On Sep 22, 2026, the Pacific nation of Nauru told the UN it's now 'Naoero' — its original name, which colonizers mispronounced for so long the wrong version stuck.

A country just changed its name back — because colonial rulers couldn't say it properly. The Associated Press reports that on September 22, 2026, Naoero's President David Adeang stood before the UN General Assembly and announced the tiny Pacific island nation was reclaiming the name its own people had always used. 'Nauru is how our name sounded to those who found it hard to say, and the world kept it,' he said. The official change took effect in August 2026. The name 'Nauru' had been in use since European colonization. Source in first comment.