Names in General Public Use
First priority shall be given to names with long-standing local usage by the
general public. Unless there are good reasons to the contrary, this principle
should prevail.
- Names Given by Other Agencies
Names for facilities established by postal authorities, railway companies,
and major public utilities shall be accepted, if they are in keeping with
the other principles. Names established for land divisions by federal, provincial,
and territorial departments shall also be accepted, if they conform to the
other principles. Active encouragement should be given to such agencies to
have open communication with the appropriate names authorities.
- Naming an Entire Feature and Identifying its Extent
A decision on a name proposal for a physical or cultural feature should specify
the geographical limits of the feature to which the name applies. Future approval
of different names with the same generic for a part of what is deemed to be
the same feature should be avoided.
- Use of Personal Names
A personal name should not be given to a geographical feature unless such
application is in the public interest. The person commemorated should have
contributed significantly to the area where the feature is located; when such
a name is applied, it should normally be given posthumously. The adoption
of a personal name during the lifetime of the person concerned should only
be made in exceptional circumstances. Ownership of land should not in itself
be grounds for the application of the owner's name to a geographical feature.
However, where names already in common local use are derived from the names
of persons, either living or deceased, Principle 2 takes precedence.
- Approving Names for Unnamed Features
In approving names for previously unnamed features for which no local names
are found to be in use, the following sources are recommended: descriptive
names appropriate to the features; names of pioneers; names of persons who
died during war service; names associated with historical events connected
with the area; and names from Aboriginal languages formerly identified with
the general area.
- Form and Character of Names
Geographical names should be recognizable words or acceptable combinations
of words, and should be in good taste.
- Language Forms and Translation
A name should be adopted in a single language form, although other forms may
be accepted where in use and when sanctioned by the appropriate names authority.
A name should, where possible, be written in the Roman alphabet. A name derived
from languages other than English or French should be written according to
the considered opinion of linguistic specialists and be acceptable to the
appropriate names authorities and the language communities concerned. Names
of selected geographical entities of "pan-Canadian" significance, as established
by Treasury Board in 1983, are recognized in both English and French for use
on federal maps and in federal texts.
- Spelling Standards in English and French
The spelling and accenting of names should agree with the rules of the language
in which they are written. In English, hyphenation and the genitive apostrophe
should be approved only when well established and in current usage.
- Uniformity in the Spelling of Names
Names of the same origin applying to various service facilities in a community
should conform in spelling with the official name of the community. Names
with the same specific for associated features should agree in form and spelling.
- Duplication
Where established names are duplicated or are similar in sound or spelling,
and tend to cause confusion, local assistance will be obtained to achieve
distinction among them. In giving new names, duplication to the extent that
confusion may result in a local community should be avoided.
- Generic Terminology
A geographical name usually includes both a specific and a generic element.
The generic term in a newly-approved geographical name should be appropriate
to the nature of the feature. Its position in the name should be dictated
by euphony and usage. The generic term will be recorded in English, in French,
or in an Aboriginal language by the names authority concerned.
- Use of Qualifying Terminology
Qualifying words may be used to distinguish between two or more similar features
with identical specific forms. Such words may be derived from other local
names or features or may be terms such as "upper", "new", "west branch","nouveau",
"petit", and "gros". Whenever possible, however, new names should be distinctive.
- Names of Small Features
Except where local and historic usage dictates, the official approval of a
name of a minor feature should be guided by the relative significance of the
feature, the familiarity with the name, and the scale of mapping available.
|
