In addition to introducing regulations concerning the proper shape and size of food and beverages, the EU has also set a rigid system in place to protect food names against unauthorized imitation.

Within the United Kingdom, 63 different food names have been placed on the list of protected digestibles. A review of this list reveals that many of the food names are related to a particular geographical region. For example, there is Kentish ale which is different from a Rutland bitter. Among the protected cheeses, there are the Bonchester, Dovedale, and Swalesdale cheeses which are not to be confused with the Yorkshire Wensleydale, Staffordshire, or Teviotdale cheeses.

This means that when UK consumers buy a package with the label Herefordshire cider, they know that it did not come from Gloucestershire. The point behind all this onomastic protectionism is not only to provide transparency for the consumer, but also to offer regional producers with a certain degree of legal recompense should producers from another area attempt to cash in on their good name.

While all that seems straight-forward, the issue of food name protection is really quite messy. Say, for example, that the food being produced is harvested from a migratory animal…like a fish. Should an Alaskan King Crab really be called an Alaskan King Crab if it was caught off the coast of Russia or Norway? And what about foods which are grown in one place but processed in another? And while we are at it, what about foods which contain biotech ingredients? Should they be allowed to have the same name as so-called “natural” foods that do not contain such ingredients?

In partial answer to this last question, in a 275 to 175 vote, the US House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill (H.R. 1599) which blocks US states from mandating labels that clearly differentiate the genetically-modified from the non-genetically-modified.

Over a year ago, in a gutsy advertising move, the Coca Cola company launched a new campaign which invited coke fans to emblazon their personal names across a bottle, right above the white wave where the product name usually appeared.

The personalized product campaign seems to have fed right into that primordial drive which so many people seem to have to see their name written in print. The advertising was so popular that the company has had trouble keeping up with the production demands.

Aside from names like Aaron, Bobby, Diego, and Sheena, the company has also received countless requests to include fanciful nicknames like Legend, Wingman, and Star. In fact, the drive to have a personalized coke and a smile has become so big that many people are protesting that their names have not yet been plastered on one of the trademark hour-glass bottles. However, Coke Company executives insist that there is no malicious or hateful intent behind why some names have already been featured and others have not. According to a special CNN report, this year, the company has expanded its naming campaign to include even more specialty nicknames such “bro” and “better half”.

In addition, to make sure that the company effectively responds to the different onomastic desires and sensitivities of its customers, the firm has created specially tailored “Share a Coke” road tours which allow customers to obtain personalized coca-cola products that reflect their unique naming traditions. For example, in the Share a Coke Singapore tour, fans can receive cans emblazoned with the names Hui Ling, Di Di, Jie, Hie, Kor Kor, and Shuai ge. In Germany, coke drinkers can select between the names Antje, Heinz, Günter, Helga, Dietlinde, Margrethe, Torsten.

According to financial experts, the savvy onomastic strategy not only garnered new fans, it also raked in the bucks. In a report released by Entrepreneur, immediately, after the introduction of the “Share a Coke” campaign, corporate sales reportedly rose 2.5 percent, giving company officials quite a lot to smile about.

Find out if your name is on coke bottle.

Viewers of the U.S. reality show, Miami Ink, will well remember the colorful tattoo artist, Kat von D. Since airing of the show, Ms. Von D. has expanded her professional repertoire. Her venture into the cosmetic industry has ignited a firestorm through the seemingly innocuous subject of lipstick naming.

The Sephora brand lipsticks inspired by Kat von D have received product names that many consumers consider grossly offensive. According to a 2015 article in the UK magazine Business Insider, one of the offending product names is “Underage Red.” A look at the Sephora lip color line-up quickly reveals other potentially injurious onomastic product choices. For example, the matte lipstick in the color of “dusty rose,” has been named Lolita and is described on the website as being “a cult favorite.”

In the social media, the response to the company’s line-up has been less than favorable among some shoppers. As one twitter-user posted with disgust: “[…]Do they have a whole sex offender line?”.

Although it is not known at this time whether Sephora plans to change its product-naming policy, Kat von D’s initial response was…well …catty. According to the Business Insider, her first reaction to the criticism, she tweeted back: “At the end of the day, it’s just a [EXPLETIVE] lipstick!” Since then, the tattoo artist has become more diplomatic in her response, but still refuses to apologize for the name-choice, arguing that her intentions have been entirely misunderstood.

For more information see this Business Insider article and this US Weekly article.

In India, names are a marker of caste. To avoid such judgements, one man names his children entirely outside of the normal schema. Click here to read the story.

In an effort to unshackle itself from its history of human rights abuses, many states in the American South have begun to remove symbols that are commonly associated with slavery, segregation, and hatred. The most recent example was the momentous decision of the South Carolinian government to remove the Confederate flag from outside of the State House.

