Current through Register Vol. 24-18, September 15, 2024
What factors will the committee and board on
geographic names consider when reviewing geographic name
proposals?
There can be no set formula applied to determine
whether a specific proposal should be approved or denied; however,
there are certain factors that should be considered. This section
describes considerations of the board and committee on geographic
names as well as how these factors influence the naming
decision.
(1) Proposals
containing the following characteristics are generally favored:
(a) Dominant local usage - Names
that are in dominant local usage and are strongly supported by local
residents will be favored. Proponents should submit appropriate
evidence of local usage and resident support for their
proposal.
(b) Historical
significance - Names that are significant to the early history of
Washington state, such as names of prominent Native Americans or
pioneers, or pertinent foreign origin will be favored. Proponents
should provide appropriate evidence of the historical significance of
the proposed name as well as its relationship to the geographic
feature.
(c) Use of the
Roman alphabet - Proposed geographic names must be written in the
Roman alphabet as normally used for writing the English language.
Diacritical marks, however, may be added to names as specified below.
Proposed names should be as short as possible and easily pronounced.
The pronunciation should be apparent from the spelling.
(2) Proposals containing
the following factors will be disfavored:
(a) Derogatory names - The
committee on geographic names will deny any proposal that it deems to
be derogatory toward any racial, ethnic, gender, or religious
group.
(b) Diacritical
marks - The use of diacritical marks in proposed names is disfavored
because they are almost never used in English and because they are
not easily reproducible on maps, signs, or other documents. On the
other hand, diacritical marks may be especially important if their
omission would result in a significant change in the meaning of the
name in the parent language. A spelling that includes diacritical
marks might be approved if, in the judgment of the committee, there
is substantial evidence of active local use, such as official
records, maps, and signs, in the area where the feature is located,
or overriding significance.
(c) Duplicate names - The use of
duplicate names for similar types of geographic features within a
county or in close proximity to each other should be minimized or
avoided unless overridden by other considerations such as dominant
local usage.
(d)
Commercial names - Proposals containing clear commercial overtones
are strongly disfavored, including names proposed to improve
advertising of a site for an individual, group, or
organization.
(e) Hyphens
and apostrophes - Hyphens and apostrophes are not easily reproducible
on signs, maps, and other documents and thus are disfavored. These
symbols should only be retained when necessary for the meaning of a
name. Apostrophes suggesting possession or association are not to be
used within the body of a proper geographic name (Longs Pond: Not
Long's Pond). One example of an exception might be where an
apostrophe is necessary to preserve correct spelling of family names
(e.g., O'Brian Creek), but the committee will consider each proposal
on a case-by-case basis.
(f) Long names - If the length of a
name makes it difficult or cumbersome to use in written or spoken
form, the proposed name will be disfavored and will not be approved
unless there are overriding considerations. Full commemorative names
may be approved by the committee and board where more than just the
surname is necessary to make it unambiguous who the referent is. And,
when naming a branch of a stream (or segment of any other geographic
feature), reference to the name of the main geographic feature along
with the branch name might be necessary for clarity.
(g) Wilderness names - A goal of
federal wilderness area administration is to minimize the impacts and
traces of people, including the naming of features. Within wilderness
areas, proposals will not be approved unless an overriding need
exists, such as for purposes of safety or area administration.
Proponents of an unnamed feature in a wilderness area must attempt to
coordinate their proposal with the federal agency responsible for the
administration of the area. The application for a name change should
include the result of this effort, including any documentation
supporting a federal agency finding of overriding need.
(3) Commemorative names:
Proposals assigning the name or nickname of a deceased person to
geographic features will be considered by the committee on geographic
names and will be neither favored nor disfavored as a general class.
These proposals will be assessed in consideration of all other naming
factors. Additionally, commemorative name proposals must be
consistent with the following standards:
(a) The person being commemorated
must be deceased for at least five years before a proposal will be
considered;
(b) The
person being honored should have had either some direct or long-term
association with the feature or have made a significant contribution
to the area in which it is located unless the commemorated person had
an outstanding and significant national or international reputation;
(i) Examples of "direct or
long-term association" or "significant contribution" include early or
long-term settlers of more than twenty years, donor of land to the
state or federal government, or a person who played a large part in
protecting the land for the public benefit;
(ii) A person's ownership of or
death on land where a feature is located will normally not be
sufficient on its own to satisfy the "direct or long-term
association" criterion.
(c) Proposed commemorative names
that may be construed to commemorate a living person are
disfavored;
(d) Proposals
to commemorate living or deceased pets are disfavored; and
(e) As part of a commemorative name
proposal, proponents should submit evidence of local support for the
name, provide evidence of historical significance when applicable,
and design their proposal to address the other decision factors in
this rule.
(4)
Names located on tribal reservations: The committee will not review
name proposals where a geographic feature is located entirely on a
tribal reservation, instead deferring to the tribal
government.
(5) Generic
terms: When a proposed geographic name includes both a specific and
generic element, the generic term (creek, ridge, lake, etc.) should
be appropriate to the feature and should normally be consistent with
generic terms already used and understood in the area in which the
feature is located.
