Not sure what point is being made here. Countries (and cities) have initiated all kinds of formal name changes over the years -- some of them have managed stic

Not sure what point is being made here. Countries (and cities) have initiated all kinds of formal name changes over the years -- some of them have managed stick (Beijing, Kyiv, Burkina Fasso, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, North Macedonia, Eswatini, the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Ukraine dropping the definite article), others not so well (Czechia). But there's nothing intrinsically weird about the concept as such.