The History of Settlement Names Standartization in the Hungarian Language: Principles, Methods, and Achievements

In Hungary, the standardization of geographical names — particularly official settlement names — has a history spanning more than a century. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the core principles underlying national standardization practices for settlement names. These principles include monoreferentiality, historical authenticity, toponymic and linguistic accuracy, semantic motivation, and etymological transparency. The paper also examines how and why the relative importance of these principles has evolved over time. In addition, it discusses the impact of international standardization practices on the aims, methods, and outcomes of national efforts in Hungary. The study draws on both previous scholarship and primary sources relating to current policies and recent developments. It demonstrates that contemporary standardization practices — both in present-day Hungary and in neighboring countries with Hungarian-speaking minorities — are primarily concerned with preserving the historically developed toponymic integrity of the Hungarian linguistic area within the Carpathian Basin when defining official settlement names. In line with international trends in geographical names standardization, recent years have seen increased cooperation among experts, policymakers, municipalities, and local communities in decision-making processes. The present survey provides grounds to assume that achieving sustainable outcomes in the domain under study requires a careful balance between respect for historical traditions and adaptation to contemporary patterns of name use.