From Livorno to Leghorn and back again

Question

Can anyone tell me why the Tuscan city of Livorno used to be called Leghorn in English?

An increasing number of British writers, artists, philosophers, and
travelers visited the area and developed the unique historical ties
between the two communities. The British referred to the city as
Leghorn.
Wikipedia

I believe nowadays English brochures, foreign travellers etc. call the city by its traditional Italian name. So did the name Leghorn simply fell in popularity or disuse as suggested by Google Ngram? Did the Livornese hold a petition or protested?! (I've been living in Italy for over thirty years, and I don't recall ever hearing them complain.)

What term is commonly used when an anglicized city's name reverts back to the original?

user98955 · Accepted Answer

On the origin (also this):

Leghorn breed of fowl, 1869, from Leghorn, city in Italy (modern Livorno, 16c.-17c. Legorno), from Latin Liburnus, from
  the native people name Liburni, which is of unknown signification.
  
  [ Online Etymology Dictionary ]

Ferdinando I de' Medici wrote "Liuorno" in 1593 (Document Inviting Jewish Merchants to Settle in Livorno and Pisa). In any case here is a discussion  about the Livorno/Legorno difference (see also note therein):

In the fine Portolano of Carachi already mentioned, Legorno,
  Florentia and Neapolis appear for Livorno, Firenze and Napoli of the present day; and assuredly the classic enunciation of the last two cities assimilates more with the English names - also our
  adjective, Neapolitan - than with the modern Italian. Leghorn he has
  even written in Greek characters Λεγορνο [...]; and others of the same
  epoch(circa 1550) term it Legorne, Ligorna and Ligorno which last was
  adopted by Crescentio, in 1607.*
  
  [ The Mediterranean: A Memoir Physical, Historical, and Nautical,
  Rear-Admiral William Henry Smyth, 1854(John W. Parker and Son), p. 409 ]

Aside from the "similar" spelling, Leghorn (even more so when /ˈlɛɡɔrn/) resembles Legorno (somewhat), at least more so than it does Livorno.

Maybe Leghorn was an exonym based on the classic enunciation and geographical renaming occurred.

Doug · Answer

The genoese version is Ligorna... so maybe this is where it comes from.

From Livorno to Leghorn and back again

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