Granted, Capital isn’t the most original name for a nation’s capital. When the Kazakh government (many believe it has been president Nazarbaev’s rather risky initiative) decided to move the country’s administration from leafy Almaty to the rather dusty Akmola ten years ago, they thought that White Grave, Akmola’s literal translation wasn’t the perfect name for an aspiring and soon sprawling city in the Steppes.

Maybe just because Astana - Capital seems slightly transitory, ideas about renaming the place regularly pop up. This one here caught my eye though: “Don’t name capital after me yet, says Kazakh President”:

“I am not partisan to changing the name of Astana, especially if it concerns my name,” Nazarbayev told media in the western city of Atyrau.

The president said he would not be signing any name-changing legislation into effect, but did not oppose the idea that the capital one day be named in honour of him.

That one day in the future might be more distant than what many think, since Mr Nazarbaev has no intention to leave office any time soon:

“All the talk about a successor is just gossip. There are no successors,” he said. “I am not going anywhere yet. … We are going to work for a long time to come.”

It’s of course nothing new to name cities after important “statesmen”, St. Petersburg, Ho-Chi-Minh-City, and a few more come to mind. Most of these name changes occurred during feudal, communist or other dictatorial times though. In this sense, changing Astana’s name to Nursultan, a motion apparently supported by 70% of all parliamentarians, would be a premier in the 21st century.