Publication announcement: Names: A Journal of Onomastics 69, no. 3 is now available

The latest issue of Names: A Journal of Onomastics is now available online! Click here to read the latest in onomastics scholarship in volume 69, number 3 of Names. A table of contents appears below.

Volume 69 marks the first year that Names is published as an open access journal available to all via the Journal’s new home at the University of Pittsburgh. All journal content, including the content found in previous volumes, is now available for free online as downloadable PDF files.

Subscribers to the print version of the journal will receive their copies within the next few weeks.

 

Table of Contents

Note

“A Note of Remembrance in Honor of Edwin David Lawson (December 23, 1923—July 3, 2021)“, by Aaron Demsky

Articles

“Usernames on a Finnish Online Marketplace for Illegal Drugs“, by Lasse Hämäläinen, Ari Haasio, and J. Tuomas Harviainen

“Corpus-Based Methods for Recognizing the Gender of Anthroponyms“, by Rogelio Nazar, Irene Renau, Nicolas Acosta, Hernan Robledo, Maha Soliman, and Sofıa Zamora

““Boundary-Maintenance” or “Boundary-Crossing”? Name-Giving Practices among Immigrants in Germany“, by Jurgen Gerhards and Julia Tuppat

“The Use of a Matching Preference Index to Empirically Examine Distribution Imbalances in Beijing Citizens’ Names“, by Ziming Zhao, Xiaomeng Li, and Qinghua Chen

Book Reviews

“Naming, Identity, and Tourism“, by I. M. Nick

“Dictionary of French Family Names in North America“, by André Lapierre

Obituary

“In Memoriam: Edwin D. Lawson (1923-2021)“, by Thomas Gasque

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In the age of space tourism, who can hold the title “Astronaut”?

A photo of Buzz Aldrin by Neil Armstrong, two individuals who hold the title “astronaut” (Public domain)

A piece in Time Magazine raises an interesting question: in the age of space tourism, who can hold the title “astronaut”? Some believe that only those who pilot a spacecraft should be given the title, whereas others believe anyone who crosses into low earth atmosphere—regardless of the role they have on the flight—should be given the moniker. Regardless, one point is clear, as Jeffrey Kluger writes:

“Hansen agrees, and warns that playing with astronaut nomenclature risks not only denying the title to people who may deserve it, but stripping it from those who historically earned it. The original NASA Mercury astronauts, after all, often complained that their missions were overly automated, with much of the flight run by computer, and the astronauts themselves there mostly to observe and intervene if needed.”

Read more at Time Magazine.

About Names: “The romantic — and rebellious — history of Guy”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August 15th column, he looks at the history of the name Guy.

Right now on movie screens a Guy is saving his world.

“Free Guy” premiered Friday. In this fantasy film, a new program makes Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a minor nonplayer character in video game “Free City,” self-aware. He then must save his virtual world from being erased.

Guy is the French form of Wido, an ancient Germanic name from either witu (“wood”) or wit (“wide”). Brought to England in 1066, it stayed in use partly because of the legend of Guy of Warwick, retold in ballads since around 1200.

In his story, Guy is a lowly cupbearer who loves Felice, daughter of the Earl of Warwick.

To become worthy of her, he travels the world slaying dragons and other monsters. After wedding Felice, Guy makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, returning just in time to save Winchester from Danish invaders by defeating giant Colbrand in single combat.

The name’s heroic reputation was ruined by Guy Fawkes (1570-1606).

In 1605, Fawkes joined several other Catholics in the Gunpowder Plot, planning to blow up King James and Parliament on Nov. 5. Though Fawkes wasn’t the leader, he was first arrested, and his name came to exemplify treason.

Parliament declared Nov. 5 an annual celebration. Effigies of Fawkes made of old rags were tossed into bonfires. Soon these were called “guys”. Around 1830 “guy” became slang in England for any shabbily dressed man.

Want to learn more? Read on to find out more the history of the name Guy!

