An article on NPR details Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland’s efforts to ban the word “squaw” from use on Federal lands. Secretary Haaland identified the term as derogatory, often used “as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women,” and announced that some 650 place names would need to change. Recent years have seen many private organizations and companies remove the word from their branding, including the famous Lake Tahoe ski resort formerly known by that name.
Name News
The “Staples Center” will be renamed “Crypto.com Arena”
The Staples Center in Los Angeles, home to the Los Angeles Lakers Basketball team, will be renamed the Crypto.com Arena. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Crypto.com reached a 20-year deal with the owners of the arena for the naming rights of the landmark stadium in Los Angeles. The website “Crypto.com” manages and trades cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby Team Sues Cleveland Guardians MLB Team
In order to prevent the renaming of the “Cleveland Guardians” Major League Baseball team, the Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby team has taken to the courts. The roller derby team—established in 2013—rejected an earlier offer from the MLB team that would allow the former “Cleveland Indians” to use the name “Guardians”.
Read more about the name change, lawsuit, and the lengths that the baseball team went to register their trademark in the Chicago Tribune.
A Fight Over the Name “Prosecco”
A glass of Prosecco (Photo by HarshLight, CC-BY-2.0)
Winemakers in Italy and Croatia are ready to go to court over the name “Prosecco.” According to a recent story on NPR, the Croatian name “Prosek” is applied to a sweet dessert wine of the Balkan country. Makers of Prosekar claim it is over 300 years older than the Italian Prosecco, but Italian winemakers are very protective of the name “Prosecco” and worry about possible confusion that could arise between the Italian and Croatian beverages.
About Names: “Joan and Joni’s popularity almost the ‘same situation'”
A statue of Joan d’Arc near the Plaines d’Abraham of Quebec City (Photo by Jeangagnon, CC-BY-4.0)
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his November 7th column, he looks at the history of the name Joan.
Both opera and pop fans could celebrate today.
Famed coloratura soprano Joan Sutherland (1926-2010) was born Nov. 7 in Sydney, Australia. Nine-time Grammy winner Joni Mitchell was born as Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada, on Nov. 7, 1943.
Joan was the original English feminine form of John, brought to England by the Normans in 1066. By 1380, Joan ranked third for English girls.
When parish birth records began in the 1540s, Joan was No. 1. However, it was already going out of fashion with the upper classes, who preferred Jane. In the 1610s, Jane was No. 5 and Joan No. 6.
By the 19th century, Joan was rare. The 1850 United States census found 269,741 Janes and only 1,075 Joans out of 23 million residents. The 1851 British census found 626,280 Janes and 3,397 Joans out of almost 21 million.
In the 1890s, Joan began rising again, partly as an alternative to the already fashionable Jean, but also because of a huge upswing of interest in Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the French visionary who led armies against the English before being convicted of heresy and burned at the stake. Though the Catholic church overturned Joan’s heresy conviction in 1456, she was only beatified in 1909 and canonized a saint in 1920.
When Social Security’s yearly baby name lists start in 1880, Joan ranked 508th. In 1909, Joan was 303rd. In 1917, after Cecil B. DeMille’s film “Joan the Woman” starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc was released, it was 182nd.
Want to learn more? Read on to find out more the history of the name Joan!
“The naming of dogs” in language: a feminist guide
Illustration by Steffispirit (CC-BY-4.0)
A recent blog post by Linguist Deborah Cameron explores the naming of dogs and humankind’s tendency to project gender-stereotypes onto non-human beings. She writes:
“Do the kinds of gendered dog-names we favour suggest that we imagine male and female dogs differently? The answer seems to be ‘yes and no’. Both lists are dominated by the same type of name, one that could also be given to a male or female child, and that suggests that the gendered connotations of human names are also projected onto dogs. For instance, flower-names like Lily and Daisy are popular choices for girls, but more or less unthinkable for boys, because the qualities they connote (e.g. beauty, delicacy and freshness) are considered feminine/unmasculine. The same rule is applied when naming dogs, though among dogs the sexes are less different in appearance, and neither sex is famous for delicacy and freshness.”
About Names: “Spencer has proven it’s a name for all ages”
Spencer Tracy (Public Domain)
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his October 25th column, he looks at the history of the name Spencer.
Will Spencer’s team win the state championship? Fans find out Monday.
“All American,” a television drama about high school football players in Los Angeles, starts its fourth season then. Starring Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, it’s based on the life of NFL linebacker Spencer Paysinger (born 1988). Last season’s cliffhanger ended with Spencer’s team running onto the field to face Beverly Hills High.
Spencer is an English surname meaning “dispenser,” the official on a noble estate who disbursed provisions. All estates had a spencer, so it’s a common surname. Almost 140,000 Americans bore the last name Spencer in 2010, ranking it 199th.
Noble English Spencers trace their ancestry to Sir John Spencer, a wealthy livestock trader who purchased the Althorp estate in 1508.
King Henry VIII knighted him in 1519. One of his descendants married a daughter of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. The surname changed to Spencer-Churchill, and the family spawned British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965).
Want to learn more? Read on to find out more the history of the name Spencer!
Army Base Name Changes and their Impact on Local Communities
The entrance to Fort Bragg in North Carolina (US Army, Public Domain)
A recent piece in the New York Times showcases interviews with populations in and around ten different Army bases. What is at the heart of these interviews? Congress’ decision to rename these Army bases as their current names honor Confederate leaders. The reaction is generally mixed, as the reputation of the bases have transcended their association with former Confederate leaders. One interviewee responded, “There are some people who don’t want the name to change. It’s not that they want to embrace Confederate symbolism, it’s because they identify the installation as a place not a person.”
“PennWest” announces New Campus Name, Uniting Three Locations
State universities in western Pennsylvania, including California, Clarion, and Edinboro campuses, have been integrated into one, new university system under a new name: Pennsylvania West University or “PennWest” for short. Read more about the name change in the Post Gazette.
Also, you can watch the announcement here:
Linguistic Society of America Member Spotlight: Laurel Sutton
ANS President Laurel Sutton (Photo from the Linguistic Society of America)
The October 2021 Member Spotlight of the Linguistic Society of America features our own ANS President Laurel Sutton! Following a short introduction to President Sutton’s involvement in the Linguistic Society of America, the LSA asks her about her interests and accomplishments in an interview. Read that interview on the LSA’s website here.