The paper discusses the scientific, theoretical and practical problems of linguistic and cultural description of Chuvash toponyms. The purpose of the study is to determine the basic principles of lexicographic fixation of Chuvash geographical names with pronounced national and cultural semantics. For the first time, a comprehensive study of the linguistic and cultural potential of regional toponyms has been undertaken, and thematic groups of geographical names have been identified. The article highlights the need for a multidimensional analysis of toponymic systems. The dictionary entries Shupashkar “Cheboksary” and Atə̂l “Volga” are presented as an example. The associative experiment is considered as one of the ways to obtain relevant national and cultural information. The main research methods are the methods of structural and word-formation, linguistic and linguocultural analysis. The author comes to the conclusion that the dictionary entry in the future linguistic dictionary should have the following structure: “Headline word”, sections “Encyclopedic reference”, “In culture”, “In language and speech”. The main criteria for selecting geographical names for the dictionary should be their current representation in the public consciousness and regional value, which are manifested at the linguistic level by the presence of well-known reproducible phrases, the use of a toponym to name objects of other onomastic classes, the use of permanent epithets, the possibility of metaphorical correlation with another well-known place name, the existence of peripheral names, intersection with the biography of famous figures national history and culture.