# Islands reverting to native names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970 "2023-07-13T02:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/21 "2023-07-19T21:53:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > To be picky, it was always called “Canada,” I heard the way they named Canada went something like this - when they formed the new nation, they picked naming letters out of a hat: The first letter was picked and the man exclaimed “C, eh?” The next letter was picked and he exclaimed “N, eh?” Then the last letter was picked and he said "D, eh?, and that’s how they got C, eh, N, eh, D, eh (Canada). 🙄 Tough crowd. I’ll be here all week! Try the veal! For the OP, I recall from the recent renaming of derogatory place names (e.g. ‘Squ\_\_’) to indigenous names - one of which is Ojibwa Island in Lake Michigan. I know the [Channel Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Islands_(California)) in CA have indigenous names but they are not usually used when referring to them. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/22 "2023-07-20T03:13:06Z")
While I don’t know how far back Malvinas go: > **[Islas Malvinas: EU signs deal using Falklands’ Argentine name](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/20/islas-malvinas-brexit-cited-as-eu-endorses-falklands-argentine-name)** > > UK asks bloc to clarify position after Buenos Aires declare ‘triumph’ over use of term in declaration ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/23 "2023-07-20T03:32:54Z")
There were no natives on the Falklands for there to be a native name to revert to. Those islands were undiscovered before Europeans found them. It doesn’t matter which name is older, they’re both European names. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/24 "2023-07-20T12:26:36Z")
It doesn’t matter in the sense of native vs. non-native, but it matters hugely in the sense of British vs Argentinian. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/25 "2023-07-20T15:37:16Z")
Maybe for geopolitical arguments or something, it matters. But for this thread, it doesn’t matter. They’re both names from European languages. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/26 "2023-07-20T19:08:30Z")
> [@Plutonium\_Chef](#): > > Kūki 'Āirani (Cook Islands) (also transliterated from the English) Given that “island” would be “airando” if transliterated into Japanese, I suspect that “Airani” is just the word “Island”. (With no distinction between singular and plural.) The correct English (if so), I would think, would be Kuki Islands. Otherwise, you’d be calling it the Kuki Islands Islands. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/27 "2023-07-20T21:22:03Z")
Question is- do the current natives still use the old name? > [@PastTense](#): > > While I don’t know how far back Malvinas go: Pretty much that was just a “fuck you” to the UK from the EU. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2023, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/28 "2023-09-24T02:11:30Z")
Mumbai is mostly made up of seven islands. It’s not the original name of the settlement on the islands but it derives from one of the city’s native languages. (Bombay isn’t an English name, but is commonly held to be a corruption of one of a number of Portuguese formations.) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/29 "2023-09-25T00:03:40Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Formosa =\> Taiwan Taiwan was never the name of the entire island, but [just a part](https://islandfolklore.com/taiwan-names-formosa/#:~:text=After%20WWII%2C%20following%20Chinese%20and,southwestern%20part%20of%20the%20island.) of which that got applied to the entire island by Western people. What’s more, the name Taiwan seems to have gotten assistance from a dialect of Chinese. > [@](#): > > Taiwan > > In the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company founded the colony of Dutch Formosa. Their headquarters, Fort Zeelandia, was located near a small sandbank in southwestern Taiwan. > > The Dutch called this area _Tayovan_—based on the names of nearby native tribes. Today, the area is part of the Anping district of Tainan City. > > At the employment of the Dutch were large numbers of Hokkien-speaking Chinese labourers, who assisted in the colonization of the island, from the Fujian region. The Dutch toponym entered the Hokkien-based [Taiwanese language](https://islandfolklore.com/about/taiwan/languages/) as _Tâi-oân_. This eventually morphed into the modern “Taiwan.” > > The name was initially only applied to the southwestern portion of the island. Over time, its scope was expanded and eventually covered the entire island. After WWII, following Chinese and Japanese conventions, “Taiwan” replaced “Formosa” as the primary name of the island in the West. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970/30 "2023-09-25T00:30:40Z")
Incidentally, I’d be down with reverting to “Turtle Island” for North America, or even Hah-Nu-Nah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/islands-reverting-to-native-names/986970.md?page=1)