On May 6, 2015, a zoo in Oita, Japan announced the results of an official poll: The zoo’s very first baby Macaque monkey, would be named Charlotte, in honor of Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. News of the decision erupted in a national controversy with critics and supporters fighting over whether the name insulted or honored the newborn Royal. On May 8^th, the city mayor put an end to the debate, stating that the public had chosen a beautiful name, and no complaint from Britain had been lodged.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is planning to increase the current selection of domain names beyond the generic top-level domains like .com, .net, and .org. In anticipation, many companies have already begun to apply for their own brand name domains. The costs of placing an official application and paying for the accompanying legal and consulting fees for one of the trendy domain names can reach upwards of 1 million US dollars.

Australia’s Place Naming Committee has just announced that a suburb in Canberra will be named after Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who died in March 2015, after serving nearly 20 years.  Australia has a long tradition of honoring deceased political leaders with toponyms.  Another recent onomastic honoree includes Gough Whitlam, Australia’s 21^st Prime Minister.

The Geographical Names Board (GNB) is calling for public comments on the naming of an Australian location near Washington Avenue in Riverwood Washington Park. Click here to submit a name, see the GNB website. The deadline for submissions is Friday, the 29^th of May 2015.

Read about sky country names in this New York Times piece In Flight about a pilot’s-eye view of life in the sky.