[throwaway201103]

I've worked at a place where variables (and in particular, database table and column names), had to be approved by the naming committee.

[sverhagen]

Hey! We've worked in the same place then!

Joking aside. I agree that it doesn't seem like the kind of thing you want to convene a committee for. But it happens where the database is the contract shared by a bunch of applications, in which case it's important to get it right, maybe important enough to spend a meeting on. It's not my architectural style of choice... but it happens.