Hold-overs of the peculiar system are not only to be found south of the Mason-Dixon line. Behind the ivy-covered, brick walls of Yale University, debate has ignited over the university’s refusal to change the name a residential college named after John C. Calhoun, a 19th century valedictorian who was also an ardent defender of human slavery and a flaming white supremacist.

Yale’s naming controversy does not end there. To date more than 1000 signatures have been gathered on an online petition to rename Calhoun College. While supporters of the petition argue that removing the name is essential to creating a welcoming and respective campus environment, some critics warn that the removal of such symbols may inadvertently cover-up an ugly but important part of the university’s and the nation’s history.

For more information about the controversy, click here.

Iceland is not only world famous for its awe-inspiring volcanoes, majestic geysers, and haunting northern lights. Among linguists, it is also well-known for its energetic language preservation policies.

Like the legendary Académie française, which was designed to protect the French language against unwanted foreign influences, the Icelandic Language Council, or the Íslensk Málnefnd (IM), is dedicated to preserving the integrity and ensuring the longevity of the Icelandic spoken, written, and signed language. On the one hand, the work of this IM is credited with making sure that Icelandic remains the first language of the island nation’s ca. 300,000 inhabitants and is not de-throwned by powerful foreign languages like English. On the other hand, some observers worry that the country’s restrictive language policies may impede upon its citizens’ rights to express themselves.

In recent years, for example, the prohibitive language policies concerning the names which parents can select for their newborns has fallen under repeated attack. In a recent case, the Icelandic authorities refused to renew the passport of a 10 year girl named Harriet on the grounds that the English name was not on the official list of the Icelandic Naming Committee. The Committee’s hard line has not only been felt by parents who have tried to give their offspring foreign names. There are also numerous cases in which the Committee has prohibited Icelandic names that they considered contrary to Icelandic onomastic traditions (e.g. Blær ‘gentle, light breeze’).

According to politicians like Óttarr Proppé, MP for the liberal party aptly named Bright Future or Björt framtíð, enough is enough. In an article featured in the Iceland Monitor, Proppé and his supporters have introduced a formal bill calling for the abolition of Iceland’s Naming Committee. If the proposal wins, it will be interesting to see what affect the decision might have for other nations with similarly restrictive naming policies (e.g. Denmark, Germany, and France).

You can read the list of approved boys’ names and girls’ names.

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline carrier, just announced the arrival of a new, sleek, futuristic set of planes inspired by the legendary film series Star Wars. The first of the themed vessels, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamer was inspired by and named after the quirky blue-white-and-gray mini droid, R2-D2. The first of three planes to be produced in the ANA’s upcoming Star Wars series, the R2-D2 is scheduled to fly between Tokyo and Vancouver before expanding its flight route to include major cities in Australia, China, Europe, Indonesia, and the United States.

For more information see the following article from CNN, Tech Times, and Telegraph.

The Zimbabwe political landscape has always been characterized by political parties that frequently go on to spawn new parties.

In cases of party break-ups, the names of the political parties have also undergone commensurate changes. For example, borrowing from the original name of the political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), several splinter groups affixed the abbreviation with the first letter of a place name. There was the MDC-T for a group centered in Tsvangirai and MDC-M for Mutambara.

A similar process now seems to have taken place with the name of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF). After the former vice president of the party and country, Dr. Joyce Mujuru, and her sympathizers were fired from ZANU in 2015, they formed a rival ZANU PF. However, according to the organizers, the final two letters do not stand for the phrase ‘Patriotic Front’ but ‘People First’.

This onomastic spin seems to be catching on. For example, Zeb Shumba, a former Tsvangirai advisor, is currently organizing a new break-away party from the Tsvangirai party, the MDC-T. Inspired by the new PF name, Shumba plans to name new party ZimFirst.

One of the hardest tasks facing a fictional writer is finding appropriate names for characters. Before the advent of the personal computer and the internet, authors often resorted to running their fingers down tattered telephone books. Today, many modern authors on the lookout for the perfect characteronym hold online naming contests in which they invite the international net community to name their figures.

When these and other methods fail, some authors simply decide to leave their literary brainchildren completely nameless. Although this strategy may at first seem odd, there are in fact many excellent examples of works in which the main character remains stubbornly and utterly nameless. As classics like Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Philip Roth’s “Everyman” demonstrate, in the hands of a skillful writer, a figure’s namelessness may either encourage readers to identify with the main character’s experiences or create a sense of emotional distance.

This versatility may help to explain why nameless narration appears to be trending in the 2015 book market. As Sam Sacks, of The New Yorker, quips, this year we have seen a veritable “epidemic of namelessness”.