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Temporal Drift of Fictional Place Name Ambiguity in Public Domain Books
This statistic examines the way authors in books available in the public domain invent places and how the names of these fictional locations change in their complexity. We analyse whether names tend to be single, straightforward words, or more elaborate, multi-word, or compound titles. By looking at a large collection of these public domain books, we calculate an 'ambiguity score' for fictional place names. This helps us understand how authors' approaches to world-building and naming have evolved throughout literary history. The data reveals trends in how fiction writers construct their imaginary worlds, offering a unique quantitative perspective on literary techniques.