Who gets to name countries?

September 23, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid asked a tough question last night: Who gets to name the countries. Ken tried to claim that it was him and claimed that he gave Panama its name in tribute to a Van Halen song. Reid didn’t believe him, though, and asked me what the real answer was. I told her that the original bosses of a country (which is how we explain politicians, the “biggest boss” where Ken and I work, etc.) got to pick the name. Ken and I snarked a bit about “dead, white men” under our breath but didn’t expose Reid to our cynicism.

Reid next asked about “Canada”. Ken was (not) helpfully telling me about the native word “kanata” and how it meant villages as I was trying to tell Reid the very same thing. I told him that I’d seen the relevant Canadian Heritage Minute, thank-you-very-much. I don’t know how accurate it is, the story never came up in any of the courses I took for my BA in Canadian Studies and History. Still, it was a good story and it satisfied Reid.

Reid asked how I knew this and Ken said, “Mama knows everything.” Reid responded with, “You don’t know everything, right, Mama? You don’t know when Jesus came out of Mary’s belly.” I agreed that Reid was right - I don’t know exactly when Jesus came out of Mary’s belly but added that we celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25th. (I’m not sure how or why Reid is aware that Christmas Day is probably not the exact day but there you go, she knows.)

I told Ken that I don’t know where these questions come from but I do worry sometimes about what the next question will be.

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