# Endonym and exonym

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Categories in etymology

A map demonstrating the wide diversity of [exonyms for Germany](/source/Names_of_Germany), compared to blue for names related to the modern [German language](/source/German_language) endonym of *[Deutschland](/source/Names_of_Germany)* [country of the people]. Yellow descend from Latin *Alemanni*, a tribal confederation around the Danube meaning 'everyone'; dark green from Latin *Germāni*, a name for tribal groups in Northern Europe; red is [Saxon](/source/Saxon); light green of uncertain origin; and purple is a Slavic term meaning 'mute'.

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An **endonym**[a] or **autonym**[b] is a common, self-chosen, *native* [name](/source/Name) of a group of people, an individual person of that group, a [geographical place](/source/Location), a [language](/source/Language) or a [dialect](/source/Dialect); it is 'native' in the sense that it is used inside or by a particular group or [linguistic community](/source/Speech_community) to identify or designate themselves, their place of origin, or their language.[1]

An **exonym**[c] or **xenonym**[d] is a foreign-established, *non-native* name for a group of people, an individual person of that group, a geographical place,[1] a language, or a dialect, meaning that it is used primarily outside the particular place inhabited by the group or linguistic community. Exonyms exist not only for [historico-geographical](/source/Historical_geography) reasons but also in consideration of difficulties when pronouncing foreign words,[1] or from non-systematic or failed attempts to properly and faithfully transcribe and translate local-originated names into different writing systems.[2]

For instance, *[Deutschland](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Deutschland#German)* is the endonym for the [country](/source/Country) that is also known by the exonyms *[Germany](/source/Germany)* and *[Germania](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Germania#Italian)* (in [English](/source/English_language) and [Italian](/source/Italian_language), respectively), *[Alemania](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Alemania#Spanish)* and *[Allemagne](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Allemagne#French)* (in [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language) and [French](/source/French_language), respectively), *[Niemcy](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Niemcy#Polish)* (in [Polish](/source/Polish_language)), and *[Saksa](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Saksa#Finnish)* and *[Saksamaa](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Saksamaa#Estonian)* (in [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language) and [Estonian](/source/Estonian_language), respectively).

## Naming and etymology

The terms *autonym*, *endonym*, *exonym* and *xenonym* are formed by adding specific [prefixes](/source/Prefix) to the [Greek root word](/source/List_of_Greek_and_Latin_roots_in_English%2FH%E2%80%93O) ὄνομα (*ónoma*) 'name', from [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_language) *[*h₃nómn̥](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h%E2%82%83n%C3%B3mn%CC%A5#Proto-Indo-European)*.

The prefixes added to these terms are also derived from Greek:

- **endonym**: ἔνδον (*éndon*) 'within';

- **exonym**: ἔξω (*éxō*) 'outside';

- **autonym**: αὐτός (*autós*) 'self'; and

- **xenonym**: ξένος (*xénos*) 'foreign'.

The terms *autonym* and *xenonym* also have different applications,[3] thus leaving *endonym* and *exonym* as the preferred forms.

[Marcel Aurousseau](/source/Marcel_Aurousseau), an Australian [geographer](/source/Geographer), first[4] used the term *exonym* in his work *The Rendering of Geographical Names* (1957).[5]

## Typology

[Endonyms](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endonym) and [exonyms](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exonym) can be divided into three main categories:[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*][6]

- endonyms and exonyms of places ([toponyms](/source/Toponymy)),

- endonyms and exonyms of humans ([anthroponyms](/source/Anthroponymy)), including names of [ethnic groups](/source/Ethnic_group) ([ethnonyms](/source/Ethnonym)), localised populations ([demonyms](/source/Demonym)), and individuals ([personal names](/source/Personal_name)),

- endonyms and exonyms of languages ([glossonyms](/source/List_of_language_names)).[7]

### Endonyms and exonyms of toponyms

As it pertains to [geographical features](/source/Geographical_feature), the [United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names](/source/United_Nations_Group_of_Experts_on_Geographical_Names) defines:[8]

- **Endonym**: "Name of a geographical feature in an official or well-established language occurring in that area where the feature is located."

- **Exonym**: "Name used in a specific language for a geographical feature situated outside the area where that language is spoken, and differing in its form from the name used in an official or well-established language of that area where the geographical feature is located."

For example, *India*, *China*, *[Egypt](/source/Egypt)*, and *Germany* are the English-language exonyms corresponding to the endonyms *Bhārat* ([भारत](/source/Names_for_India)), *Zhōngguó* ([中国](/source/Names_of_China)), *Masr* ([مَصر](/source/Names_of_Egypt)), and *[Deutschland](/source/Names_of_Germany)*, respectively. There are also typonyms of specific features, for example [hydronyms](/source/Hydronym) for bodies of water.

### Endonyms and exonyms of glossonyms

In the case of endonyms and exonyms of [language names](/source/Linguonym) (glossonyms), *[Chinese](/source/Chinese_language),* *[German](/source/German_language)*, and *[Dutch](/source/Dutch_language)*, for example, are English-language exonyms for the languages that are endonymously known as *Zhōngwén* (中文), *Deutsch*, and *Nederlands*, respectively.

## Exonyms in relation to endonyms

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By their relation to endonyms, all exonyms can be divided into three main categories:

- those that are [cognate](/source/Cognate) words, diverged only in [pronunciation](/source/Pronunciation) or [orthography](/source/Orthography);

- those that are fully or partially translated (a [calque](/source/Calque)) from the native language;

- those derived from different roots, as in the case of Germany for *Deutschland*.

Sometimes, a place name may be unable to use many of the letters when [transliterated](/source/Transliterated) into an exonym because of the corresponding language's lack of common sounds. [Māori](/source/M%C4%81ori_language), having only one [liquid consonant](/source/Liquid_consonant), is an example of this.

