Name News

When Manufacturing Cannot Keep Up with Demand for Brand Insignia

A Ford logo on a sign at the Den Hartog Ford Museum (Public Domain)

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal details the latest woes at Ford Motor Company: the manufacturer of the iconic blue Ford insignia has slowed production of the logo. The supplier, Tribar Technologies, slowed manufacturing in recent months due to an environmental regulatory order:

“A Michigan-based supplier that has made badges for Ford in the past had to limit operations in August, after disclosing to Michigan regulators it had discharged industrial chemicals into a local sewer system, according to city and state officials.”

The badge shortage is just one of many supply shortages that plagued manufacturers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more over at The Wall Street Journal and Jalopnik.

About Names: “Cleveland Evans: Once a rare name, Heather’s popularity peaked in the ’70s and ’80s”

Heather Gell (1896-1988) was an Australian kindergarten teacher and a radio broadcaster, television presenter and theatre producer (Photo of Heather in 1941, Public Domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his September 25th column, he looks at the name Heather.

Happy Birthday to Sammy Jo and Amanda!

Heather Locklear, the actress who played golddigger Sammy on the original “Dynasty” (1981-1989) and manipulative Amanda Woodward on “Melrose Place” (1993-1999), turns 61 today.

In addition, the movie version of musical “Heathers,” based on the 1988 cult teen comedy film featuring three “queen bee” high schoolers all named Heather, premiered on Roku Sept. 16.

Heather is a low-growing evergreen shrub found throughout Europe. It’s especially common in northern England and Scotland, where its purple flowers cover the moors every summer. The plant’s name was originally “hathir.” This probably had a Celtic source, but its spelling was altered through confusion with “heath,” from Old English for “flat shrubby wasteland.”

Many cultures have named girls after flowers. Rose and Violet were used in medieval England, though Rose also came from a Norman name meaning “famous sort.” When the Victorians revived Rose and Violet along with other medieval names, creative parents were inspired to use other plant names. Girls called Lily, Pansy, Hazel, Fern, Daisy and Laurel soon sprang up.

The first British girls named Heather appeared by 1880. Though the flower was common in Scotland, the name was more common in England, probably because Scots didn’t have the same romantic image of heather English and Americans did.

Initially, Heather was one of the rarest flower names. The first Heather in the United States census, Heather Bremer of Dayton, Ohio, was a boy born in 1871. His parents were probably inspired by the rare surname Heather. In later records he’s “Robert Heather Bremer.”

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name Heather!

Unique and Hard-to-Pronounce Names on the Job Market

Recently we shared a story about the rise of unique baby names in America over the course of the last few decades. A new study reveals that those same unique and hard-to-pronounce names might have an impact on job callbacks. The Wall Street Journal reports on the study of 1,500 economics PhD’s looking for academic, government, and private sector jobs, and concludes:

“Overall, people with complex names had a 10% lower chance of getting an academic job—generally the most desirable for economics Ph.D. candidates—over the next year. But there was a big split within those results. For candidates from top-ranked doctoral programs, having a complex name only decreased their chance of placing in an academic job by 5%, but for those coming from lower-ranked Ph.D. programs, a complex name decreased their chance by 12%. In other words, the penalty is small for those coming from top programs, but it is large for those coming from lesser ranked programs, Dr. Wu says.”

Read more in The Wall Street Journal.

 

On Wine Branding and Labeling

A collection of wine bottles (Public Domain)

A recently published guide in the Wall Street Journal helps readers interpret and decipher a wine label. A veritable Rosetta Stone for label readers, grape enthusiasts, and vineyard dilettantes alike, this short guide helps any imbiber get the most out of a wine label.

One fascinating fact: “For a wine to be labeled “estate-bottled,” 100% of the wine must come from grapes grown on land owned or controlled by the winery, and both the winery and the vineyard must be located within the labeled viticultural area.”

Read more over at the Wall Street Journal.

A Royal Rebranding: “Her Majesty’s” becomes “His Majesty’s” with the Rise of King Charles III

A 2021 photo of the now King Charles III (Public Domain)

Following King Charles III ascension to the throne, a major rebranding effort is underway. Where the phrase “Her Majesty’s” was found on everything including “British coins, flags, post boxes, chocolate wrappers, gin labels and attorney business cards,” now the phrase “His Majesty’s” will appear. For more on this rebranding effort, see this article in the Wall Street Journal.

About Names: “Cleveland Evans: Agatha’s popularity is a mystery”

Agatha Christie in 1910 (Public Domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his September 11th column, he looks at the name Agatha.

