Toponym'elles

Toponym'elles is an initiative that was started to improve toponymic representation of women's contributions to Montreal by renaming public spaces such as parks and streets, as only 6% of places were named after women.[1] Initially, Toponym'elles was created to include 375 names to commemorate the 375th anniversary of Montreal's founding. It was launched on March 2, 2016, a few days before International Women's Day.[2]

Thérèse Cadorette was the first woman to be honoured by this initiative, with a square being named after her in 2016.[3] Among the first places named according to the Toponym'Elles database, notable locations also include the Ethel-Stark, Jovette-Marchessault, and Julie-Hamelin parks, as well as Grace-Hopper and Jacqueline-Sicotte streets Alice-Guy Crescent, and the Place des Montréalaises. One of these first places, Palomino-Brind'Amour Park, was selected as one of the Commission de toponymie's favorites in 2018.[4]

The original list includes names of well-known Quebec women (Dorimène Roy-Desjardins, Marie-Aveline Bengle, Thaïs Lacoste...), lesser-known women (Maggie Sirois, Mary Graddon, Agnès Vautier...), names of female groups (les donaldas, les midinettes, les polytechniciennes...), and titles of significant cultural works (Les Belles-Sœurs, L’Euguélionne, Sanaaq...). Additionally, the list presents Canadian names linked to Indigenous cultures (An Antane Kapesh, Aataentsic, Kinuajuak Asivak...) or the history of racialized individuals (Charlotte Trim, Anne Greenup, Viola Desmond...). It also contains the names of international figures (Virginia Woolf, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hannah Arendt...)[5].

According to Manon Gauthier, the person in charge of cultural affairs on the executive committee, the list of 375 names featured in Toponym'elles at its launch, along with their accompanying descriptions, was created by linguist Gabriel Martin.[6] In addition to the 375 names made public at the launch, around 85 additional names of living women were recorded in another list, the contents of which were kept secret due to the social taboo surrounding anticipation of posthumous tributes. This list includes the names of personalities such as Jeanine C. Beaubien, Germaine Huot, Marie-Claire Kirkland, Rita Lafontaine, Lise Payette, and Janine Sutto.[7] Subsequently, the database was opened up to contributions from the general public for its enrichment. As of November 2021, the list had been expanded to include 450 names.[8]

Montreal is the first city in Quebec to have created a database of this kind.[9] It is noted that the creation of a similar open name database was requested in Sherbrooke in 2018, but this request did not receive any follow-up.[10]