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List of renamed places in Namibia

Since 1990, there have been a small number of places in Namibia which have been renamed, mainly for political, cultural, or linguistic reasons. Some names have been changed to remove colonial or apartheid references, often reverting to their original native language names. Other names (such as street names in Windhoek) have been renamed after foreign leaders or famous Namibians. Overall, Namibia has had fewer renamed places than neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe.

German period

Most place names in German South West Africa continued to bear German spellings of the local names, as well as German translations of some local phrases. The few exceptions to the rule included places founded by the Rhenish Missionary Society, generally biblical names, as well as

  • Hornkranz (Hoornkrans)
  • Sandfontein
  • Stolzenfels
  • Waterberg (Omuverumue)

Regions and constituencies

Settlements

  • ǀAixa-aibes → Warmbad (1760)
  • ǃAutsawises → Berseba (1850)
  • Arahoab → Aranos (1960s)
  • ǀAi-ǁgams (Khoekhoegowab) / Otjomuise (Otjiherero) → Windhoek (1838) → Elberfeld / Barmen (1842) → Concordiaville (1844) → Esek (1844) → Windhoek
  • Kalkfontein → Karasburg (1939)
  • Klipfontein (ǀUiǂgandes) → Bethanie (1815)
  • Naosanabis → Wesley Vale (1843) → Leonardville (20th century)
  • Schuckmannsburg → Luhonono (2013)
  • Welwitschia → Khorixas (1989)

Streets

Swakopmund

Status: 2002

Windhoek

The sources of the previous renaming documents are outdated or no longer available and are being reprocessed.

Airports

Other

See also

References