About the book: 1962 / The study of geographical names, their origin, i.e. toponymy, is the field of activity of a linguist, historian, geographer. Each of them examines geographical names from their own perspective, therefore, naturally, the author, as a geographer, approached the study of toponymy from the geographical side. Bringing to the attention of readers his study of the geographical names of the Gorky region, he is aware that in work concerning toponymy, not everything is indisputable and errors and omissions are possible. But if, with all this, the book interests the reader, helps him to better know his land - our region, and perhaps arouses a desire to study geographical names, then its task can be considered completed. The book consists of two parts - a general description of geographical names and toponymic dictionary. In the first part, the author sought to identify patterns in the distribution of certain geographical names and show how they reflect the features of the natural conditions of the Gorky region, the history of its settlement, and the economic activities of people. In the second part, explanations of the origin of individual geographical names are given in alphabetical order (it should be noted that the dictionary is far from complete: it mainly includes those names that have a geographical meaning, moreover, for many names no explanation has yet been found and further research is required).