In commemoration of one of the bloodiest battles waged during World War II between German and Russian forces, veterans living in the city of Volgograd have begun campaigning to change the city’s moniker back to Stalingrad. The toponym “Stalingrad” met its demise in 1961 under the former Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev. Now, some 80 years after the legendary battle, Russia’s current leaders have expressed their favor with the onomastic back-step in an effort to celebrate the “Great Patriotic War”.

First-time travelers to Tasmania will discover not only new and unusual flora and fauna. They can also expect to find an unexpected tapestry of relatively unexpected place names. While many of these toponyms are a source of pleasure and pride for native Tasmanians (e.g. Milkshake Hills, Bob’s Knobs, and Nowhere Else), there are a few names that have become the center of considerable pubic controversy. An excellent case in point is the name “Eggs and Bacon Bay.” According to animal rights activists and a few hopeful food nutritionists, it is high time that a more vegan-friendly alternative be found.

What would YOU call an 8 centimeter (okay, 4 inch), blue-n-orange multi-tentacled sea slug that eats stinging jellyfish found along Western Australia’s ocean waters? That was the question recently posed by the Western Australia Museum and ABC News in a public competition to name the curious creature. After reviewing thousands of onomastic suggestions, the winner of the competition was finally announced. The animal is now called “Mordilla fifo” in honor of the state’s mine workers. Learn more about this underwater species and the onomastic runner-ups.

Known by aficionados as “the champagne of honeys,” Manuka honey, or rather the name for the bewitching elixir, has become the center of an increasingly nasty onomastic battle Down Under.

On the one side of the wrangle is New Zealand, who claim that the name “Manuka” by rights is theirs because the one and only plant used by bees to produce this exclusive honey, the Leptospermum scoparium, is native to New Zealand and the name “Manuka” comes from the Maori language. According to John Rawcliffe, head of New Zealand’s Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association, this is reason enough for his country to own the trademark on this name.

Trevor White, however, from the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council, told ABC news in an interview this past August that this campaign is ridiculous because the plant also grows in Australia and ”the name has been used in Australia for many years going back into the 1800’s.”

While some observers might dismiss both arguments as petty, there is more at stake here than onomastic bragging rights. Thanks in part to the reputed anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-mircrobial benefits of the natural sweetener, the combined Manuka market in Australia and New Zealand is worth ca. three hundred million dollars.