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S17: Legal status
of names
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4. Legislation on geographical names
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There are legal acts that are concerned with at least partly
standardization and official approval of geographical names
in many countries. These mostly identify the competence of various
agencies in dealing with names. But in a few of the countries
geographical names have merited also special legislation. We
used examples Estonia and Norway.
The Place Names Act of Estonia
was adopted in 1996. This legal act determines both the competence
of various agencies in establishing place names and requirements
for place names in order to be approved officially. The main
requirements include:
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The language of place
names (as a rule, these are in Estonian but minority names
are also legal).
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The spelling of place
names (this must comply with the rules of orthography but
may reflect the local sound structure).
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Having only one name
per (one) feature but allowing two official names in order
to preserve minority language place names.
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Harmonization of the
spellings of names.
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Publicity of naming procedures.
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Choice of new official
place names (locally most widely recognized and widespread,
also most significant in terms of history and cultural history
shall be preferred).
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Allowing for change of
geographical names only under exceptional circumstances.
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For more information on the Norwegian example click here  ,
and click here (or download pdf) for the Norwegian Place Name Act of 1990.
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