An Integrated Approach to Germanic Place Names in the American Midwest

Place names represent an established topic in sociocultural and critical scholarship on human space and place. Based on a comprehensive data set of Germanic names in the American Midwest, this article explores the value of a novel approach integrating advanced spatio-statistical measures with critical interpretation to revitalize the field of toponomy on a concerted methodological and theoretical level. Processed in a geographic information system (GIS) environment, the regional toponymic pattern provides a broad and reliable framework that evokes interpretative discussion of underlying structures and processes. This characterizes Germanic toponyms as versatile sociodemographic, political, and ethnocultural indicators.