### Cognate exonyms

[London](/source/London) (originally [Latin](/source/Latin_language): *Londinium*), for example, is known by the cognate exonyms:

- *Londres* in [Basque](/source/Basque_language), [Catalan](/source/Catalan_language), [Filipino](/source/Filipino_language), [French](/source/French_language), [Galician](/source/Galician_language), [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language), and [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language);

- Λονδίνο (Greek pronunciation: [\[lon'ðino\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Greek)) in [Greek](/source/Greek_language);

- *Londen* in [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) and [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans);

- *Londra* in [Italian](/source/Italian_language), [Maltese](/source/Maltese_language), [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language), [Romansh](/source/Romansh_language), [Sardinian](/source/Sardinian_language) and [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language);

- *Londër* in [Albanian](/source/Albanian_language);

- *Londýn* in [Czech](/source/Czech_language) and [Slovak](/source/Slovak_language);

- *Londyn* in [Polish](/source/Polish_language);

- *Rānana* in [Māori](/source/M%C4%81ori_language);

- *Lundúnir* in [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language);

- *Londain* in [Irish](/source/Irish_language);

- *Lunnainn* in [Scottish Gaelic](/source/Scottish_Gaelic);

- *Llundain* in [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language);

- *Lontoo* in [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language);

- *Luân Đôn* in [Vietnamese](/source/Vietnamese_language);

- لندن (*Landan*) in [Persian](/source/Persian_language), [Arabic](/source/Arabic), and [Urdu](/source/Urdu);

- 伦敦 *Lúndūn* in [Chinese](/source/Mandarin_Chinese).

### Translated exonyms

An example of a translated exonym is the name for the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands) (*Nederland* in Dutch) used, respectively, in [German](/source/German_language) (*Niederlande*), [French](/source/French_language) (*Pays-Bas*), [Italian](/source/Italian_language) (*Paesi Bassi*), [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language) (*Países Bajos*), [Irish](/source/Irish_language) (*An Ísiltír*), [Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language) (*Países Baixos*), [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language) (*Țările de Jos*) and [Czech](/source/Czech_language) (*Nizozemsko*), all of which mean "[Low Countries](/source/Terminology_of_the_Low_Countries)". However, the endonym *Nederland* is singular, while all the aforementioned translations except Irish and Czech are plural.

### Native and borrowed exonyms

Exonyms can also be divided into native and borrowed, e.g., from a third language. For example, the [Slovene](/source/Slovene_language) exonyms *Dunaj* ([Vienna](/source/Vienna)) and *Benetke* ([Venice](/source/Venice)) are native, but the [Avar](/source/Avar_language) name of Paris, Париж (*Parizh*) is borrowed from [Russian](/source/Russian_language) Париж (*Parizh*), which comes from Polish *Paryż*, which comes from Italian *Parigi*.

A substantial proportion of English-language exonyms for places in [continental Europe](/source/Continental_Europe) are borrowed (or adapted) from French; for example:

- [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade) ([Serbian](/source/Serbian_language): Београд, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Serbian): *Beograd*);

- [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest) ([Romanian](/source/Romanian_language): *București*);

- [Cologne](/source/Cologne) ([German](/source/German_language): *Köln* / [Kölsch](/source/K%C3%B6lsch_language): *Kölle*);

- [Florence](/source/Florence) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Firenze*);

- [Milan](/source/Milan) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Milano*);

- [Munich](/source/Munich) ([German](/source/German_language): *München* / [Bavarian](/source/Bavarian_language): *Minga*);

- [Naples](/source/Naples) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Napoli* / [Neapolitan](/source/Neapolitan_language): *Napule*);

- [Navarre](/source/Navarre) ([Spanish](/source/Spanish_language): *Navarra* / [Basque](/source/Basque_language): *Nafarroa*);

- [Prague](/source/Prague) ([Czech](/source/Czech_language): *Praha*);

- [Rome](/source/Rome) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Roma*); and

- [Seville](/source/Seville) ([Spanish](/source/Spanish_language): *Sevilla*).

A lot of exonyms for places are borrowed but adopted to the target language's conventions, such as keyboard layout. For example [diacritical marks](/source/Diacritical_marks) such as [two dots above](/source/Two_dots_(diacritic)) are stripped when English-language media write about them. [Transliterations](/source/Transliteration) take place if another alphabet is used originally. Pronunciations are also often adopted.

## Typical development of exonyms

Many exonyms result from adaptations of an endonym into another language, mediated by differences in phonetics, while others may result from translation of the endonym, or as a reflection of the specific relationship an outsider group has with a local place or geographical feature.[9]

According to [James Matisoff](/source/James_A._Matisoff), who introduced the term *autonym* into [linguistics](/source/Linguistics), exonyms can also arise from the "egocentric" tendency of in-groups to identify themselves with "mankind in general", producing an endonym that out groups would not use, while another source is the human tendency towards neighbours to "be pejorative rather than complimentary, especially where there is a real or fancied difference in cultural level between [the ingroup and the outgroup](/source/In-group_and_out-group)." For example, Matisoff notes, *Khang* "an opprobrious term indicating mixed race or parentage" is the [Palaung](/source/Palaung_language) name for [Jingpo people](/source/Jingpo_people) and the [Jingpo](/source/Jingpo_language) name for [Chin people](/source/Chin_peoples); both the Jingpo and [Burmese](/source/Burmese_language) use the Chinese word *yeren* (野人; 'wild men', 'savage', 'rustic people') as the name for [Lisu people](/source/Lisu_people).[10]

As exonyms develop for places of significance for speakers of the language of the exonym, consequently, many European capitals have English exonyms, for example:

- [Athens](/source/Athens) ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): Αθήνα, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Greek): *Athína*);

- [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade) ([Serbian](/source/Serbian_language): Београд, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Serbian): *Beograd*);

- [Bucharest](/source/Bucharest) ([Romanian](/source/Romanian_language): *București*);

- [Brussels](/source/Brussels) ([French](/source/French_language): *Bruxelles*, [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language): *Brussel*);

- [Copenhagen](/source/Copenhagen) ([Danish](/source/Danish_language): *København*);

- [Lisbon](/source/Lisbon) ([Portuguese](/source/Portuguese_language): *Lisboa*);

- [Moscow](/source/Moscow) ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Москва, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Russian): *Moskva*);

- [Prague](/source/Prague) ([Czech](/source/Czech_language): *Praha*);

- [Rome](/source/Rome) ([Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Roma*);

- [Vienna](/source/Vienna) ([German](/source/German_language): *Wien*); and

- [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw) ([Polish](/source/Polish_language): *Warszawa*).

