Following independence in 1980, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) began renaming cities, towns and streets, in an attempt to eradicate symbols of British colonialism and white minority rule, starting in 1982, on the second anniversary of independence. The capital Salisbury, which had been named after the British Prime Minister, the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, was renamed Harare, after the Shona chief Neharawa. Other place names were simply new transliterations, to reflect the correct pronunciation in the Shona language. Hence the city of Gwelo became Gweru. Many places had been denoted with the Ndebele language pronunciation during the colonial period and this generally included the letter "L" which does not exist in Shona.
| Old name | Post-1982 name |
|---|---|
| Balla Balla | Mbalabala |
| Belingwe | Mberengwa |
| Chipinga | Chipinge |
| Enkeldoorn | Chivhu |
| Essexvale | Esigodini |
| Fort Victoria | Masvingo |
| Gwelo | Gweru |
| Gatooma | Kadoma |
| Hartley | Chegutu |
| Inyanga | Nyanga |
| Marandellas | Marondera |
| Matopos | Matobo |
| Melsetter | Chimanimani |
| Que Que | Kwekwe |
| Salisbury | Harare |
| Selukwe | Shurugwi |
| Shabani | Zvishavane |
| Sinoia | Chinhoyi |
| Umtali | Mutare |
| Wankie | Hwange |
While most larger cities and towns were renamed, the European spelling of Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo, remains unchanged. Other towns which have retained names of European origin include mostly smaller communities such as Beitbridge, Colleen Bawn, West Nicholson, Fort Rixon, Craigmore, Cashel, Juliasdale, Glendale, and Birchenough Bridge. The colonial-era names of suburbs around Harare, such as Borrowdale, Highlands, Rietfontein, Tynwald, and Mount Pleasant also remained unchanged. An exception was Harari, which was renamed Mbare.
Street names were also changed, with names of British colonists such as Cecil Rhodes being replaced with those of Zimbabwean nationalist leaders, such as Josia Tongogara, Simon Muzenda, and Leopold Takawira. Robert Mugabe's name eventually became attached to the main street or town centre of every sizeable town as a result of a spate of changes in 1990. Other streets have been named after leaders of neighbouring countries, such as Samora Machel of Mozambique, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Others have a general pan-African nationalist theme, such as Africa Unity Square in Harare, formerly Cecil Square.
While these changes have had general acceptance, except among some whites, a more controversial practice has been the recent renaming of schools after Robert Mugabe, prompting accusations of a personality cult.
The de facto name of the country has also changed several times. From 1889 to 1892, the territory was referred to as Zambesia. This is now the name of a province in Mozambique. From 1895 the territory that comprised Matabeleland and Mashonaland became known as Rhodesia together with the territories beyond the Zambezi river northwards to the Congo Free State. From 1911, due to the unwieldy nature of the territory, Southern Rhodesia was distinguished from Northern Rhodesia, although it was only separated in 1923, when it alone achieved self-government.
When Northern Rhodesia achieved independence as Zambia, the Southern Rhodesian government introduced a Bill to allow the country to be known as just Rhodesia, which passed its third reading on 9 December 1964. Although no assent was given to the Bill, the revised name was widely adopted, and following U.D.I. in 1965 was the name of the unrecognized government.
Following the internal settlement of 1978, when the new institutions of government came into power on 1 June 1979 the country adopted the name Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The Lancaster House Agreement required that the United Kingdom regain temporary administration before free elections and independence, and this happened on 11 December 1979 with reversion to the former name of Rhodesia. Independence was recognised under the name of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980.