The Official Spelling of Hong Kong Was Adopted in 1926

Have you ever wondered why the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is abbreviated HSBC instead of HKSBC? After all, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is abbreviated HKMA; the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is abbreviated HKCEC; and Hong Kong International Airport is abbreviated HKIA, among many others.

When the British took possession of Hong Kong Island on January 26, 1841, neither the spelling nor the pronunciation of Hong Kong was standardized. In the 18th century, Western visitors often spelled Hong Kong as He-Ong-Kong.

It was only in the early 19th century that the spellings Hongkong (as one word), Hong-Kong (with a hyphen), and the current form, Hong Kong (as two words), were introduced. Many companies throughout the 19th century used the former spellings.

Hongkong and Shanghai Corporation, Hongkong Land Company, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, and Hongkong Electric Company are among the companies that opted for the one-word version of Hong Kong; meanwhile, the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, and the Hong Kong Club chose the two-word version.

On September 3, 1926, however, the government of Hong Kong officially adopted the two-word spelling of Hong Kong that we know today. Incidentally, the current spelling of Kowloon was also adopted on that same day.