Toponymy

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4. Questions - Got a question about Toponymy then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

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6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Toponymy wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

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8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Toponymy site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Toponymy, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Toponymy, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

Toponymy refers to the scientific study of place-names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use and typology. The first part of the word is derived from the Greek language topos (τόπος), place; followed by ōnoma (ώνομα), meaning name. It is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds.

A toponym is a name of a locality, region, or some other part of Earth's surface, including natural features (such as streams) and artificial ones (such as cities).

In ethnology, a toponym is a name derived from a place or a region. In anatomy, a toponym is a name of a region of the body, as distinguished from the name of an organ (anatomy). In biology, a toponym is a binomial nomenclature of a plant.

Toponymists A toponymist is one who studies toponymy. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word toponymist first appears somewhere towards the middle of the nineteenth century. It can be argued that the first toponymists were the storytellers and poets who explained the origin of certain place names in order to elucidate their tales; sometimes place-names served as the basis for the legends themselves. The process of folk etymology usually took over, whereby a false meaning was extracted from a name based on its structure or sounds. Thus, the toponym of Hellespont was explained by Greek poets as being named after Helle, daughter of Athamas, who drowned here as she crossed it with her brother Phrixus on a flying golden ram. The name, however, most likely is derived from an older language, such as Pelasgian, which was unknown to those who explained its origin. George R. Stewart theorized, in his book Names on the Globe, that Hellespont originally meant something like "narrow Pontus" or "entrance to Pontus," "Pontus" being an ancient name for the region around the Black Sea, and by extension, for the sea itself.

Toponymists attempt to approximate the original meaning of a place-name, their conclusions often competing with popular or spurious etymologies that may sound more poetic or attractive to tourists. Thus, the river-name "Mississippi River" is popularly claimed to mean "Father of Waters" (though it may mean simply "Big River"), and the state name "Idaho" was said to mean "Gem of the Mountains" (though it is merely an invented name).

Scholars have found that toponyms provide valuable insight into the historical geography of a particular region. Toponyms not only illustrate ethnic settlement patterns, but they can also help identify discrete periods of immigration.

Toponymists are sometimes used by governments in order to verify the accuracy of certain names as used by cartographers, the media, researchers, publishers, and their duties also include the inputting of new names into databases and topography maps.

Noted toponymists

John McNeil Dodgson
Eilert Ekwall
Margaret Gelling
Gillian Fellows Jensen
Oliver Padel
Robert L. Ramsay
Henry Schoolcraft
Albert Hugh Smith
George R. Stewart
Isaac Taylor (canon)
William J. Watson