About Names: “The name Herman is steeped in literary, athletic and magical history”

Fred Gwinne as Herman Munster in CBS’s “The Munsters” (Public domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August 1st column, he looks at the history of the name Herman.

Today’s the birthday of Moby Dick’s father.

Herman Melville (1819-1891) was born 202 years ago. One of America’s most famous authors, he’s best known for “Moby Dick” (1851), the story of Captain Ahab and his obsession with the great white whale that bit off his leg.

Herman’s the English form of German Hermann, derived from ancient Germanic “army man.” Hermann was a common name in medieval Germany. One example, Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054), a Benedictine monk, who, despite having cerebral palsy, studied mathematics and astronomy and composed hymns that are still sung today.

Norman invaders brought the name to England in 1066. Families surnamed Harman are descended from medieval Hermans. Though rare in England, Herman never completely died out, partly because it was continually reinforced by goldsmiths and merchants immigrating from Holland.

Herman was more common in America than England, mostly because of German and Dutch influence. That’s how Melville got the name — his mother, Maria, was a great-great-granddaughter of Harmen Gansevoort, a Dutch settler who came to New Amsterdam in 1655. Harmen’s grandfather, Hermann (born 1570), was a brewer in Dersum, just over the Dutch border in northern Germany.

Want to learn more? Read on to find out more the history of the name Herman!

The Meaning of Generation Names

 

 

One interpretation of generation names, set against major events and year of birth (Image by Cmglee, CC-BY-4.0)

In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Philip N. Cohen discusses the use of generation names and their lack of real meaning. He writes:

“The supposed boundaries between generations are no more meaningful than the names they’ve been given. There is no research identifying the appropriate boundaries between generations, and there is no empirical basis for imposing the sweeping character traits that are believed to define them. Generation descriptors are either embarrassing stereotypes or caricatures with astrology-level vagueness.”

Cohen also discusses the harmful effects of stereotyping and character judgement brought about by generation names. Click here to read more from Cohen and listen to his interview in the podcast “Please, go on”.

Call for Papers: ANS 2022, Online, 21-23 January 2022

The American Name Society is now inviting proposals for papers for its next annual conference. After serious deliberation of an official proposal made on the 5th of May 2021, the Executive Council of the American Name Society unanimously voted to hold the 2022 Annual Conference online. All presentation sessions will be held online during the three days of the conference. This means that our conference will NOT be held in conjunction with the LSA meeting, which is still slated to be held in person, January 2022 in Washington, DC.

Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome. The DEADLINE for receipt of abstracts is July 31, 2021. To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2022 Author Information Sheet (AIS) found here:

https://wp.me/a6e07Q-29o

Please email this completed form to ANS Vice President Luisa Caiazzo using the following address: <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2022” in the subject line of your email.
All proposals will be subjected to blind review. Official notification of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before September 30, 2021. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS. Please feel free to contact ANS Vice President, Luisa Caiazzo, <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>, should you have any questions or concerns.

A downloadable PDF of the Call for Papers can be found here.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

“Cleveland Indians” Renamed “Cleveland Guardians”

After over one year of deliberation, the “Cleveland Indians” will be known as the “Cleveland Guardians”. The announcement came this morning as the team released a video announcement narrated by Tom Hanks on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Indians/status/1418565355472101378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1418565355472101378%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fcleveland-indians-announce-franchises-new-name-the-guardians-140148762.html

On Demonyms of Major US Cities

New York City, home of “New Yorkers” and (rarely) “Gothamites” (Photo by Deitmar Rabich, CC-BY-4.0)

In an article in Popular Science, Jennifer Billock explores demonyms of major US cities and consults linguist and long-time ANS member Dr. Frank Nuessel. A “Phoenician” can refer to either an ancient person of a seafaring civilization or a resident of the city of Phoenix. Read this article in Popular Science to learn more about modern demonyms of major US Cities.