Russian Name Changes

Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was all the rage in the former USSR to change one's city name to a pre-Communist name. After a while the excitement died down but now, some cities that were left out of the initial fun are taking another look at their community's name. The International Herald Tribune reports on the city of Kirov, renamed in 1934 after the murder of the Leningrad Communist Party chief, Sergei Kirov. Related reading - Indian Place Name Changes.