– From Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

In addition to cats, the process for selecting geographic placenames is too a difficult matter.  In the suburban town of Temecula in Southern California, the city’s main sports park was recently renamed the Ronald Reagan Sports Park.  Reagan had never visited Temecula, but made an obscure reference to it in a speech he delivered to the US Olympic Committee 25 years ago.  "The folks in a rather small town, Temecula...got together and built themselves a sports park, held fund-raising barbecues and dinners. And those that didn't have money volunteered the time and energy." Aside from basking in the reflected glory of an ex-president, the name has little to do with the community.

A more serious debate continues to rage around the European country sometimes known as the Republic of Macedonia, which gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Greece, its neighbor to the south immediately objected to what it considered the appropriation of a Hellenic name, because a northern region in Greece is known as Greek Macedonia, the birthplace of both Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. A temporary contrivance to allow the Macedonians a seat in the United Nations refers to the country as “Fyrom” derived from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

While the country exists constitutionally and has been recognized by much of the international community, it wants to join the European Union (EU), which requires a unanimous vote. Greece has already indicated that it will oppose the inclusion of the Republic of Macedonia in the EU under that name.

Names proposed and rejected by either Greece or Macedonia include Republic of Upper Macedonia, Independent Republic of Macedonia, New Republic of Macedonia, Democratic Republic of Macedonia, and Constitutional Republic of Macedonia.

To read the entire article, visit the BBC News site at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7278023.stm