What islands or groups of islands have reverted from English (or European) names to those of the natives of the islands? So far I have these names:
Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands)
Tuvalu (Ellice Islands)
Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
Kiribati (Gilberts)
Kiritimati (Christmas Island)
Note: the last two are not, strictly speaking, reversions, but rather transliterations of the English names (/s/ in Gilbertese is spelled ti for some reason). I included them because someone would contribute them if I didn’t.
Its happening frequently in Australia. Most recently the island in Sydney Harbour, just west of the Harbour Bridge and known as Goat island since the arrival of Europeans (and you may have seen it as the setting for the TV show Water Rats) was handed back to Aboriginal ownership and is going to go by the name Me-Mel.
New Zealand is increasingly being referred to as Aotearoa New Zealand or simply Aotearoa (most popularly glossed as ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’ but other readings are possible). Give it another few years.
That brings up a related question, which I’m going to add to this one. What native names are sometimes used even though they aren’t the official name? Besides Aotearoa, there’s a handful I can think of:
Not islands, but Uluru in NT, Australia (formerly Ayer’s Rock) and Denali in Alaska (formerly Mt. McKinley) were both popularly known by their native names before the “official” name was reverted to the original.
Formosa => Taiwan
Pleasant Island => Nauru
Savage Island => Niue
Union Islands => Tokelau
Parece Vela => Okinotorishima
Celebes => Sulawesi
Moluccas => Maluku
Confusingly, of course, we still have the South Sandwich Islands. They are uninhabited and rather less tropical so I don’t think anyone cares what they’re called.
To be picky, it was always called “Canada,” and earned that name long before the British got there; that was what Europeans called it at least as far back as the 1540s. However, the name had to expand. Originally, “Canada” was what we now call southern Quebec and eastern Ontario, later expanding to Ontario and Quebec by the early 19th century, but you would not have called, say Nova Scotia “Canada.” When Canada was created more or less in its first form in 1867 the Act was fully titled “An Act for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Government thereof.” By “Canada” they meant Ontario and Quebec. Starting July 1, 1867, the word began to be used to mean “The nation-state governed out of Ottawa, Ontario,” so its use expanded as the country swallowed up everything from St. John’s to Victoria.
“British North America” was never the name for any place in particular.
One that (unofficially) reverted a long time ago is the island where Newport, Rhode Island is located. Aquidneck was the native name and Aquidneck Island is the name that locals have used for a long time, maybe centuries. Roger Williams officially changed the name to “Ile of Rods or Rhod-Island” in 1644. According to the USGS, Rhode Island is still the official name of the island (as well as the state it’s located in), but I don’t think many locals call it that, if any. Aquidneck Island - Wikipedia
“Britain” is no less European a name than “Albion”.
Fun fact: The reason why Great Britain is “Great” Britain is not a claim to national greatness, but rather to distinguish it from Little Britain, which is Brittany in France, just across the Channel from England.
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