redenumirea

Redenumirea is the act or process of giving a new name to a person, place, organization, product, or other entity. In Romanian usage, the noun redenumirea denotes both the act itself and the outcome when a name has been changed or updated.

Etymology and usage: The term is built from the prefix re- meaning again or anew, combined with denumire, meaning a name or designation. It is commonly used across fields such as linguistics, geography, law, business, and information technology to describe formal or informal name changes.

Contexts and applications: In toponymy, redenumirea refers to changing the name of a city, region, street, or geographic feature, often for political, historical, or cultural reasons. In business, it can describe corporate renaming or rebranding efforts, including changing a company’s official name or product naming. In information technology and data management, redenumirea might involve renaming files, functions, APIs, or database objects to reflect new conventions or meanings.

Process and implications: Renaming usually requires legal or administrative steps, updating registries and licenses, adjusting trademarks and domain names, and communicating changes to stakeholders. It can affect branding, search visibility, historical records, and continuity of obligations. Organizations typically plan migrations and maintain mappings between old and new names to preserve continuity.

Examples: Notable renamings include the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). In history, Saint Petersburg has borne multiple names (Petrograd, Leningrad) before returning to its current name. Corporate examples include the renaming of Andersen Consulting to Accenture and Facebook’s rebranding to Meta in recent years.

See also: renaming, toponymy, branding, rebranding.