Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society » Whitwell’s Rational Geographical Nomenclature

May 15th, 2007

Whitwell’s Rational Geographical Nomenclature

Stedman Whitwell, 19th-century social reformer and architect of Robert Owen’s failed Utopian city at New Harmony, was deeply troubled by the will-nilly way that cities and towns were named in America, and proposed a more “rational” system of geographical nomenclature, which would have renamed Washington as Feili Neivul, Philadelphia as Outeon Eveldo, and Pittsburgh as Otfu Veitoup. From New Harmony Movement by George B. Lockwood:

Whitwell noted some of the incongruities in American nomenclature, and deplored the repetition which was producing “Washingtons” and “Springfields” in every State in the Union. He proposed to give each locality a distinctive name by expressing in a compound word the latitude and longitude of the place, thus enabling one to locate any community geographically when the name was once known. Letters were proposed as substitute for the numerals used in expressing latitude and longitude, as follows:
-               1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8   9   0
Latitude        a  e  i  o  u  y  ee  ei  ie  ou
Longitude       b  d  f  k  l  m  n   p   r   t
The first part of the town name expressed the latitude, the second the longitude, by a substitution of letters for figures according to the above table. The letter “s” inserted in the latitude name denoted that it was south latitude, its absence that it was north, while “V” indicated west longitude, its absence east longitude. Extensive rules for pronunciation and for overcoming various difficulties were given. … The principal argument in favor of the new system presented by the author was that the name of a neighboring Indian chief, “Occoneocogle-cococachecache-codungo,” was even worse than some of the effects produced by this “rational system” of nomenclature.

The Kircher Society would be delighted to help publish a map of Stedman Whitwell’s America if there are any cartographers out there interested in collaborating.

[Acknowledgments to Robert Orenstein]

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Whitwell’s Rational Geographical Nomenclature

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