The Name Society of Southern Africa (NSSA) has just issued its first call for papers for its 19th International Conference to take place at the University of the Free State, in South Africa from the 20th to the 22nd of September 2016. The topic of this year’s conference is Symbolism and Instrumentality in Naming. See the conference website for additional information about abstract submission.
Nominations for the 2015 Name of the Year
After posting the Call for Nominations for the 2015 Name of the Year, the ANS has already received a number of submissions.
Read about the Nominations for Names of the Year 2015 in advance of the vote.
The Name of the Year selection will take place on Friday, January 8th, from 12:00-1:00pm.… Read More
About Names: Diane goes from goddess to grandma
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Diane.
2015’s most popular dog names dominated by human names and pop culture
Based on statistics kept by rover.com, a company specializing in matching dog owners with dog care providers, the following are the top 10 dog names of 2015:
Male dogs:
- Max
- Charlie
- Buddy
- Cooper
- Jack
Female dogs:
- Bella
- Lucy
- Daisy
- Molly
- Lola
Notice that several of these names are also popular among human babies. The distinction between human names and dog names is blurring.
Star Words
Just in time for the new Star Wars film, the US American English Dictionary, Merriam Webster has released an article about the film series’ influence on the English lexicon. Among the many words that the fantasy film has introduced into common parlance are several character names (characteronyms) such as Jedi and Wookie. However, as the Dictionary-makers explain, the popularity and familiarity of these names is not enough to warrant their immediate inclusion in the official word lists. After all, character names frequently go as quickly as they come.
In the meantime, less conservative lexicological repositories have already added many Star Wars characters to their collection. For example, the (in)famous e-lexicon, the Urban Dictionary, already contains many entries derived from the Star Wars enterprise…although in many cases, the original onomastic referents have undergone pretty significant shifts.
California, Calafia, Khalif: The Origin of the Name “California”
California is known throughout the world, but very few people know the origin of this toponym. This article published in KCET explains where the name came from.
Predictions for the 2015 Most Popular Baby Names
Although the official countdown marking the end of 2015 has not yet begun, names scholars have already made predictions about what will be the most popular baby names for 2016.
According to a November 2015 issues of the magazine “Good Housekeeping”, the following names will make the top ten US list in the new year:
- Hezekiah
- Kale
- Gertrude
- Eurydice
- Iker
By comparison, based on statistics kept by the Baby Center UK, the November 5th issue of The Huffington Post has placed its bets on a completely different set of personal names:
Girls
- Marni
- Eden
- Astrid
- Nora
- Emi
Boys
- Devon
- Otto
- Aspen
- Atticus
- Hector
Official name popularity statistics will be released in the new year.
About Names: ‘Star Wars’ spawns lots of Lukes, no Yodas
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This recent column explores the names from Star Wars.… Read More
Linguistics Beyond Academia SIG Events
The Linguistics Beyond Academia Special Interest Group (SIG) is pleased to announce its activities at the 2016 LSA Annual Meeting in Washington DC:
- Salon: Friday, 3:30-5 pm, January 8th
- Linguistics Career Mixer: Saturday, 3:30-5 pm, January 9th
The salon is a chance for linguists working outside of academia to get together in a relaxed atmosphere to share experiences, resources, and tell the story of the transition from the university to the business world.… Read More
Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2015 is an Emoji
For the first time in its history, the Oxford Dictionaries have chosen a modern day pictograph, or emoji, for the Word of the Year. After analyzing the statistical data provided by the mobile technology company, Swiftkey, the Oxford University Press determined that one emoji in particular had an astounding frequency of usage. Making up 20% of all emoji-use in the UK and 17% in the USA, the little round smiley with the tiny blue tear-drops has become one of the one most beloved emoticons. That means that nearly one in four readers of this post have used this little figure in at least one of their e-communications. Officially, this emoticon is called “Face with Tears of Joy”. Curious what the proper names are for the other emojis in the smiley family? Test your onomastic emoji knowledge.