Toponymy (or Geographical Names) is the science of naming geographical features and places. Under the Geographical Names Board Act, the Department has the authority to officially name all geographical features and places in the province. The provinces, territories and federal naming authorities have representation on the Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) which is responsible for the establishment and the maintenance of national standards in toponomy. The GNBC has a secretariat in Ottawa which facilitates national collaboration and provides the Canadian Geographical Name Service. The GNBC provides online simple searches for place names. You can also do advanced multi-criteria searches and generate tables of data for extraction.

One federal naming authority focused on the maritime context is the Advisory Committee on Undersea Feature Names (ACUFN). ACUFN reviews and examines name submissions for undersea and surface maritime features that are within Canadian waters and/or in areas of particular interest to Canada.

Knowledge of local usage is a critical factor in determining whether or not a geographical feature name will be considered as an official name. Any individual or organization may propose a name for an unnamed feature or suggest a change to an existing name, provided they comply with established principles and procedures (2 MB). If you have an interest in participating in the geographical naming process of the Province, please click on both the Application form (26 KB) and the Contributor form link and follow the instructions contained within (Application Form, Contributor Form).

Geographical Names Documents:

• An Introduction to Geographical Names and the NLGNB
• Dr. E.R. Seary Remembered
• E.R. Seary Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador Excerpt
• GNBC Delineation Guidelines 1.0
• Landmark Achievement: Hundreds of Innu Place Names for Southern and Central Labrador Awarded Legal Status
• Place Names of Newfoundland – E.R. Seary
• Place Names of Newfoundland and Labrador – W.G. Handcock
• Principles and Procedures for Geographical Naming 2011
• Nomenclature
• The Viking Trail
• Toponymic Tour of the Southern Avalon – The Irish Loop
• Wadham’s Song

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