Place names
Why cities and countries changed what they're called.
- Bangalore to BengaluruBengalooru → Bangalore → BengaluruBengaluru in Kannada for centuries, Bangalore in English until 2014. Eleven other cities changed with it.
- Batavia to JakartaJayakerta → Batavia → Djakarta → JakartaThe Dutch named it after an ancient Germanic tribe in 1619. It took Indonesia until 1949 to change it.
- Bombay to MumbaiBombay → MumbaiMarathi speakers always said Mumbai. In 1995 English had to as well.
- Burma to MyanmarBurma (Union of Burma) → Myanmar (Union of Myanmar)Both names come from the same word. What split the world was who made the change.
- Calcutta to KolkataKalikata → Calcutta → KolkataCalcutta was the British spelling of a Bengali village name. On 1 January 2001 the city became Kolkata.
- Cambodia, Kampuchea and backKambuja → Kingdom of Cambodia → Khmer Republic → Democratic Kampuchea → People’s Republic of Kampuchea → State of Cambodia → Kingdom of CambodiaFive official names in 23 years, each one marking a new regime. All of them come from one word, Kambuja.
- Ceylon to Sri LankaCeylon → Sri LankaTaprobane, Serendib, Ceylon, then in 1972 the name its own kings had used.
- Christiania to OsloOslo → Christiania → Kristiania → OsloFor 300 years Norway’s capital carried the name of a Danish king. In 1925 it went back to Oslo.
- Congo to Zaire and backCongo Free State → Belgian Congo → Republic of the Congo → Democratic Republic of the Congo → Republic of Zaire → Democratic Republic of the CongoMobutu renamed the country, its river and himself. The rebels who ousted him changed it back in a day.
- Constantinople to IstanbulByzantium (Byzantion) → Constantinople (Kostantiniyye to the Ottomans) → IstanbulThe Ottomans took Constantinople in 1453, but the name only became official in 1930.
- Czech Republic to CzechiaCzechoslovakia (Czech part) → Czech Republic (formal name) → Czechia (short name in English)The country didn’t change its name. It got a short one in English, 23 years late.
- Dahomey to BeninBenin → Dahomey → People’s Republic of BeninThe country was called Benin before it was Dahomey. In 1975 it switched back.
- Denali or Mount McKinley?Denali → Mount McKinley → Denali → Mount McKinleyRenamed by a prospector in 1896, by Obama in 2015 and by Trump in 2025. The park kept Denali.
- Ezo to HokkaidōEzo → HokkaidōRenamed in 1869 when Japan set out to colonise it; its Indigenous Ainu were recognised in law in 2019.
- Godthåb to NuukGodthåb → NuukNamed by a Norwegian missionary in 1728, renamed “the cape” when Greenland won home rule in 1979.
- Gold Coast to GhanaGold Coast → GhanaNamed at independence after a medieval empire 800 km away that never included any of its land.
- Great Britain, the UK or England?Kingdom of England (with Wales from 1535) → Great Britain → United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland → United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandEngland is one country, Great Britain is three and the UK is four. The British Isles adds Ireland.
- Gulf of Mexico or Gulf of America?Gulf of Mexico → Gulf of AmericaRenamed by US order in 2025. Google now shows a different name depending on which country you’re in.
- Holland or the Netherlands?Holland (a county) → United Provinces of the Netherlands → Batavian Republic → Kingdom of Holland → Part of the French Empire → Kingdom of the NetherlandsThe whole country was officially “Holland” for only four years, under Napoleon’s brother.
- India or Bharat?Bharat → IndiaThe constitution’s first line gives two names: “India, that is Bharat”. In 2023 that became a political fight.
- Ivory Coast or Côte d’Ivoire?Côte d’Ivoire (in French; “Ivory Coast” in English) → Côte d’Ivoire (in every language)Its name was always French; in 1985 it asked the world to stop translating it. Many still do.
- Kiev to KyivKiev (from Russian Киев) → Kyiv (from Ukrainian Київ)The city never changed its name. English switched from the Russian spelling to the Ukrainian one.
- Léopoldville to KinshasaNshasa and Ntamo (villages) → Léopoldville → KinshasaNamed by Stanley for Belgium’s King Leopold in 1881; renamed after a local village by Mobutu in 1966.
- Macedonia to North MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia → Republic of North MacedoniaTwenty-seven years of Greek objections, settled by adding one word.
- Madras to ChennaiMadraspatnam and Chennapatanam → Madras → ChennaiTwo villages, two names, one city. The British picked Madras; in 1996 Tamil Nadu picked the other.
- Nauru to NaoeroNauru (Republic of Nauru) in English, Naoero in Nauruan → Naoero (Republic of Naoero)The world’s smallest republic stopped using the name foreigners found easier to say.
- New Amsterdam to New YorkNew Amsterdam → New York → New Orange → New YorkTaken by an English fleet without a shot in 1664, and New Orange for a year after that.
- Peking to BeijingDadu → Beiping (“Northern Peace”) → Beijing (“Northern Capital”) → PekingThe city never changed its name in Chinese. The world changed its spelling in 1979.
- Persia to IranPersia → IranIranians always called it Iran. In 1935 the Shah asked the rest of the world to as well.
- Rhodesia to ZimbabweZambesia → Rhodesia (Southern Rhodesia) → ZimbabweNamed after a company’s founder, then after a medieval city of stone houses.
- Ryukyu to OkinawaRyukyu Kingdom → Okinawa PrefectureA kingdom for 450 years, then a Japanese prefecture, then 27 years under US rule.
- Saigon to Ho Chi Minh CitySaigon → Saigon–Gia Dinh City → Ho Chi Minh CityA 1946 petition asked for the name. It took a war’s end and until 2 July 1976 to get it.
- Salisbury to HarareFort Salisbury → Salisbury → HarareNamed after a British prime minister in 1890; renamed after a Shona chief on 18 April 1982.
- Siam to ThailandSiam → ThailandSiam until 1939, Siam again after the war, and Thailand for good in 1949.
- St Petersburg, Petrograd, LeningradSt Petersburg → Petrograd → Leningrad → St PetersburgThree names in one century, and in 1991 its people voted for the first one back.
- Swaziland to EswatiniSwaziland (Kingdom of Swaziland) → Eswatini (Kingdom of Eswatini)Announced by the king at his own 50th birthday: the same name, minus the English “-land”.
- Tsaritsyn, Stalingrad, VolgogradTsaritsyn → Stalingrad → VolgogradStalingrad became Volgograd in 1961, but the old name comes back six days a year.
- Turkey to TürkiyeTurkey (in English) → TürkiyeIn Turkish it was always Türkiye. In 2022 the United Nations switched too.
- Upper Volta to Burkina FasoUpper Volta (Haute-Volta) → Burkina FasoThomas Sankara swapped a colonial name for “land of upright people”, in two local languages at once.
- Van Diemen’s Land to TasmaniaVan Diemen’s Land → TasmaniaNamed after a Dutch official in 1642, renamed in 1856 to shake off its convict reputation.
Why places change their names
Places are renamed for many reasons: independence, a change of government, a wish to drop a colonial name, or simply a new way of spelling the same word. Ceylon became Sri Lanka in 1972, Burma became Myanmar in 1989, and Swaziland became Eswatini in 2018.
Some changes are only in the spelling. Peking became Beijing because of a new system for writing Chinese in Latin letters, not because the Chinese name changed. The articles here explain what each name means and why it changed, and the dates feed the On this day card.