Have you ever ever walked down a road and questioned the place its identify got here from? Was it named after a historic determine, a neighborhood landmark, or an historical phrase misplaced to time? The Open Etymology Map helps reply these questions by uncovering the tales behind place names – utilizing information from OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
🏷 The Etymology Tag in OpenStreetMap
The OpenStreetMap (OSM) mission consists of an ‘etymology‘ tag that enables customers to specify the origin or that means of a spot identify. There’s additionally a associated tag, ‘etymology:wikidata‘, which hyperlinks a characteristic’s identify to a particular Wikidata entity. These tags are utilized by the Open Etymology Map to disclose the origins of native place names.
🗺 What Is the Open Etymology Map?
The Open Etymology Map is an interactive software that showcases place names tagged with etymology information in OpenStreetMap. Utilizing the map, you may zoom into any space and look at options – streets, neighborhoods, cities – which have an etymology tag. You may then click on on any of the highlighted options to study extra about the place its identify comes from.
For instance, in London, in case you click on on Trafalgar Sq., you’ll see a hyperlink to the Wikipedia entry for the Battle of Trafalgar, providing perception into the origins of one of many metropolis’s most iconic names.
The Open Etymology Map offers an interesting, crowdsourced window into the historical past of our streets, providing a glimpse into the meanings behind the names we regularly take with no consideration.
Sadly, the etymology tag remains to be not often utilized in OpenStreetMap, which implies there are at present massive gaps within the Open Etymology Map’s protection. The excellent news? You may assist fill in these gaps. To contribute, merely analysis the origins of place names in your neighborhood and add an etymology tag to OpenStreetMap utilizing an OSM editor like iD.
