A mayor has succeeded in getting the name of his small village changed after it became a bureaucratic nightmare.
Alain Legal has been the Mayor of Faux, a village home to a few hundred people located in southwestern France, for the past 17 years.
For years, the name of the village created confusion due to the presence of other French villages and towns with Faux in their name.
But the real headache for the mayor began following the digitalisation of much of his work and the public administration.
As Faux means “fake” or “false” in English, typing the name of the village in the Dordogne area into computer spreadsheets often results in issues, including “false” results or a zero.
While the curious name of the village could be considered charming and it helped attract tourists, the Mayor’s frustration boiled over more than a year ago, when he petitioned for a name change.
Mr Legal has recently seen his request granted – which means that he will soon no longer be the Mayor of Faux.
From January 2025, the village will be known as Faux-en-Périgord – adding to the several other settlements in France with Faux in their name.
Périgord is the name of the natural region roughly corresponding to the Dordogne department – and in which Faux is located.
Mr Legal said the decision on the name was unanimous among the village’s residents.
He told The Telegraph: “We felt it was appropriate to define the geographical location of the town. Also, the image of Périgord is a good one.”
Faux is far from being the first settlement to make a change due to issues created by its name.
In 2020, it was announced an Austrian village with the unfortunate name of Fu***ng would change the name to Fugging to try and stop people from stealing the road signs with the village name.
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