Erinenimed

Erinenimed is an Estonian term referring to alternative or variant names used for a person, place, organization, or concept across languages, historical periods, or different contexts. In onomastics, erinenimed encompass a range of forms that help identify the same entity when different names appear in sources, maps, or speech.

The scope of erinenimed includes exonyms and endonyms, transliterations and spellings in different alphabets, historical or former names, as well as aliases such as nicknames, pen names, or stage names. They also cover abbreviations and acronyms used for an entity. Distinctions are often made between names locals use for themselves (endonyms) and names used by others (exonyms), as well as between contemporary names and historical forms.

Use and relevance of erinenimed appear in encyclopedias, dictionaries, geographic databases, and bibliographic catalogs. They assist in disambiguation, record linkage, and multilingual access, and they support standardization efforts through authority files and toponym databases. By acknowledging erinenimed, information systems can present a fuller picture of how an entity has been identified in different contexts and times.

Examples commonly cited in discussions of erinenimed include Tallinn, historically known in German as Reval, and Tartu, known as Dorpat in Latin sources. Historic names such as Leningrad for Saint Petersburg illustrate how names evolve with political and cultural change, while contemporary variants reflect language and transliteration differences. See also onomastics, toponymy, disambiguation, and authority control.