ONCE IT was Londinium but maybe people's Latin got a little rusty.
I don't know if there was a kerfuffle almost 2000 years ago, but everyone seems happy with "London" now.
As an old Leodiensian, I have no qualms about coming from a city now known as "Leeds" - and, yes, my Latin isn't up to much either.
So, names change. Soon that which was Petre will be Whanganui.
That change - announced yesterday by Land Information Minister Louise Upston - will upset some locals. Change is often difficult to deal with and they have grown up with "Wanganui" (as perhaps did their parents and grandparents). Some will feel like their home has been violated.
Then there are those who oppose the addition of the "H" because it was proposed by local iwi and is, in part, being actioned as an act of acknowledgment to te reo Mori.
They regard the tide of Mori emancipation over recent decades with suspicion, perhaps fearing it will swamp them.
But is there really such cause for alarm? Treaty settlements have been made, spellings changed ... nothing too bad seems to have happened, and there has been a lot of good.
Hopefully now that the decision has been taken - and it was never in much doubt - people can focus on other, more pressing issues. Accept and move on.
Whether it is Wanganui or Whanganui, a river still runs through it, we still have to sort out the wastewater system, we still hold the Meads Cup. And it is still a damn fine place to live.