Rational Name Changes and Others

In South Africa they now consider changing some apartheid street names. It is one of those questions that do not have a right answer. Or, perhaps, it has too many right answers that happen to contradict each other.

The issue of changing names is of course an old one - probably as old as man himself. Lutetia became Paris. Byzantion (Βυζάντιον) became Constantinopel (Κωνσταντινούπολη) which became Istanbul. Except in Greece, where they still call the city Κωνσταντινούπολη, and why not? The "Turkish" name, İstanbul, is very possibly of Greek origin as well.

In communist times, there was a story about a Russian who was interviewed for a job.
"Where were you born?"
"Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург)."
"Where did you get your exam?"
"Petrograd (Петроград)."
"Where do you live now?"
"Leningrad. (Ленинград)."
"Now, let's talk about your ambitions. If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would you like to live?"
"In Saint Petersburg."

If he survived until 1991, his wish came true.

People in that city by the Gulf of Finland often continued to call the city simply Peter (Петер) even during Soviet times. All other names were too unwieldy. And the name Leningrad has not disappeared either. The territory surrounding the city is still called Leningrad district (Ленинградская область) for example.

It should perhaps be mentioned that the city was named by, but not after, Peter the Great (Пётр I Великий). Peter the Great in no way was a saint. The Peter that gave his name to the city was the one of Christ's disciples, who is supposed to guard the gates of heaven.

The argument for changing names of places, is usually that you do not want any association with the person whose name it bears. And the argument against it, is usually that no one any longer think of the person. It is simply a name.

It often becomes a heated argument between people who say it is just a name, and people who claim it is not.

They are both wrong of course. It is just a matter of perception. If enough people are disturbed by the name, you have to change the name. It doesn't really matter if it is a rational feeling they have or not, as long as it is genuine.