An
ethnonym (from the
Greek ?????,
éthnos, "nation" and
???µa,
ónoma, "name") is the
name applied to a given
ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories
exonyms (where the name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and
autonyms or endonyms (where the name is created and used by the ethnic group itself).
As an example, the ethnonym for the ethnically dominant group in Germany is the Germans. This ethnonym is an exonym used by the English-speaking world, although the term itself is derived from Latin. Conversely, Germans themselves use the autonym of die Deutschen.
Numerous ethnonyms can apply to the same ethnic or racial group, with various levels of recognition, acceptance and use. The State Library of South Australia contemplated this issue when considering Library of Congress Headings for literature pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Some 20 different ethnonyms were considered as potential Library of Congress headings, but it was recommended that only a fraction of them be employed for the purposes of cataloguing.[1]
Ethnonyms can take on a political aspect over time, when they evolve from socially acceptable terms to socially unacceptable terms. For instance, the term Gypsy has been used to refer to the Roma. Other examples include Vandal, Bushman, Barbarian, Eskimo and Philistine.