Forty-six years after her death, Agatha still inspires books.

British author Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her 72 novels and 14 short-story collections have sold over two billion copies. “Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman,” a biography by historian Lucy Worsley, was released Sept. 8. Next week “Marple: Twelve New Mysteries,” where contemporary writers including Leigh Bardugo, Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware present stories about Christie’s sleuth Miss Marple, goes on sale.

Agatha’s the Latin form of Greek Agathe, from “agathos” (“good”). The original St. Agatha was a Christian martyred in Catania, Sicily, in the third century. A later legend claimed virgin Agatha was imprisoned in a brothel after refusing a Roman official’s advances. There her breasts were cut off, making her patron saint of breast cancer patients.The first Agatha in England was wife of Edward the Exile (1016-1057). When Danish conqueror Cnut defeated King Edmund Ironside in 1016, Edmund’s infant son Edward was banished, first to Sweden and later to Ukraine. He helped another exile, Andrew of Hungary, regain his throne in 1046.

Edward married Agatha in Hungary. Her origin’s unclear. She might have been a German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Polish or Bulgarian princess. When Edward was recalled in 1056 by King Edward the Confessor, Agatha brought her name to England.

Agatha’s husband died in 1057, leading to 1066’s Norman conquest. Agatha’s granddaughter Matilda married King Henry I in 1100, joining Norman and Anglo-Saxon royal lines.

Though her medieval namesakes were “Agatha” in official records, in everyday English they were called Agace. Agace disappeared in the 1500s. When the Victorian love of medieval names revived Agatha, the Latin form came into use.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name Agatha!

The Word “Squaw” has been removed from Federal Geographic Names

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Public Domain)

Last Thursday the U.S. Board on Geographic Names released a list of replacement names for 650 features across the United States, removing the word “sq – – -” from Federal use. An article in the Reno Gazette Journal discusses the 34 changes in Nevada alone. The press release includes a map marking the locations of the changed names and quotes from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who said,

“I feel a deep obligation to use my platform to ensure that our public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming. That starts with removing racist and derogatory names that have graced federal locations for far too long… I am grateful to the members of the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force and the Board on Geographic Names for their efforts to prioritize this important work. Together, we are showing why representation matters and charting a path for an inclusive America.”

Read more in the Reno Gazette Journal.

About Names: “Cleveland Evans: As a name, Sylvester has had a ‘Rocky’ run”

Pope Sylvester I, who lived from 285 – 335 CE (Public Domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August 28th column, he looks at the name Sylvester.

Sylvester’s once again a hero on movie screens.

Sylvester Stallone, who turned 76 in July, became famous writing and starring in 1976’s hit “Rocky”, about a heroic heavyweight boxer. Today, he’s the title character in “Samaritan,” released Aug. 26. There, young Sam (Javon Walton) discovers superhero Samaritan, who disappeared 25 years ago, is secretly living as “Joe Smith.”

Sylvester’s a Latin name meaning “of the forest.” St. Sylvester I (285-335) was Pope from 314 through 335. During his reign, Constantine became Rome’s first Christian emperor.

Not much is known about St. Sylvester. However, about two centuries after his death, the legend developed that Sylvester cured Constantine of leprosy. The grateful emperor then was baptized and gave the Pope temporal power over Rome and the Western empire.

Modern historians know Constantine was baptized on his deathbed in 337, two years after Sylvester died. The legend was used to promote Papal authority.

In 999, French bishop Gerbert, a mathematician who popularized the abacus, became Pope Sylvester II. His fame, along with St. Sylvester legend’s, spread the name throughout Europe. Though never common in medieval England, it was used enough to spawn surnames Silvester, Sylvester and Siveter.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name Sylvester!

On the Relatively Recent Origins of Confederate Names in the United States and the Commission that will Remove Them

 

A change of responsibility ceremony held at Fort Polk, one of the military complexes that will soon have a new name (Public Domain)

A recent opinion piece in The New York Times explores the relatively recent origins of Confederate names, symbols, and monuments in the United States and the work of the commission established to rename them. Of especial interest to those studying names are the stories behind the new names of military bases and complexes in the US. One, for example, is the new possible namesake of Fort Polk:

“The World War I hero William Henry Johnson, who served in the era of Wilson, received the Medal of Honor he richly deserved nearly a century after his service. By proposing that Fort Polk in Louisiana take Johnson’s name, the commission highlights the extremes to which the Jim Crow-era United States sometimes went to deny even the possibility of African American heroism.”

Read more about William Henry Johnson and other new namesakes over at The New York Times.