Recently the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge formally announced that they are expecting their third child. No sooner had that announcement been made did UK bookmakers begin to take bets on what the next baby royal will be named. Alice is currently the firm favourite at 7/1, while other names mentioned include Arthur (10/1), Victoria (10/1), Alexandra (12/1), Albert (14/1) and Philip (14/1).Want to know how your favorite or last favorite baby name is fairing amongst the odd-makers? Read this article at the UK Telegraph to learn more.

Name taboos exist or have existed in many cultures. In Afghanistan it is still the rule to not use the personal names of women in public. Rather they are designated by different kinship terms meaning “my wife”, “aunt”, etc.

Originally, name taboos were a protection against the misuse of names, which were believed to have magical powers and in many societies today, addressing someone by his personal name is still considered impolite.

However, in this modern age, Afghan women experience this taboo as a denial of their identities, reducing them to be nameless wives and mothers. As they strive to play an equal part in society, claiming the right to use their names as they see fit, is one step towards that goal.

A social media campaign to change this custom has been percolating in recent weeks, initiated by young women. The campaign comes with a hashtag in local languages that addresses the core of the issue and translates as #WhereIsMyName.

The activists’ aim is both to challenge women to reclaim their most basic identity, and to break the deep-rooted taboo that prevents men from mentioning their female relatives’ names in public.

For many US Americans, the names Harvey and Irma will be indelibly linked with two of the largest storms that the nation has ever seen. For Mr. and Mrs. Schluter, a devoted couple who have been married for an astounding 75 years, this association is rather disturbing. Why? Mr. and Mrs. Schluter’s first names just happen to be Harvey and Irma. According to People Magazine, this name pair is completely coincidental. The World Meteorological Organization the personal names used for storms are selected from a pre-existing master list of names.

Etched in bronze panels placed around two memorial pools are nearly 3,000 names of people who were killed on at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Although many visitors to the moving memorial assume that the names are randomly placed, in reality the planners of the site used a complex algorithm to decide where the names should be placed. To read about why this algorithm was used and how it was devised, click through to this story at Scientific American.

One of the most important and difficult tasks faced by the US Board of Geographic Names is to review official placenames that may now be considered derogatory or offensive. For example, considerable work has been done to replace placenames that are considered insulting to Native Americans. Despite this positive and constructive goal, it is not always easy for US officials to change pre-existing toponyms. Government leaders in Phoenix, Arizona have found themselves facing just such an onomastic controversy with some residents lobbying for Piestewa Peak in honor of first Native American woman to die in combat serving the US military. To learn more about the situation, read this article at AZCentral.

In the Spanish system every person has two surnames, one from the father and one from the mother. Until now, the father’s surname was automatically placed in the first position. But after June 30th of 2017, every couple registering their child’s birth will have to decide which surname order to use. If they cannot reach a decision, the Civil Registrar’s office will chose for them. This new directive is expected to change the ranking of the most common family names in Spain, which is currently marked by a high frequency of a small number of names. In the future, these frequent surnames are now anticipated to become rarer.

Spanish women do not change their surnames at marriage. There has, however, always been a certain flexibility about which of their two surnames Spaniards give most prominence.

Artist Pablo Picasso, for example, chose his second surname, as did the actor Antonio Banderas. Their first surnames, Ruíz and Domínguez respectively, were obviously too commonplace.

Ten localities in the Australian state of Queensland containing the N-word will be discontinued and renamed due to racist connotations. The decision comes after community concerns about a place called N*****s Bounce led to its removal from all databases by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines in May. Other names that have been discontinued include Mount N*****, N***** Head and seven instances of the name N***** Creek, all located in north Queensland.
A department spokesman said the decisions would be published in the Queensland Government Gazette in late September.

The Department of Natural Resources said the racist names would not be completely eradicated because they still appeared on historical maps and plans, and would be retained in the Queensland Place Names Register.

It is in the process of accepting submissions from local councils, community groups and the public for appropriate names of the locations.

The Chinese government has published a list of overly religious names which will no longer be allowed in the household registration system in China’s Xinjiang region. The list includes names “with a strong religious flavor, such as Jihad” or with “connotations of separatism”. The region’s officials in April announced a list of banned baby names, including Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina.

The order, announced during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, applies to children younger than 16, according to Radio Free Asia. Officials said the measure is part of an effort “to curb religious fervor” in the region. About half of the population of Xinjiang province belongs to the Uyghur ethnic minority group. Read this story at the Huffington Post for more details!