January 8, 2010
“Salish Sea” is Name of the Year “Salish Sea” was chosen Name of the Year by the American Name Society at its annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland on January 9, 2010. Salish Sea was also the Place Name of the Year. This name, created by marine biologist Bart Webber in 1988, was officially adopted as […]
October 29, 2007
There is yet another article on baby naming called “What’s in a Name?“, by Sam Kean, at the NY Times this week (get the PDF here) – honestly, every other naming article has this title, so editors, THINK OF A NEW ONE, PLEASE. It cites work done by two members of the American Name Society […]
October 26, 2005
Posted to the American Name Society list by HJ Wilk: The definitive word on the geography of cylconic storms: In the Atlantic, both South (rare, but not unknown) and North, they are known as hurricanes. In the Eastern Pacific, they are also known as hurricanes. In the Northern, Western Pacific, they are typhoons. In the […]
January 24, 2005
“My drag queen name, for the record,” said Professor Ronald C. Butters of Duke University, speaking between academic paper presentations in a beige room on the second floor of the Oakland Marriott, “is Coco Butters.” Name Games: The semantics of sexuality, by Reyhan Hamanci, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 2005 A great article about the […]
January 18, 2005
I love the American Name Society list. Here’s the current discussion. I learned a new word! ** Anemonym The following definition is taken from, “An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies” by Adrian Room, Scarecrow Press, 1996: “Anemonym [Gk. anemos, “wind” + -onym]. The name of a hurricane or other violent wind. Ex. […]
January 11, 2005
‘WHAT DO CANADIAN transvestite Carlos Bomp Bomp, Nabokov alias Vivian Darkbloom, and the Elizabethan put-down Lord Lackbeard have in common? Perhaps not much. But each of these invented names has been scrutinized in recent years by onamasticians. Onomastics — the study of proper nouns — may not be quickening any pulses with its steady stream […]
December 20, 2004
Did you know? “Jon Stewart — The name of this extremely popular comedian illuminates some of the contradictions of American culture in 2004. A comic who makes frequent reference to his Jewish ancestry in his humor, Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz in 1962. He legally changed his name to Jon Stewart, his stage […]
October 13, 2004
As I so modestly pointed out in the newsletter, I am presenting a paper at the meeting of the American Names Society in January (held in conjunction with the formidable Linguistic Society of America). The schedule of events is up and you can see it here. The first day’s events (Jan 6) include the following: […]