on·o·mas·tics (ŏn′ə-măs′ tĭks) singular noun [French onomastique, from Greek onomastikos, to name, from onoma, name]: the study of the origin, history, and use of proper names.
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Conference Information

The ANS 2021 Annual Conference will be held ONLINE, January 22-25, 2021, and not in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America. [read more]

About the ANS

The American Name Society was founded in 1951 to promote onomastics, the study of names and naming practices, both in the United States and abroad. It is a non-profit organization that seeks to find out what really is in a name, and to investigate cultural insights, settlement history, and linguistic characteristics revealed in names. [read more]

Become a Member

Focusing on the understanding of names in all forms, the Society provides members with several vehicles for the discussion and publication of onomastic theory, views and concepts: our annual meeting in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America, regional meetings, and a subscription to NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics. [read more]

Recent News

NAMES Vol 69 Issue #1 is published!

We are delighted to announce that the new issue of NAMES is now published! NAMES 69:1 is available online at… read more

Call for Papers for the Modern Language Association (MLA) Conference, Washington, DC, January 6-9, 2022

ANS Panel at the Modern Language Association Conference: Literary Onomastics: Theory and Practice January 6-9 2022, Washington, DC Literary onomastics… read more

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