# The New Name For "Southern Sudan" Should Be... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010 "2011-01-17T23:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/21 "2011-01-18T14:03:28Z")
Can’t we get a more metal-sounding name, like Razorspine or the Blood Wastes? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/22 "2011-01-18T14:23:17Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Given the massive poverty I think we can all agree that they’re best option is to auction off naming rights to a large multinational corporation or billionaire. 🙂 But make it a limited-time contract, like some sports teams and arenas do. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/23 "2011-01-18T14:40:22Z")
\*\*Off-Center African Republic Sudan Sudannadanna Fitzroy PEOPLE’S KINGDOM OF ECSTASY AND WRATH!\*\* (including exclamation point) \*\*Republic of the Congo III: Congo Harder Wallyworld\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/24 "2011-01-18T15:48:35Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Can’t we get a more metal-sounding name, like Razorspine or the Blood Wastes? Then their banknotes can use [this font](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg). (And artwork, for that matter, as long as you put a dude with a guitar in it) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/25 "2011-01-18T16:55:56Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Can’t we get a more metal-sounding name, like Razorspine or the Blood Wastes? That would be Ȑazørspïnę or the Blööd Ŵastes ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/26 "2011-01-18T17:38:25Z")
Anything with “Sudan” in it is unimaginative at best and strikes an oddly “old” note for a country and people that have suffered under that name. I think “The Nile Republic” sounds rather elegant and would be fine if the country actually contained more of the Nile, and the river were not so firmly associated with Egypt. If Egypt and a substantial portion of Sudanese territory were ever to be reunited, it would be a good name then, for _that_ country, which probably wouldn’t include this one. Besides colonial connotations, “Equatoria” just sounds like a hypothetical country, not a real one. The ethnic and lingual demographics are too splintered to find anything useful there. Realistically, I think “Juba” is the best option. (The capital can be Juba City, if you like.) I suspect that old Sudan will experience further territorial adjustments in years to come, and it is often practical to refer to shifting power and territory bases by nominal centers (as seen with “Khartoum” to mean not just the capital city and the official state apparatus, but also the _idea of allegiance_ to that center, e.g., “the Janjaweed are soldiers of Khartoum.”) ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/27 "2011-01-18T17:55:23Z")
Sudan II: Electric Boogaloo ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010/28 "2011-01-18T18:24:18Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That would be Ȑazørspïnę or the Blööd Ŵastes ? 🙂 Rock on!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-name-for-southern-sudan-should-be/568010.md?page=1)