In contrast, historically less-prominent capitals such as [Ljubljana](/source/Ljubljana) and [Zagreb](/source/Zagreb) do not have English exonyms, but do have exonyms in languages spoken nearby, e.g., [German](/source/German_language): *Laibach* and *Agram* (the latter being obsolete); [Italian](/source/Italian_language): *Lubiana* and *Zagabria*. [Madrid](/source/Madrid), [Berlin](/source/Berlin), [Oslo](/source/Oslo), and [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam), with identical names in most major [European languages](/source/European_languages), are exceptions.

Some European cities might be considered partial exceptions, in that whilst the spelling is the same across languages, the pronunciation can differ.[11] For example, the city of [Paris](/source/Paris) is spelled the same way in French and English, but the French pronunciation [paʁi] is different from the English pronunciation [ˈpærɪs].

For places considered to be of lesser significance, attempts to reproduce local names have been made in English since the time of the [Crusades](/source/Crusades). [Livorno](/source/Livorno), for instance, was *Leghorn* because it was an Italian port essential to English merchants and, by the 18th century, to the [British Navy](/source/British_navy); not far away, [Rapallo](/source/Rapallo), a minor port on the same sea, never received an exonym.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In earlier times, the name of the first tribe or village encountered became the exonym for the whole people beyond. Thus, the Romans used the tribal names *Graecus* (Greek) and *Germanus* (Germanic), the Russians used the village name of *[Chechen](/source/Chechen_people)*, medieval Europeans took the tribal name *[Tatar](/source/Tatars)* as emblematic for the whole [Mongolic](/source/Mongol) confederation (and then confused it with *Tartarus*, a word for [Hell](/source/Hell), to produce *[Tartar](/source/Tatars)*), and the [Magyar](/source/Hungarian_people) invaders were equated with the 500-years-earlier [Hunnish](/source/Hun) invaders in the same territory, and were called *Hungarians*. [*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

The [Germanic](/source/Germanic_peoples) invaders of the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire) applied the word "[Walha](/source/Walha)" to foreigners they encountered and this evolved in [West Germanic languages](/source/West_Germanic_languages) as a generic name for speakers of Celtic and later (as Celts became increasingly romanised) Romance languages; thence:

- [Wallachia](/source/Wallachia), the historic name of [Romania](/source/Romania) inhabited by the [Vlachs](/source/Vlachs)

- The Slavic term *Vlah* for "Romanian", dialectally "Italian, Latin"; additionally *[Vlaška](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Vla%C5%A1ka)* means "Wallachia" in [Serbo-Croatian](/source/Serbo-Croatian) and "Italian woman" in [Czech](/source/Czech_language)

- [Wallonia](/source/Wallonia), the French-speaking region of [Belgium](/source/Belgium)

- [Cornwall](/source/Cornwall) and [Wales](/source/Wales), the Celtic-speaking regions located west of the [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxon)-dominated [England](/source/England)

- [Wallis](/source/Valais), a mostly French-speaking [canton](/source/Canton_(administrative_division)) in [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland)

- [Welschland](/source/Romandy), the German name for the French-speaking [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland)

- the Polish and Hungarian names for Italy, *[Włochy](/source/Italy)* and *[Olaszország](/source/Italy)* respectively

## Usage

### In avoiding exonyms

During the late 20th century, the use of exonyms sometimes became controversial. Groups often prefer that outsiders avoid exonyms where they have come to be used in a [pejorative](/source/Pejorative) way. For example, [Romani people](/source/Romani_people) often prefer that term (Romani) over exonyms such as *[Gypsy](/source/Names_of_the_Romani_people#Gypsy_and_gipsy)* (from the name of [Egypt](/source/Egypt)) or the French term *[bohémien](/source/Bohemianism), bohème* (from the name of [Bohemia](/source/Bohemia)).[12] People may also avoid exonyms for reasons of historical sensitivity, as in the case of German names for Polish and Czech places that, at one time, had been ethnically or politically German (e.g. Danzig/[Gdańsk](/source/Gda%C5%84sk), [Auschwitz](/source/Auschwitz_concentration_camp)/[Oświęcim](/source/O%C5%9Bwi%C4%99cim) and Karlsbad/[Karlovy Vary](/source/Karlovy_Vary)) or Russian names for non-Russian locations that regained their local name (e.g. Kiev/[Kyiv](/source/Kyiv)).[13]

In recent years, [geographers](/source/Geographer) have sought to reduce the use of exonyms to avoid this kind of problem. For example, it is now common for Spanish speakers to refer to the Turkish capital as [Ankara](/source/Ankara) rather than use the Spanish exonym *Angora*.[14] Another example, it is now common for Italian speakers to refer to some African states as [Mauritius](/source/Mauritius) and [Seychelles](/source/Seychelles) rather than use the Italian exonyms *Maurizio* and *Seicelle*.[15] According to the [United Nations Statistics Division](/source/United_Nations_Statistics_Division):

Time has, however, shown that initial ambitious attempts to rapidly decrease the number of exonyms were over-optimistic and not possible to realise in an intended way. The reason would appear to be that many exonyms have become common words in a language and can be seen as part of the language's cultural heritage.

### In preference of exonyms

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In some situations, the use of exonyms can be preferred. For instance, in [multilingual](/source/Multilingualism) cities such as [Brussels](/source/Brussels), which is known for its linguistic tensions between Dutch- and French-speakers, a neutral name may be preferred so as to not offend anyone. Thus, an exonym such as Brussels in English could be used instead of favoring either one of the local names ([Dutch](/source/Dutch_language)/[Flemish](/source/Flemish_dialects): *Brussel*; [French](/source/French_language): *Bruxelles*).

Other difficulties with endonyms have to do with pronunciation, spelling, and [word category](/source/Part_of_speech). The endonym may include sounds and spellings that are highly unfamiliar to speakers of other languages, making appropriate usage difficult if not impossible for an outsider. Over the years, the endonym may have undergone [phonetic](/source/Phonetics) changes, either in the original language or the borrowing language, thus changing an endonym into an exonym, as in the case of *Paris*, where the *s* was formerly pronounced in French. Another example is the endonym for the German city of [Cologne](/source/Cologne), where the [Latin](/source/Latin) original of *Colonia* has evolved into *Köln* in German, while the Italian and Spanish exonym *Colonia* or the Portuguese exonym *Colónia* closely reflect the Latin original.

