This review examines the origins and development of the compositional nomenclature and additive nomenclature that have been at the heart of formal descriptions of inorganic compounds since the times of Lavoisier and Werner, respectively. The rising importance of structural diagrams is noted, explained and correlated with a decreasing use of formal nomenclature. The future of structure representation is discussed, particularly in relation to cheminformatics and big data. International variations in nomenclature are discussed with reference to the recently published Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry and its translations, and implications of increasing internationalisation of chemistry for the integrity of regional languages are discussed.