May 28, 2014
As naming consultants, when we’re naming products or companies we generally recommend a name that’s easy and intuitive for target audiences to say and spell. But when naming babies? Well, ease of pronunciation can often take a second seat to other important factors, like cultural pride and family lineage. Yet there’s a price to pay […]
August 12, 2013
Several people have asked me, “Hey, have you read that novel with Eunice Park as one of the main characters?” And yes, while it’s strange to see my name in a post-apocalyptic satire, my name is kind of common – if you happen to be a Korean-American female. A quick Facebook search turns up at least […]
July 7, 2010
What do retrosexuals, flotels, and bonus parents have in common? Answer: they’re all in Merriam-Webster’s latest list of Top 10 new words submitted by users. For those who haven’t heard the term before, a bonus parent is a stepparent. (Sounds so much nicer than stepparent, don’t you think? “Step” anything has a not-quite-the-real-deal feeling to it.) […]
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 […]
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 […]
October 13, 2004
“…At its heart, the Law on Personal Names is designed to protect Denmark’s innocents – the children who are undeservedly, some would say cruelly, burdened by preposterous or silly names. It is the state’s view that children should not suffer ridicule and abuse because of their parents’ lapses in judgment or their misguided attempts to […]
March 17, 2004
“Yorkshire Couple Named Baby Diot Coke – in 1379 Naming your child after a popular soft drink could be seen as a little bit faddish but the parents of young Diot Coke might be forgiven – they gave their baby daughter the name way back in 1379. Researchers at the National Archives believe that the […]