Abstract

[Odonomastics: masculine singular noun] Although odonomastics (crasis of two ancient Greek words ὁδός-hodós: street, road, path, way, and ὄνυμα- ónyma: name) is a feminine noun, in its practical declension, i.e. in its plastic representation in urban realities, it is predominantly (if not exclusively) masculine. The names of urban areas correspond to and give voice to two needs: the most obvious, pragmatic and objective, is orientation; the other, which, although pregnant, remains in filigree, as an ideological and subjective component, it satisfies the need for identification and information of the human community living in that territory, on the basis of historical, cultural, political and social (over)positions. Just as the failure to satisfy the first need leads to getting lost in urban routes (physical aspect), the insufficiency or inadequacy of the second implies a disorientation of identity due to the lack of reference paradigms (psychological aspect). The aim of this paper is to try to account for female (in)visibility in urban toponyms from a quantitative-qualitative point of view, reconstructing it at the same time from a de lege lata perspective, of the domestic legislation in force, and de lege ferenda, in the light of links with precepts of international law.