In some cases, no [standardised spelling](/source/Standard_language) is available, either because the language itself is unwritten (even unanalysed) or because there are competing non-standard spellings. Use of a misspelled endonym is perhaps more problematic than the respectful use of an existing exonym.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] Finally, an endonym may be a [plural](/source/Plural) noun and may not naturally extend itself to [adjectival](/source/Adjective_phrase) usage in another language like English, which has the propensity to use the adjectives for describing culture and language.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### Official preferences

Sometimes the government of a country tries to endorse the use of an endonym instead of traditional exonyms outside the country:

- In 1782, [King Yotfa Chulalok](/source/Rama_I) of [Siam](/source/Rattanakosin_Kingdom) moved the government seat from [Thon Buri Province](/source/Bangkok_Yai_District) to [Phra Nakhon Province](/source/Phra_Nakhon_District). In 1972 the [Thai government](/source/Thai_Government) merged Thon Buri and Phra Nakhon, forming the new capital, Krungthep Mahanakhon. However, outside of Thailand, the capital retained the old name and is still called [Bangkok](/source/Bangkok).

- In 1935, [Reza Shah](/source/Reza_Shah) requested that foreign nations use the name [Iran](/source/Iran) rather than Persia in official correspondence.[16] (See [Name of Iran](/source/Name_of_Iran).) The name of the country had internally been Iran since the time of the [Sassanid Empire](/source/Sassanid_Empire) (224–651), whereas the name Persia is descended from [Greek](/source/Greek_language) *Persis* (Περσίς), referring to a single province which is officially known as [Fars province](/source/Fars_province).

- In 1939, the government of [Siam](/source/Siam) changed the name to [Thailand](/source/Thailand), although the former name's adjective in English (*Siamese*) was retained as the name for the [fish](/source/Siamese_fighting_fish), [cat](/source/Siamese_(cat)) and [conjoined twins](/source/Conjoined_twins).

- In 1972, the government of [Ceylon](/source/Ceylon) (the word is the [anglicized](/source/Anglicized) form of Portuguese *Ceilão*) changed the name to [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka), although the name Ceylon was retained as the name for [the type of tea](/source/Ceylon_tea). (See [Names of Sri Lanka](/source/Names_of_Sri_Lanka).)

- In 1985, the government of [Côte d'Ivoire](/source/C%C3%B4te_d'Ivoire) requested that the country's French name be used in all languages instead of exonyms such as *[Ivory Coast](/source/Ivory_Coast)*,[17] so that Côte d'Ivoire is now the official English name of that country in the [United Nations](/source/United_Nations) and the [International Olympic Committee](/source/International_Olympic_Committee). (See [Name of Côte d'Ivoire](/source/C%C3%B4te_d'Ivoire#Etymology).) In most non-[Francophone](/source/Francophone) countries, however, the French version has not entered common parlance. For example, in German, the country is known as *die Elfenbeinküste*, in Spanish as *Costa de Marfil* and in Italian as *Costa d'Avorio*.

- In 1989, the [government of Burma](/source/Government_of_Burma) requested that the English name of the country be [Myanmar](/source/Myanmar),[18] with *Myanma* as the adjective of the country and *Bamar* as the name of the inhabitants. (See [Names of Burma](/source/Names_of_Burma).)

- The [Government of India](/source/Government_of_India) officially changed the English name of Bombay to [Mumbai](/source/Mumbai) in November 1995,[19] following a trend of [renaming of cities and states in India](/source/Renaming_of_cities_in_India) that has occurred since independence.

- The [Ukrainian](/source/Ukraine) government maintains that the capital of Ukraine should be spelled *Kyiv* in English[17] because the traditional English exonym *Kiev* was derived from the Russian name *Kiyev* (Киев). (See [Name of Kyiv](/source/Name_of_Kyiv).)

- The [Belarusian](/source/Belarus) government argues that the endonym *Belarus* should be used in all languages.[17] The result has been rather successful in English, where the former exonym *Byelorussia*/*Belorussia*, still used with reference to the [Soviet Republic](/source/Byelorussian_SSR), has virtually died out; in other languages, exonyms are still much more common than *Belarus*, for instance in [Danish](/source/Danish_language) *[Hviderusland](https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hviderusland)*, Dutch *[Wit-Rusland](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wit-Rusland)*, [Estonian](/source/Estonian_language) *[Valgevene](https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valgevene)*, [Faroese](/source/Faroese_language) *[Hvítarussland](https://fo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hv%C3%ADtarussland)*, Finnish *[Valko-Venäjä](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valko-Ven%C3%A4j%C3%A4)*, German *[Weißrussland](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei%C3%9Frussland)*, Greek *Lefkorosía* ([Λευκορωσία](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B%CE%B5%CF%85%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%89%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B1)), Hungarian *[Fehéroroszország](https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feh%C3%A9roroszorsz%C3%A1g)*, Icelandic *[Hvíta-Rússland](https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hv%C3%ADta-R%C3%BAssland)*, [Swedish](/source/Swedish_language) *[Vitryssland](https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitryssland)*, Turkish *[Beyaz Rusya](https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyaz_Rusya)*, Chinese *Bái'èluósī* ([白俄罗斯](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E4%BF%84%E7%BD%97%E6%96%AF)), [Arabic](/source/Arabic) *rusia albayda'* ([روسيا البيضاء](https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A1)) (all literally 'White Russia'), or French *[Biélorussie](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi%C3%A9lorussie)*, Italian *[Bielorussia](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielorussia)*, Portuguese *[Bielorrússia](https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielorr%C3%BAssia)*, Spanish *[Bielorrusia](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielorrusia)*, and [Serbian](/source/Serbian_language) *Belorusija* ([Белорусија](https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0)).

- The government of [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country)) has been working to have the country renamed from the Russian-derived exonym of *Gruzia* in foreign languages to *Georgia*. Most countries have adopted this change, except for [Lithuania](/source/Lithuania), which adopted *Sakartvelas* (a Lithuanianised version of the country's endonym). As a response, Georgia changed the name of Lithuania in Georgian from the Russian-derived *Lit’va* (ლიტვა) to the endonym *Liet’uva* (ლიეტუვა). Ukrainian politicians have also suggested that Ukraine change the Ukrainian name of Georgia from *Hruzia* (Грузія) to *Sakartvelo* (Сакартвело).

- In 2006, the [South Korean](/source/South_Korea) national government officially changed the Chinese name of its capital, [Seoul](/source/Seoul), from the exonym 漢城/汉城 (*Hànchéng*) derived from the [Joseon](/source/Joseon) era [Hanja](/source/Hanja) name ([Korean](/source/Korean_language): 한성; [Hanja](/source/Hanja): 漢城; [RR](/source/Revised_Romanization_of_Korean): *Hanseong*) to *Shǒu'ěr* (首爾/首尔). This use has now been made official within China.

- In December 2021, a circular was issued by President [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan](/source/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan) of [Turkey](/source/Turkey) ordering the use of *Türkiye* (also rendered *Turkiye* in English) instead of exonyms in official communications, no matter the language.[20][21] (See [Name of Turkey](/source/Name_of_Turkey).)

- [Istanbul](/source/Istanbul) (Turkish: *İstanbul*) is still called *Constantinople* (Κωνσταντινούπολη) in Greek, although the name was changed between 1923 and 1930 in Turkish to dissociate the city from its Greek past. (The name [*Istanbul*](/source/Names_of_Istanbul#Istanbul) itself may derive from *Constantinople*.[22] Prior to *Constantinople*, the city was known in Greek as *[Byzantion](/source/Byzantium)* ([Greek](/source/Greek_language): Βυζάντιον, [Latin](/source/Latin_language): *Byzantium*), named after its mythical founder, [Byzas](/source/Byzas).)

### Hanyu Pinyin

See also: [Chinese language romanization in Taiwan](/source/Chinese_language_romanization_in_Taiwan) and [Chinese language romanisation in Singapore](/source/Chinese_language_romanisation_in_Singapore)

Following the 1979 declaration of [Hanyu Pinyin](/source/Hanyu_Pinyin) spelling as the standard [romanisation of Chinese](/source/Romanisation_of_Chinese), many Chinese endonyms have successfully replaced English exonyms,[23] especially city and most provincial names in [mainland China](/source/Mainland_China), for example: [Beijing](/source/Beijing) (北京; *Běijīng*), [Qingdao](/source/Qingdao) (青岛; *Qīngdǎo*), and the province of [Guangdong](/source/Guangdong) (广东; *Guǎngdōng*). However, older English exonyms are sometimes used in certain contexts, for example: Peking (Beijing; [duck](/source/Peking_duck), [opera](/source/Peking_opera), [University](/source/Peking_University), etc.), Tsingtao (Qingdao), and Canton (Guangdong). In some cases the traditional English exonym is based on a local [Chinese variety](/source/Chinese_variety) instead of [Mandarin](/source/Mandarin_Chinese), in the case of [Xiamen](/source/Xiamen), where the name Amoy is closer to the [Hokkien](/source/Hokkien) pronunciation.

In the case of *Beijing*, the adoption of the endonym by media outlets quickly gave rise to a [hyperforeignism](/source/Hyperforeignism), with the result that many English speakers actualize the *j* in *Beijing* as [/ʒ/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English).[24] One exception of Pinyin standardization in mainland China is the spelling of the province [Shaanxi](/source/Shaanxi), which is the mixed [Gwoyeu Romatzyh](/source/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh)–Pinyin spelling of the province. That is because if Pinyin were used to spell the province, it would be indistinguishable from its neighboring province [Shanxi](/source/Shanxi), where the pronunciations of the two provinces only differ by tones, which are usually not written down when used in English.

In Taiwan, however, the standardization of Hanyu Pinyin has only seen mixed results. In [Taipei](/source/Taipei), most (but not all) street and district names shifted to Hanyu Pinyin. For example, the Sinyi District is now spelled [Xinyi](/source/Xinyi_District%2C_Taipei). However, districts like [Tamsui](/source/Tamsui_District) and even Taipei itself are not spelled according to Hanyu Pinyin spelling rules. As a matter of fact, most names of Taiwanese cities are still spelled using [Chinese postal romanization](/source/Chinese_postal_romanization), including [Taipei](/source/Taipei), [Taichung](/source/Taichung), [Taitung](/source/Taitung_City), [Keelung](/source/Keelung), and [Kaohsiung](/source/Kaohsiung).

During the 1980s, the Singapore Government encouraged the use of Hanyu Pinyin spelling for place names, especially those with Teochew, Hokkien or Cantonese names, as part of the [Speak Mandarin Campaign](/source/Speak_Mandarin_Campaign) to promote Mandarin and discourage the use of "dialects". For example, the area of Nee Soon, named after [Teochew](/source/Teochew_people)-Peranakan businessman [Lim Nee Soon](/source/Lim_Nee_Soon) (林義順, *Teochew [Peng'im](/source/Peng'im)*: lim5 ngi6 sung6, *Mandarin [Pinyin](/source/Pinyin)*: Lín Yìshùn) became Yishun and the neighbourhood schools and places established following the change used the Hanyu Pinyin spelling. In contrast, [Hougang](/source/Hougang) is the Hanyu Pinyin spelling but the Hokkien pronunciation *Aū-káng* is most commonly used.[25] The changes to Hanyu Pinyin were not only financially costly but were unpopular with the locals, who opined that the Hanyu Pinyin versions were too difficult for non-Chinese or non-Mandarin speakers to pronounce. The government eventually stopped the changes by the 1990s, which has led to some place names within a locality having differing spellings. For example, Nee Soon Road, [Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency](/source/Nee_Soon_Group_Representation_Constituency), and the [Singapore Armed Forces](/source/Singapore_Armed_Forces) base Nee Soon Camp are all located in Yishun but retained the old spelling.[26]

## Exonyms as pejoratives

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Matisoff wrote, "A group's autonym is often egocentric, equating the name of the people with 'mankind in general,' or the name of the language with 'human speech'."[10]: 5

In [Basque](/source/Basque_language), the term *erdara/erdera* is used for speakers of any language other than Basque (usually Spanish or French).

