Some aspects of South African geographical names registered between 2000 and 2014

Abstract

The South African Geographical Names Council has compiled an unpublished list of all the geographical names registered between 2000 and 2014. This article analyses the number of names registered each year and breaks it down into changes of spelling, changes of name and registration of names not previously registered. The total number of names is compared with those in two previous periods, 1977–1988 and 1989–1999. Half the names were first registrations, 30% were changes of spelling and 20% were changes of name. This is a lower proportion of changes than might have been expected in the light of calls for transformation in geographical naming. The totals for the period are also broken down according to provinces. Patterns in the creation of new post office outlets since 1989 are discussed. A high proportion of all the names were from African languages, constituting a large increase compared to the periods 1977–1988 and 1989–1999. The conclusion that is reached is that while there has been a significant increase in names from African languages, the registration of new names and changing of names have been moderate.