Romanizing Endonyms and Properly Filling the name:en in Ukraine

I became interested in the issue of localizing the map of Ukraine into English and decided to raise it in several forum discussions (first, second, third) to delve into the nuances and find optimal approaches to filling out the name:en tag for objects in Ukraine.

My goal was to understand how to correctly fill in the name:en tag and determine whether it should contain a translation or transliteration. While this may seem like a technical issue, it actually has deep cultural and historical roots, and the answer is not immediately obvious. However, through the discussion, I believe I found a solution and would like to share it in this diary.

Endonyms and Exonyms: What Are They?

First and foremost, it is important to understand the difference between endonyms and exonyms.

Endonym refers to the name of a geographical object in the language of the people who live in that area. For instance, for the residents of Ukraine, the name of the capital Kyiv is an endonym. Endonyms always reflect the authentic name used by the local population.

Exonym refers to the name for the same geographical object used by people or countries outside that area. Examples of Ukrainian exonyms include Viden for Wien, Niu-York for New York, and Florentsia for Firenze. The Spanish name for the city Lviv is Leópolis, and the German name is Lemberg. Historically, such names were formed quite chaotically, influenced by various linguistic traditions or political processes.

Exonyms have a long history tied to colonization, geopolitical influence, and cultural interactions between countries. In the case of Ukraine, many exonyms used in other countries were shaped during the prolonged influence of the russian empire and the soviet union. For example, names like Kiev, Cherkassy, and many other Russian versions of Ukrainian names were incorporated into most maps and atlases of that time. Some Ukrainian names even changed under this influence and became official, such as the town Brovary, where the local villages still predominantly use the name Brovari.

Today, exonyms imposed by other states, particularly Russian ones, often elicit negative reactions in Ukraine. This topic is especially relevant in the context of decolonization and the desire to break away from the Russian linguistic legacy.

The Issue of Transliteration and Translation of Ukrainian Names

Discussions about the use of the name:en tag within the Ukrainian OpenStreetMap community have been ongoing for many years. Almost 14 years ago, the first attempts at mechanical transliteration/translation of Ukrainian names and the automatic filling in of name:en occurred after a forum discussion.

Currently, the OpenStreetMap database contains around 300,000 objects with Ukrainian names that have a corresponding name in name:en. However, for most of these objects, no actual English counterparts ever existed. These English names were created by mappers themselves. Here are examples of names I personally filled in based on Ukrainian street names in a small town:

• Kyivska Street
• Nezalezhnosti Street
• Aerodromna Street
• Molodizhna Street
• Field Street
• Lake Lane
• Peace Street
• Victory Street
• Gogol Lane
• Victory Street
• Unity Street
• Independence Street

So, how should the name:en tag be filled out? Should it be a translation, transliteration, or a combination of both? The answer to this question is mappers should not invent names in other languages. An English exonym only begins to exist when the English-speaking population of other countries starts using it, and there is written or spoken evidence of its use. Only if an exonym already exists for a particular object in Ukraine can it be added to name:en:

So, what should be done for objects that do not have an established English exonym? In my opinion, the correct approach is to provide users with a romanized endonym. This ensures the authentic representation of Ukrainian names in Latin script, without creating artificial alternative foreign names.

Romanization

Romanization is the conversion of text from another writing system into the symbols of the Roman (Latin) alphabet or a system for doing so. Romanization methods can include transliteration and transcription. The Ukrainian community has long used the official transliteration system, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2010. This system was also adopted by international geographic naming authorities: the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) in the United Kingdom in 2019, making it universally applicable for use on English-language maps. In practice, romanization helps avoid errors related to translation or the incorrect use of foreign names.

Which Tag to Use for Romanized Names?

If an object has a name, we fill in name. If that name is in Ukrainian, we duplicate it in name:uk. If the name is Ukrainian, the next step should be its romanization and filling in the name:uk-Latn tag.

Not All name:en Tags Are Exonyms

Some objects have names of non-Ukrainian origin. For example, the names on the signs of restaurant chains like McDonald’s and KFC should be filled in name and duplicated in name:en.

Often, apart from a Ukrainian name, an organization may also have an official name in English. Even if the name:en is not widely used by English speakers, this name should be filled in. Ukrainian universities often have both Ukrainian and English names.

However, it’s essential to remember that we document names, not create them. One important note — not all names written in Latin script are English. For instance, the supermarket chain Varus, though written in Latin, is not an English name. It is derived from the names of the company’s founders: Valerii Kopytko and Ruslan Shostak. In such cases, name:en should remain empty.

Conclusion

Based on the forum discussions, I suggest filling out the name:en tag as follows:

1. If an English exonym exists for the object, write the exonym.
2. If there is no English exonym, leave the name:en tag empty, unless there are exceptions, as described above.
3. The name:uk-Latn tag should contain the transliterated version of the Ukrainian name.

This approach will support the natural development of English exonyms for places and geographical objects in Ukraine and help avoid populating the name:en tag with inappropriate or meaningless names.

Additionally, I have initiated a discussion on the name:uk-Latn tag in the Ukrainian section of the forum.