Ancient Greeks thought that all non-Greeks were uncultured and so called them "[barbarians](/source/Barbarian)", which eventually [gave rise](/source/Berber_(name)) to the exonym "[Berber](/source/Berber_people)".

### Slavic people

Exonyms often describe others as "foreign-speaking", "non-speaking", or "nonsense-speaking". One example is the [Slavic](/source/Slavic_languages) term for the Germans, *[*nemtsi](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/n%C4%9Bm%D1%8Cc%D1%8C#Proto-Slavic)*, possibly deriving from plural of *[*nemy](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/n%C4%9Bm%D1%8A#Proto-Slavic)* ("mute"); standard etymology[27] has it that the [Slavic](/source/Slav) peoples referred to their Germanic neighbors as "mutes" because they could not speak the "language". The term survives to this day in the Slavic languages (e.g. [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language) німці (nimtsi); [Russian](/source/Russian_language) немцы (nemtsy), [Slovene](/source/Slovene_language) Nemčija), and was borrowed into [Hungarian](/source/Hungarian_language), [Romanian](/source/Romanian_language), and [Ottoman Turkish](/source/Ottoman_Turkish) (in which case it referred specifically to [Austria](/source/Austria)).

One of the more prominent theories regarding the origin of the term "[Slav](/source/Slav)" suggests that it comes from the Slavic root *[*slovo](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/slovo#Proto-Slavic)* (hence "[Slovakia](/source/Slovakia)" and "[Slovenia](/source/Slovenia)" for example), meaning 'word' or 'speech'. In this context, the [Slavs](/source/Slavs) are describing Germanic people as "mutes"—in contrast to themselves, "the speaking ones".[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

### Native Americans

The most common names of several [Indigenous American](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas) tribes derive from pejorative exonyms. The name "[Apache](/source/Apache)" most likely derives from a [Zuni](/source/Zuni_language) word meaning "enemy". The name "[Sioux](/source/Sioux)", an abbreviated form of *Nadouessioux*, most likely derived from a [Proto-Algonquian](/source/Proto-Algonquian_language) term, **-a·towe·* ('foreign-speaking).[28] The name "[Comanche](/source/Comanche)" comes from the [Ute](/source/Ute_language) word *kɨmantsi* meaning "enemy, stranger".[29] The [Ancestral Puebloans](/source/Ancestral_Puebloans) are also known as the "Anasazi", a [Navajo](/source/Navajo_language) word meaning "ancient enemies", and contemporary [Puebloans](/source/Puebloans) discourage the use of the exonym in favor of "Ancestral Puebloan."[30][31]

Various Native-American autonyms are sometimes explained to English readers as having literal translations of "original people" or "normal people", with implicit contrast to other first nations as not original or not normal.[10]: 5

## Confusion with renaming

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (September 2025)

Following independence from the UK in 1947, many regions and cities have been renamed in accordance with local languages, or to change the English spelling to more closely match the indigenous local name. The name [Madras](/source/Madras), now [Chennai](/source/Chennai), may be [a special case](/source/Chennai#Etymology). When the city was first [settled by English people](/source/British_India), in the early 17th century, both names were in use. They may have referred to different villages which were fused into the new settlement. In any case, Madras became the exonym, while more recently, Chennai became the endonym. Madrasi, a term for a native of the city, has often been used derogatorily to refer to the people of [Dravidian](/source/Dravidian_peoples) origin from the [southern states of India](/source/South_India).[32]

## Lists of exonyms

- [Latin exonyms](/source/Latin_exonyms)

- [List of English exonyms](/source/List_of_English_exonyms) - [English exonyms for German toponyms](/source/List_of_English_exonyms_for_German_toponyms) - [English-translated personal names](/source/List_of_English_translated_personal_names)

- List of [German exonyms](/source/German_exonyms) - [German names for Central European towns](/source/German_names_for_Central_European_towns) - [German exonyms for places in Belgium](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Belgium) - [German exonyms for places in Croatia](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Croatia) - [German exonyms for places in Denmark](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Denmark) - [German exonyms for places in Estonia](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Estonia) - [German exonyms for places in Hungary](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Hungary) - [German exonyms for places in Latvia](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Latvia) - [German exonyms for places in Slovakia](/source/List_of_German_exonyms_for_places_in_Slovakia) - [German exonyms for places in Switzerland](/source/List_of_German_place_names_for_places_in_Switzerland)

- [List of European exonyms](/source/List_of_European_exonyms) - [Names of European cities in different languages](/source/Names_of_European_cities_in_different_languages) - [Finnish exonyms](/source/Finnish_exonyms) - [Portuguese exonyms](/source/Portuguese_exonyms) - [Icelandic exonyms](/source/Icelandic_exonyms) - [Slavic toponyms for Greek places](/source/Slavic_toponyms_for_Greek_places) - [Welsh names for other places in Britain and Ireland](/source/Welsh_placenames#Welsh_names_for_other_places_in_Britain_and_Ireland)

- African/Asian/Middle-Eastern/Eurasian exonyms - [Arabic exonyms](/source/Arabic_exonyms) - [Azerbaijani exonyms](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Azerbaijani_exonyms&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Chinese exonyms](/source/Chinese_exonyms) - [Japanese exonyms](/source/List_of_Japanese_exonyms) - [Vietnamese exonyms](/source/Vietnamese_exonyms)

v t e Exonyms per language Albanian Arabic Chinese Cornish Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish German Hungarian Icelandic Irish Japanese Latin Lithuanian Old Norse Norwegian Portuguese Scottish Gaelic Slovak Slovenian Spanish Vietnamese Welsh

## See also

- [-onym](/source/-onym)

- [Emic and etic](/source/Emic_and_etic)

- [Shibboleth](/source/Shibboleth)

- [Metonymy](/source/Metonymy)

- [Linguistic imperialism](/source/Linguistic_imperialism)

### Other lists

- [List of countries and dependencies and their capitals in native languages](/source/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_and_their_capitals_in_native_languages)

