Throughout most of the past century, countless unsuspecting visitors to Whangarei, New Zealand have stopped by one of the city’s most famous landmarks, Mount Parihaka. Unbeknownst to the masses, the name of the sacred space was not “Parahaki” but “Parihaka.” Finally, in 2005, the NZ Geographic Board officially corrected the mistake.

In a moving ceremony this month, hundreds gathered at the summit for a special ceremony: the unveiling of a “kohatu,” a sacred carved rock symbolizing the spirit of the mountain. As Sheryl Mai, Whangarei’s mayor, explained in a Radio New Zealand interview: “…now we’ve got the public coming to meet our beautiful kohatu […] and the name Parihaka has been returned…”

The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is inviting the general public to propose new place names for Canada. The accepted toponyms will be recorded in a national register, the Canadian Names Database. There is information on the proposal guidelines and review process specifically for Nova Scotia.

Fashion labels are increasingly inspiring baby names. Labels such as Armani and Cartier are on the rise as baby names and more traditional names such as Calvin have been recently boosted by a corresponding fashion label. This article in Vocative graphs the rise of particular fashion labels are baby names.

In the wake of a new project by a property developer in Staten Island, NY, Borough President James Oddo named the streets in the new development after the greed and deceit of the developers. A New York State Supreme Court judge allowed the street names.

Ever heard the name burrissimo? What about the names taka taka, sushirrito, or pizzabon? If you guessed that these names have something to do with food, you may be right.

After the success of culinary creations like the infamous cronut, the name for an artery-clogging cross between a donut and a croissant, restaurant chains have started experimenting with other fast-food hybrids. In celebration of these mutant edibles, a whole new line-up of food names has been created as well. Discover what is behind these onomastic neologisms.