Naming a nation: Southern Sudan

Country naming is as old as countries. Historically most countries have ‘accidentally’ obtained their name from the peoples or tribes living on them, from empires and kings ruling over them, from physical and geographical features found on them, or from a specific word in the indigenous language of the country’s natives. However, it hasn’t been…

Estonia also considering changing country name to Estland

We’ve written before about Lithuania considering a country name change for the English language. Neighbouring Estonia has also considered changing the transcription in English (and in other languages) of its name. It was once proposed by Estonian journalist Eerik-Niiles Kross after he encountered an article by Darcy Wyatt, an American writer, in which she celebrated…

Re-naming the UK

One of the tenets of a powerful brand is to have an inequivocal name. The same rule applies to nation branding. Quite recently, Paula Scher addressed this issue, among others, in her essay about America’s identity (and awkward name). But the United States is not the only example – what about the UK? “United Kingdom” is not…