Screen capture from the Principles, Policies, and Procedures of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for Domestic Geographic Names

Screen capture from the Principles, Policies, and Procedures of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names for Domestic Geographic Names

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Chapter 3. Domestic Geographic Names Policies

Policy I. Names Considered or Established by Congress or the President

Policy II. Name Changes

Policy III. Commemorative Names

Policy IV. Wilderness Area Geographic Names

Policy V. Derogatory and Offensive Names

Policy VI. Diacritics

Policy VII. Duplicate and Similar Names

Policy VIII. Variant Names

Policy IX. Long Names

Policy X. Tribal Geographic Names

Policy XI. Commercial Names

Policy XII. Animal Names

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) formulates domestic geographic feature naming policies to encourage uniformity, objectivity, and standardization. These policies have been developed over more than a century of BGN practice. Although most geographic naming conditions are addressed by these policies, there may be instances in which other factors must be considered to arrive at a suitable decision. All of the following policies are considered, and each proposal is evaluated on its own merits.

All proposals are evaluated in cooperation with State geographic names authorities, Federal, State, and Tribal agencies, local governments, other authoritative bodies, and the public. BGN policies, published usage, and State, Tribal, and local governmental needs, will also be taken into consideration.

A proponent should carefully review the proposal prior to submission to ensure that it is consistent with BGN policies.