Cheeses are generally named for the places they're from. Once upon a time, the bacteria that turns milk into cheese came from the surrounding environment, so cheeses from different places would taste different.

Cheddar is a town in Somerset, Parmesan is from Parma, Italy, Gouda is a Dutch city, Swiss cheese... well, you can see the pattern. ;)

Not sure quite what you mean about these names being 'standardized". Do you mean, when the bacteria that makes these cheeses could first be transferred deliberately, so that the flavours of cheese in Cheddar could be replicated elsewhere?