{"id":8684,"date":"2025-02-03T08:28:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T07:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/?p=8684"},"modified":"2026-08-25T11:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:34:28","slug":"street-names-and-inequality-who-do-we-commemorate-in-the-citys-linguistic-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/street-names-and-inequality-who-do-we-commemorate-in-the-citys-linguistic-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Street names and inequality: Who do we commemorate in the city\u2019s linguistic landscape?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Names given to urban places and features \u2013 urbanonyms \u2013 serve a variety of functions. They help us navigate the city, but they also carry symbolic weight. When political change began in Poland in 1989, a heated debate erupted over the decommunization of street names. This was not the first such process. Decades earlier, street naming had been shaped by communist ideology. During the partitions, it was subject to Germanization and Russification; after independence was restored, it underwent re-Polonization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians and others responsible for shaping the linguistic landscape of cities are fully aware of the power embedded in naming decisions. In international geographical research, growing attention has been paid to the quantitative imbalance between streets commemorating men and those honoring women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the spotlight: Warsaw, Krak\u00f3w, \u0141\u00f3d\u017a<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Krzysztof G\u00f3rny and Dr. Ada G\u00f3rna, researchers from the Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies at the University of Warsaw, set out to examine whether men dominate urbanonyms in three Polish cities and, if so, to what extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their findings show that in all three cases, the linguistic landscape is overwhelmingly dominated by names commemorating men. In Warsaw, 1,202 streets honor men, compared with 128 honoring women. In Krak\u00f3w, the numbers are 1,039 to 85. In \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, the imbalance is similarly stark: 514 streets commemorate men, and 69 commemorate women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For every street or roundabout named after a woman, there are 12.2 named after men in Krak\u00f3w, 9.4 in Warsaw, and 7.4 in \u0141\u00f3d\u017a. The masculinization of the linguistic landscape is not a perception \u2013 it is a measurable fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe wanted to show that urbanonyms primarily commemorate men. That\u2019s the case in Krak\u00f3w, \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, and Warsaw \u2013 and, unfortunately, in every other Polish city as well. We also asked what it means to have a patriarchal naming system. How does it affect society? How do marginalized women experience it? Let\u2019s not forget that women make up the majority of Poland\u2019s population. Should urban naming be demasculinized? And if so, how?\u201d says Dr. Krzysztof G\u00f3rny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do these findings align with how we perceive these cities? Are they in any way connected to their historical identities? In Krak\u00f3w \u2013 the \u201ccity of kings\u201d \u2013 the gender gap in favor of men proved to be the widest. The smallest gap was observed in \u0141\u00f3d\u017a, historically associated with female textile workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Women are the majority in Poland. So why do men dominate street names?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While the research documents the past and present, the scholars also point to the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we assume that the male-dominated naming landscape is the result of historical processes and entrenched patriarchy in Poland, then we have an explanation for the current state of affairs,\u201d explains Dr. Krzysztof G\u00f3rny. \u201cBut if we also assume that this landscape has the power to shape future generations, the issue becomes even more compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, street names are not just a legacy; they are also tools that influence how residents understand their world. \u201cIf we raise future generations in a space where the linguistic landscape consistently signals that men are the primary figures commemorated in the naming of streets, parks, and schools, we reinforce patriarchy and leave a lasting imprint on those generations,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the fundamental purpose of science is to explain the reality that surrounds us, then in this small but meaningful realm of names, that is precisely what we sought to do. We wanted to show not only where these names come from, but also how they affect \u2018ordinary citizens,\u2019\u201d emphasizes Dr. Krzysztof G\u00f3rny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
J\u00f3zef Hoene-Wro\u0144ski Street, Solec neighborhood in Warsaw.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is political geography?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Poland, onomastics \u2013 the study of names \u2013 is typically associated with linguistics. Yet geography has an equally important role to play. This is especially true in political geography, which examines the relationship between political processes and space. Dr. Krzysztof G\u00f3rny and Dr. Ada G\u00f3rna\u2019s research on gender representation in the linguistic landscape of Polish cities is part of a broader global trend that has gained momentum in recent years. Similar analyses of male and female representation in place names have been conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, Spain, and countries across Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studying naming practices provides valuable insight into the development of societies. Every name reflects decisions made by specific actors, shaped by political, ideological, and historical forces. Increasingly, researchers are focusing not only on those decisions but also on their consequences \u2013 among them, the linguistic landscapes that define our cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The text was originally published in Polish on the Serwis Naukowy UW website on February 3, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A city is more than its buildings, monuments, and parks. It is also a linguistic landscape. It speaks to us through signs, advertisements, and the names of streets, squares, and roundabouts. Names create meaning. They tell us who is commemorated \u2013 and who is overlooked. In recent years, geographers around the world have increasingly examined the significance of naming practices. But what do we know about them in Poland?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1450,1449,1387],"class_list":["post-8684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-research-at-uw","tag-faculty-of-geography-and-regional-studies","tag-street-names","tag-university-of-warsaw"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8684"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9741,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8684\/revisions\/9741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}