Geographic Names
There are millions of names given to landscape features throughout the United States, consequently there must be a consistent method of applying feature names to maps in order to avoid mass confusion. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names approves and maintains these "official" names. It is easy to believe that by now geographic feature names are mostly set in stone, but this is not the case. There are many unnamed geographic features as well as controversies over existing names that keep the Board's work load as busy as ever. The Board does not approve all requests to add, append, or change place names, and must review and decide each case within a set of policies and guidelines.
GNIS Data Products
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)vwas developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, to catalogue and maintain records of place names across the country. It is the nation's official automated names repository and the federal government's official toponymic (the study of place names) reference.
The main purpose for this listing is to standardize names for use on federal maps, and also to avoid confusion and differences in spelling. The Board also determines the correct and most appropriate names for lakes, streams, and other geographic features. An official state dictionary of geographic names is also published and updated as needed.
The Board's web site has a search function for known places, features, and areas of the United States identified by their respective proper name. It includes a listing of towns and almost two million other recognized place names, and allows lists and searches to be made.
The site comprises the four data bases from the Geographic Names Information System:
- National Geographic Names Data Base (NGNDB), which contains almost 2 million entries for areas in and under the jurisdiction of the United States.
- USGS Topographic Map Names Data Base (TMNDB), an inventory of all USGS published topographic maps at various scales.
- Reference Data Base (RDB), a collection of annotated bibliographies of all sources used in compiling information for the National Geographic Names Data Base.
- Antarctica Geographic Names Data Base, contains feature names for Antarctica and the area extending northward to the Antarctica Convergence.
The Wisconsin Geographic Names Council
The State of Wisconsin's Geographic Names Council fields requests to change geographic names, correct misspellings, or give names to previously unnamed features. The functions and duties of the State's Name Council are listed in the State Statutes (Section 23.25 Wis. Statutes: Geographic Powers and Duties), and are assigned to the Natural Resources Board who assigns them to the Division of Resource Management. Advisors of the Geographic Names Council include the State Cartographer, the State Chief Engineer, the State Geologist, and a designee from the Department of Transportation, Division of Highways.
The council takes several policies into consideration when reviewing requests to add or change place names. These include: not naming a geographic feature after any living person; not using names with a scientific derivation; names with historical significance or with Indian or French origin are usually appropriate; names must be used that do not indicate possession; that only lakes 10 acres or more in size shall be considered for naming (with some exceptions), and that only streams 5 miles or more in length shall be considered for naming (with some exceptions).
The guidelines to naming geographic features include: local usage be followed whenever possible; specific name precede the generic name (e.g., Fred Lake rather than Lake Fred); hyphens be omitted in newly established names; single names follow the generic name (e.g., John Lake rather than Alice John Lake); and that descriptive words such as "Big", "Little", etc, be eliminated unless they are necessary.
The application form for Geographic Name Proposal requires the applicant to provide the recommended name of the feature, the location of the feature (Public Land Survey System format), which includes section, township and range, and the reason for the name suggestion. The application is reviewed and voted on by the council and if approved, is forwarded as a recommendation to the federal Board of Geographic Names.
Approval at the federal level means that the name will be used on all subsequent maps, reports and other publications thereafter issued by the state or any of its political subdivisions, and the new name will be the official name of the geographic feature or place.
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