##  [geographical names: types and composition](/writing-tips-plus/geographical-names-types-and-composition)

##  Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

Official geographical names (or toponyms) are those approved by a provincial, territorial or federal toponymic authority. They are generally listed in the *Gazetteer of Canada*, which is produced by the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names. Two kinds of geographical names are distinguished: names of inhabited places and names of geographical features.

## Names of inhabited places

Only two municipalities in Canada have two official forms of their names, one in English and one in French: Grand Falls and Caissie Cape in New Brunswick, which are also known officially as Grand-Sault and Cap-des-Caissie. All other municipalities have only one authorized form: thus *Montréal* and *Québec* (the city) retain their accents in English.

## Names of geographical features

In Canada most geographical features have only one official name, except for the 81 names of pan-Canadian significance that have official forms in both English and French. Some provinces (Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick) also recognize “alternate names” for well-known geographical features under their jurisdiction (see [geographical names: translation](geographical-names-translation))

## Generic and specific

As a general rule, the name of a geographical feature is composed of a generic and a specific. The **specific** is the part of the toponym that identifies the particular geographical feature in question. For example:

- In *Alexandria River*, the specific is *Alexandria*.
- In *Crown Prince Frederik Island*, the specific is *Crown Prince Frederik*.
- In *River of Ponds Lake*, the specific is *River of Ponds*.

The **generic** is the part of the toponym that identifies a general class to which a specific geographical feature belongs. For example:

- In *Swampy Bay River*, the generic is *River*.
- In *Bay d’Espoir*, the generic is *Bay*.
- In *Little Francis Lake* the generic is *Lake*.

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## Liens connexes

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