Canada/Chelsea seeks a name for its residents
Even though Chelsea is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, the municipality still doesn't have a name for its residents.
Gatinois, Ottaviens, Lapêchois, Angelois... Several municipalities in the National Capital Region already have their own names. But that's still not the case for Chelsea.
Since its first municipal council meeting in 1875, Chelsea has never had an official name for the people who live here. The Municipality wants to remedy this and has launched an online public consultation (new window) [external link], this week, to resolve this anomaly.
When I ran in the last election, a friend of mine who grew up outside the region said to me: Pierre, I checked, Chelsea doesn't have a gentile. I told him yes, we're "Chelséens" or, in English, "Chelseans". We did some research and indeed, Chelsea residents didn't have a gentile. So, since the 150th anniversary was fast approaching, this project was planned," says Mayor Pierre Guénard.
Until May 28, 2025, the population of Chelsea can submit their ideas or give their opinion on suggestions to finally find a name for its residents.
Chelsois and Chelsoise, Chelseacois and Chelseacoise, Chelois, Cheloise and Chelseas, or Chelseaite... Several names have already been proposed by the Municipality.
There are already some suggestions, but people who have a creative name can also suggest one," reminds the mayor.
It's also about formalizing a term, since people of all stripes give themselves different names. So here, it's simply a matter of formalizing one.
A quote from Pierre Guénard, Mayor of Chelsea
Although he has already taken part in the survey, Mr. Guénard won't say what his preference is.
The municipal council will decide
Proposals must meet three criteria: be easily pronounced in both French and English, be gender-inclusive or epicene, and respect the standards of the Guide de toponymie du Québec.
We're expecting maybe one or two options, maybe three at the most. But if the survey is categorical with just one term that represents Chelsea people, that will make the decision easier," explains the elected official.
With the government, there's never been a formal gentile process. So technically, the people of Chelsea don't have a gentilé. It's a rather light survey, but it's a nice gesture to bring people together as part of the 150th [anniversary of Chelsea] celebrations.
The proposals collected by the Municipality of Chelsea will be submitted to the Commission de toponymie du Québec, and following its comments, the municipal council will make its choice.
The Commission insists on the fact that it is not responsible for the processing of gentiles.
[The Commission de toponymie] in no way assigns names to the inhabitants of a municipality. [...] It is the municipalities that can recognize new or existing names by adopting a municipal resolution on the subject," emphasizes Commission spokesman Gilles Payer in a written response.
11 municipalities without a gentilé in the Outaouais region
According to the Commission de toponymie du Québec, 56 of the region's 67 municipalities have at least one gentilé listed in the Banque de gentilés du Québec.
While the municipality is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, what's most extraordinary, notes Michel Prévost, President of the Société d'histoire de l'Outaouais, is that the name Chelsea is officially only 35 years old.
The name existed before 1875," he explains. But finally, the Commission de toponymie du Québec recognized the name "Municipalité de Chelsea" in 1990.
Whatever the choice, Mr. Prévost hopes there will be no squabbles over the gentilé name.
A name is very important," he says, "because once you've adopted it, you have to be sure you like it, because you'll keep it for a very long time.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca
