Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names
The Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names is one of 50 state names authorities in the United States and is a member of the Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA). The Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names is a voluntary group of subject matter experts who act in an advisory role when naming of geographic features (new names for unnamed geographic features, name or spelling changes, or changes in application) within the state of Tennessee are proposed and under review by the United States Board on Geographic Names (USBGN). The USBGN has final approval authority for place naming for federal maps and products. Information such as online forms for domestic naming proposals, member directory, and links to the websites of several other state names authorities can be found at the USBGN website.
Please contact Peter Lemiszki, Chair, Tennessee Committee on Geographic Names, with any questions.
Jennifer Barnett Jennifer.Barnett@tn.gov
Allen Coggins cogginsanb@charter.net
Steve Cotham scotham@knoxlib.org
Charles Crawford cwcrwfrd@memphis.edu
Jason Duke Jason_Duke@fws.gov
Zada Law Zada.Law@mtsu.edu
Peter Lemiszki (Chair) Peter.Lemiszki@tn.gov
Gregory March gmarch@utk.edu
Chris Meeks Chris.Meeks@tn.gov
Tiffany Momon tnmomon@sewanee.edu
Tammy Sellers Tammy.Sellers@tn.gov
Kurt Snider Kurt_Snider@fws.gov
David Starnes d.starnes.2288@frontiernet.net
Chuck Sutherland csutherland@ucdd.org
Van West cwest@mtsu.edu
Ronald Zurawski Ronald.Zurawski@tn.gov
People who want to propose a naming of a geographic feature can go to the USBGN Homepage and click on the Domestic Names link. Click on the Propose or Change a Name link which will take you to the online form.
The U.S. Board also maintains the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), which serves as the official database for geographic names for the federal government.
The Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA) is an association of state and federal government agencies representing the official and recognized geographic names authorities in the United States who work to promote national standardization of the names of geographic features for official use throughout the country. Please visit the COGNA website for more information.