- [List of adjectival and demonymic forms of place names](/source/List_of_adjectival_and_demonymic_forms_of_place_names)

- [List of language names](/source/List_of_language_names)

- [List of alternative country names](/source/List_of_alternative_country_names)

- [List of country names in various languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_country_names_in_various_languages&action=edit&redlink=1)

- [List of Latin place names in Europe](/source/List_of_Latin_place_names_in_Europe)

- [List of European regions with alternative names](/source/List_of_European_regions_with_alternative_names)

- [List of European rivers with alternative names](/source/List_of_European_rivers_with_alternative_names)

- [List of traditional Greek place names](/source/List_of_traditional_Greek_place_names)

- List of [Coptic placenames](/source/Coptic_placenames)

- [Place names in Irish](/source/Place_names_in_Irish)

- [Names of places in Finland in Finnish and in Swedish](/source/Names_of_places_in_Finland_in_Finnish_and_in_Swedish)

- [List of renamed Indian cities and states](/source/List_of_renamed_Indian_cities_and_states)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [/ˈɛndənɪm/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*EN-də-nim*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [/ˈɔːtənɪm/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*AW-tə-nim*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [/ˈɛɡzənɪm/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*EG-zə-nim*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [/ˈzɛnənɪm/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*ZEN-ə-nim*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)

## References

### Citations

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_3-2) ["Exonym and Endonym"](https://www.thoughtco.com/exonym-and-endonym-names-1690691). *ThoughtCo*. Retrieved 2022-11-16.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Ormeling_6-0)** Ormeling, Ferjan. ["Exonyms in Cartography"](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/_data_ICAcourses/_HtmlModules/_Documents/D13/Documents/D13-01_Ormeling.pdf) (PDF). United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. Retrieved 27 February 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERoom199614_7-0)** [Room 1996](#CITEREFRoom1996), p. 14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Harder1996_8-0)** Harder, Kelsey B. (1996). "156. Names in Language Contact: Exonyms (Namen im Sprachaustausch: Exonyme I Les noms dans des echanges de /angues: exonymes)". In Eichler, Ernst (ed.). *Namenforschung/Name Studies/Les noms propres*. 2/11 in the series Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK) (in German). Vol. 2. Halbband+Registerband. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 1012. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1515/9783110203431](https://doi.org/10.1515%2F9783110203431). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783110148794](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783110148794). ([TOC](https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110203431-toc/pdf))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Aurousseau1957_9-0)** Aurousseau, Marcel (1957). [*The Rendering of Geographical Names*](https://archive.org/details/renderingofgeogr0000auro/page/17/mode/1up). London: Hutchinson university library. p. 17.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** UNESCO (1984). *African ethnonyms and toponyms*. France: [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO). p. 67. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-92-3-101944-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-92-3-101944-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Edelman, Loulou. 2009. "What's in a Name? Classification of proper names by language". Pp. 141–53 in *Linguistic landscape: expanding the scenery*, edited by E. Shohamy and D. Gorter. London: [Routledge](/source/Routledge). Goh, CL.: "The names of monarchs, popes, and non-contemporary authors as well as place names are commonly translated. Foreign names for geographic [proper names](/source/Proper_names) are called exonyms. Fourment-Berni Canani (1994) discusses the (im)possibility of translating proper names. He gives examples of the place names [Venice](/source/Venice) and London. The Italian city Venezia has been renamed Venice in English and Venise in French. A city in the American state [California](/source/California) is also called Venice, but this name is not changed into Venezia in Italian and Venise in French. Similarly, the English city [London](/source/London) has been renamed Londres in French and Londra in Italian. However, the Canadian city called London is not translated into French and Italian in this way. Thus, as Fourment-Berni Canani concludes, a place name can be translated if the place, as a unique referent, has already been renamed in the target language."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Geršič, M., ed. (2020). ["Introduction"](http://ungegn.zrc-sazu.si/). *UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms*. Slovenia: United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2536-1732](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2536-1732)..

