Place names are greater than just labeling on a card. They influence how people learn in regards to the world around them and perceive their place in it.
Names can send messages and propose what and never estimated in society. And the best way they’ve modified over time can signal cultural changes.
The United States are Renovate in the course of a moment. From renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of AmericaTo return from Forts Bragg And Benning And the brand new Newly designated Mount McKinley In Alaska's Denali National Park we experience a subsequent shift in name names.
This sudden description of the nation's map – based on President Donald Trump, to “restore American size” Executive order that made a few of them official – is a component of a reputation game that recognizes the place name as mighty brands And Political instruments.
In our research To Name nameWe examine how this “name game” is used to ascertain control over common symbols and to embed subtle and never so subtle messages into the landscape.
As geography Teacher And ResearcherWe also recognize the pedagogical and emotional effects of the name game on the general public.
Local names can have psychological effects
To rename a spot is at all times An act of power.
Have people in power Long used Place naming To Claim control About the identity of the place strengthen their calls, be against opponents and achieve political goals.
These movements can have strong psychological effectsEspecially when the name causes something threatening. If you alter a spot name belong to this place.
In Shenandoah County, Virginia, the scholars at two schools that were originally named after generals of the Confederates have in recent times on an emotional roller coaster ride with name changes. The schools were Renamed Mounty View and Honey Run In 2020 in the course of the national turmoil due to murder of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Four years later the local school authority hired the unique names of the confederated After conservatives had taken control of the board.
A black eighth grader on the Mountain View High School-Jetzt newly moved the Stonewall Jackson High School- testified at a board meeting about how the planned change would affect:
“I would have to represent a man who fought for my ancestors to be slaves. If this board decides to restore the names, I would not feel so valued and respected,” she said. The board still approved the change, 5-1.
Local names also work outside of colleges as “hidden curriculum. ““ They offer the general public to the general public about how the community or nation sees itself – in addition to their history and perspectives that they consider worthy or public attention.
Local names influence how people perceive, experience and are emotionally related to their surroundings each conscious and unconscious ways. Psychologists, sociologists and geographers have examined how that is The location of the place manifests itself within the psycheEither create Attachment Or an aversion to space, no matter whether it’s a college, a mountain or a park.
A story of two forts
Renaming of places can Assembly The supporters of a guide through rebranding.
Trump's command, the names Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, each originally after generals of the confederated, illustrate this effect. The names were modified in 2023 after the congress in Fort Liberty and Fort Moore A law said goodbye to using names of the confederated ban For federal installations.
Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images
Trump made A Campaign promise to bring the name Fort Bragg back to his followers when he was re -elected.
In order to avoid the ban on the federal ban, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth identified two army -resorted army names with the identical surnames – Bragg and Benning – but without confederated connections to honor as an alternative.
If you would like, if you happen to want, this tactic made it possible for the Department of Defense to revive politically charged names without violating the law.
AP Photo/Chris Seward
The Restoration of the names Bragg and Benning Can feel like a symbolic return for many who have opposed the unique name change emotional bonds to the names through their memories of life and servants on the bottom and never through a connection to the precise name bird.
However, the names are still harking back to the military bases. original association With defenders of slavery.
The game-running game
A wave of location names throughout the Obama and bidet management focused on Removing insulting or derogatory place names and recognize indigenous names.
For example, Clelingmans Dome, the best summit of the Great Smoky Mountains, was renamed Kuwohi in September 2024 and the name was postponed by a General of the Confederation General to a Cherokee word, which suggests “the Mulberry location”.
However, changes to the place name are advanced as a part of the Trump administration explicitly ward off Against reform efforts a part of a more comprehensive attack on what Trump calls “culture”.
National parking service
President Barack Obama modified Alaskas Mount McKinley after Denali in 2015 To recognize the indigenous heritage and a protracted -term name for the mountain. Officials in Alaska had requested the name change to Denali years earlier and supported the name change in 2015.
Trump moved to his first day in January 2025 Name Denali back to Mount McKinleyAbout the opposition of the Republican politicians in Alaska. The state legislator said goodbye to an answer Just a few days later, Trump asked to rethink it.
Georgia Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter made A Latest proposal To rename Greenland as “red, white and Blueland” to support Trump's expansionist wish to purchase the island that’s an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Danish officials and Greenlanders saw Carter's absurd proposal as insulting and harmful to diplomatic relationships. It is just not the primary time that the renaming the place used as a type of symbolic insult in international relationships.
The renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America could have been unlikely, nevertheless it is already reflected in common navigation apps.
Google Inegi
A greater technique to select place names
When managers surround a sudden, one -sided place – often for ideological reasons – they risk alienation which can be deeply with these names as a type of memory, identity and place.
A Better alternativeIn our opinion, it might be to make the renaming common landscapes participativeWith possibilities for a wise public participation within the renaming process.
This approach doesn’t avoid any name changes, but suggests that the changes to the social and psychological needs of communities and the developing cultural identity of places should react – and should not simply used to realize political points.
Instead, they promote the participation of the general public – as through Reviews of the landscape effects And Critical audits This takes the needs of the communities affected seriously – can promote a sense of shared ownership of the choice that can provide this name more perseverance.
The latest place for redness is already Effects on the classroom experience. The pupils not only learn latest places, but are also asked to re -evaluate the importance of those places and Your own relationship with the nation and the world.
As The story has shown worldwideOne of crucial disadvantages of executives who impose changes is that the names will be easily replaced as soon as the following regime accepts power. The result will be an infinite name game.
image credit : theconversation.com