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Jordan, Peter (3–7 May 2021). [*Exonyms as part of the cultural heritage*](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/ungegn/sessions/2nd_session_2021/documents/GEGN.2_2021_73_CRP73_13_Exonyms_cultural_heritage.pdf) (Provisional agenda item 13 – submission by Austria). New York: United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names, Second session.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_14-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_14-2) Matisoff, James (1986). "The languages and dialects of Tibeto-Burman: an alphabetic/genetic listing, with some prefatory remarks on ethnonymic and glossonymic complications". In McCoy, John; Light, Timothy (eds.). [*Contributions to Sino-Tibetan studies*](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/15093829). Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 6. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [90-04-07850-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/90-04-07850-9). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [15093829](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/15093829).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [""UNGEGN-ICA webcourse on Toponymy""](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/_data_icacourses/_HtmlModules/_Selfstudy/S13/S13_001index.html). *[United Nations Statistics Division](/source/United_Nations_Statistics_Division)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240311022407/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/_data_icacourses/_HtmlModules/_Selfstudy/S13/S13_001index.html) from the original on 11 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Challa, Janaki. ["Why Being 'Gypped' Hurts The Roma More Than It Hurts You"](https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/242429836/why-being-gypped-hurts-the-roma-more-than-it-hurts-you). [NPR](/source/NPR). Retrieved 18 September 2023. "Hancock tells me the word "gypsy" itself is an "exonym" – a term imposed upon an ethnic group by outsiders. When the Roma people moved westward from India towards the European continent, they were mistaken to be Egyptian because of their features and dark skin. We see the same phenomenon across several languages, not only English. Victor Hugo, in his epic Hunchback of Notre Dame, noted that the Medieval French term for the Roma was egyptiens. In Spanish, the word for gypsy is "gitano," which comes from the word egipcio, meaning Egyptian – in Romanian: tigan, in Bulgarian: tsiganin, in Turkish: cingene – all of which are variations of slang words for "Egyptian" in those languages."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Van der Meulen, Martin (19 April 2022). ["Why I Will Never Again Refer to the Ukrainian Capital City as Kiev"](https://www.the-low-countries.com/article/why-i-will-never-again-refer-to-the-ukrainian-capital-city-as-kiev). The Low Countries. Retrieved 18 September 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Luxán, Marga Azcárate; Tagle, Bárbara Alonso. ["EXONYMS IN SPANISH Criteria and usage in cartography"](https://www.ign.es/resources/acercaDe/libDigPub/exonyms_in_spanish.pdf) (PDF). NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE OF SPAIN (IGN). Retrieved 18 September 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Sandro Toniolo, *I perché e i nomi della geografia*, Istituto Geografico Militare, Florence 2005, p. 88–89, n. 170-171.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Press, Stanford University. ["Start reading The Discovery of Iran"](https://www.sup.org/books/extra/?id=33828&i=Introduction%20Excerpt.html). *sup.org*. Retrieved 2024-03-11.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_21-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_21-2) ["Ninth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names"](https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/crp/9th_UNCSGN_e-conf-98-crp-32.pdf) (PDF). *[United Nations Statistics Division](/source/United_Nations_Statistics_Division)*. Retrieved 11 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["Myanmar, Burma and why the different names matter"](https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-burma-different-names-explained-8af64e33cf89c565b074eec9cbe22b72). Associated Press. 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2024-03-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Beam, Christopher (2006-07-12). ["Mumbai? What About Bombay?"](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/07/how-bombay-became-mumbai.html). *Slate*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1091-2339](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1091-2339). Retrieved 2024-03-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Turkiye – The latest news from TRT World"](http://web.archive.org/web/20200101050122/https://www.trtworld.com/turkey). *Turkiye – The latest news from TRT World*. Archived from [the original](https://www.trtworld.com/turkey) on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2022-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["Why Turkey is now 'Turkiye', and why that matters"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230209232534/https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-turkey-is-now-turkiye-and-why-that-matters-52602). *Why Turkey is now 'Turkiye', and why that matters*. Archived from [the original](https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-turkey-is-now-turkiye-and-why-that-matters-52602) on 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2022-01-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** "The Names of Kōnstantinoúpolis". Dünden bugüne İstanbul ansiklopedisi. 5. Ciltli. 1994.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** *Eighth United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names Berlin, 27 August-5 September 2002*. New York: United Nations. 2003. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [92-1-100915-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/92-1-100915-4). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [52095159](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/52095159).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Lima, Susan D. (1994). Corrigan, Roberta; Iverson, Gregory K. (eds.). [*The Reality of Linguistic Rules*](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/746747262). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Pub. Co. p. 80. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-90-272-8203-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-90-272-8203-3). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [746747262](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/746747262).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Savage, Victor R.; Yeoh, Brenda S. (2013). *Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names* (3rd ed.). [Marshall Cavendish](/source/Marshall_Cavendish). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789814408356](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789814408356).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Yeh, Yun-Tsui. (2013) "[Erased Place Names" and Nation-building: A Case Study of Singaporean Toponyms](https://www.rchss.sinica.edu.tw/files/publish/1217_ff4a4d61.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20221215132939/https://www.rchss.sinica.edu.tw/files/publish/1217_ff4a4d61.pdf) 2022-12-15 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)". *[Sociology](/source/Sociology_(journal))*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Townson (1992). [*Mother-tongue and Fatherland: Language and Politics in German*](https://books.google.com/books?id=5dNRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA78). Manchester University Press. p. 78. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780719034398](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780719034398).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** d'Errico, Peter (2005). ["Native American Indian Studies – A Note on Names"](https://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/name.html). University of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2020-10-07.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Sapir, Edward (1992). "Southern Paiute Dictionary". In Bright, William (ed.). *The Collected Works of Edward Sapir*. Berlin: Mouton deGruyter.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Cordell, Linda; McBrinn, Maxine (2012). *Archaeology of the Southwest* (3 ed.).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-UNCO_35-0)** ["Puebloan Culture"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100709073248/http://hewit.unco.edu/dohist/puebloan/begin.htm). University of Northern Colorado. Archived from [the original](http://hewit.unco.edu/DOHIST/puebloan/begin.htm) on 2010-07-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Bag, Ahana (October 19, 2021). ["It's time to end the 'Madrasi' stereotype"](https://madrascourier.com/opinion/its-time-to-end-the-madrasi-stereotype/). *[Madras Courier](/source/Madras_Courier)*. Retrieved 25 July 2024.

### General and cited sources

- Jordan, Peter, Hubert Bergmann, Caroline Burgess, and Catherine Cheetham, eds. 2010 & 2011. "Trends in Exonym Use." *Proceedings of the 10th UNGEGN Working Group on Exonyms Meeting*. Tainach (28–30 April 2010). Hamburg (2011). *Name & Place* 1.

- Jordan, Peter, Milan Orožen Adamič, and Paul Woodman, eds. 2007. "Exonyms and the International Standardisation of Geographical Names." *Approaches towards the Resolution of an Apparent Contradiction*. Wien and Berlin. *Wiener Osteuropastudien* 24.

- Room, Adrian (1996). [*An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies*](https://books.google.com/books?id=XEtiAAAAMAAJ). Lanham and London: The Scarecrow Press. p. 14. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780810831698](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780810831698).

## External links

Look up ***[exonym](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exonym)*** or ***[endonym](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endonym)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

- [2006 UN document discussing exonyms](http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/23-gegn/wp/gegn23wp14.pdf) (PDF)

- [Jacek Wesołowski's Place Names in Europe, featuring endonyms and exonyms for many cities](https://web.archive.org/web/20000823162305/http://www.p.lodz.pl/I35/personal/jw37/EUROPE/europe.html) (archived 23 August 2000)

- ["Does Juliet's Rose, by Any Other Name, Smell as Sweet?"](http://translationdirectory.com/article103.htm) by Verónica Albin.

- [Looking up](http://familientagebuch.de/rainer/2007/09.html#ibc) in exonym database

- [European geographical names infrastructure and services](https://web.archive.org/web/20090115055657/http://www.eurogeonames.eu/) on EuroGeoNames (archived 15 January 2009)

- [UN document describing EuroGeoNames (PDF)](http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/ungegn/docs/23-gegn/wp/gegn23wp49.pdf)

- [World map of country endonyms](http://endonymmap.com)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Endonym and exonym](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endonym_and_exonym) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endonym_and_exonym?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.