About Names: Rachel is a name with a crazy rich history

Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August  14th column, he looks at the history of the name Rachel.

Rachel is Hebrew for “ewe.” In the Bible’s Genesis, Jacob falls in love with Rachel, but is tricked by her father into marrying older sister Leah. After seven more years, he gets to marry Rachel, too. She later gives birth to Joseph and Benjamin, Jacob’s favorite sons.

In medieval Europe, Rachel was only used by Jewish families. After the Reformation, it was one of the first Old Testament names adopted by Protestants. In the 1540s, the first decade English churches recorded all baptisms, Rachel ranked 39th. Susanna (at 30th) was the only Old Testament name above it.

In the US, newborn Rachels tripled between 1965 and 1970, when it ranked 58th. Rachel made the top 20 in 1983. Rachel’s final boost was from “Friends.” Debuting in September 1994, it made Jennifer Aniston a star as ditzy fashionista Rachel Green. In 1996, Rachel peaked at No. 9 for babies.

Want to know more? Read on to find out more about Rachels in history!

Letter Strings in Domain Names: Really Random?

What is the intrinsic (as opposed to trademark) value of short string domain names? It depends, of course. Rights holders have been willing to challenge domain name registrants even if they have no actionable claim for cybersquatting.

While consumers instantly recognize the letters “I,” “B,” and “M” are not arbitrary, they will not be faulted for failing to associate “D,” “V,” and “T” with Dynamic Visual Technologies. This issue of acronyms and arbitrary letters has a long history under the UDRP. A non-exhaustive list of short strings (some of which are infringing, others not) includes “adm,” “agcs,” “aro,” “ash,” “bper,” “clh,” “daf,” “dll,” “dkb,” “fxcm,” “jdm,” “ifo,” “irjll,” “iyzi,” “paa,” “snn,” “sog,” “ssx,” “usu,” “xrprf,” and more.

The ultimate question is whether any three, four, or five letter string has become so exclusively associated with the complaining rights holders that knowledge can be inferred. What do recent UDRP cases show?

To find out more about letter strings in domains, click through to this in-depth analysis by Gerald M. Levine at CircleID.

Registration opens for the 2019 ANS Conference, New York City, NY, January 3-6, 2019

American Name SocietyRegistration is now open for the 2019 ANS Conference in New York City, NY. The ANS conference will take place in conjunction with the Linguistics Society of American (LSA) Conference from January 3-6, 2019.

To register, you must join the ANS or renew your ANS membership.

Note that to renew your ANS membership, you will be redirected to the Taylor & Francis website where you will need to enter information from your renewal notice.

Once your membership is up to date, you can register online here, or download a PDF of the Conference Registration Form and mail it to ANS Treasurer Saundra Wright, as per the instructions on the form.

For more information about the ANS Conference and the LSA Conference, including rate and hotel information, please visit our Conference Page.

Call for Papers: 2019 ANS Conference Special Panel on Names, Naming, Gender, Sex, and Sexual Orientation

The ANS is currently inviting abstract submissions for this special panel on Names, Naming, Gender, Sex, and Sexual Orientation at the 2019 annual conference, which will be to be held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America. Although all topics within the theme are welcomed, papers dealing with the following questions are of particular interest: 1) general naming trends and controversies within the LGBT community; 2) official naming policies and laws for the designation of gender, sex, and sexual orientation; 3) considerations around name selection and name changes for trans people; 4) the intersection of gender, power, and naming for LGBT people.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is August 15, 2018. To submit a proposal, simply send in a 350-word abstract (excluding references), a 100-word shortened version, and a 80-word biographical sketch in prose. Please email these materials to Dr. I. M. Nick using the following address: mavi.yaz@web.de. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS-Gender 2019” in the subject line of your email. All proposals will be subject to independent blind review. Official notifications of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before October 1, 2018. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of both the ANS and the Linguistic Society of America. Please feel free to contact Dr. I. M. Nick mavi.yaz@web.de or Ms. Laurel Sutton laurelasutton@gmail.com should have you any questions or concerns.

A downloadable PDF of the call for papers can be found here.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

 

About Names: Wesley has worldly appeal as baby name

Wesley Crusher, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his July 31st column, he looks at the history of the name Wesley.

Wesley is an English surname from several villages called Westley or Westleigh, meaning “western clearing.” Wesley is a given name because of John Wesley (1703-1791.) An Anglican priest who tried to reform the Church of England by promoting evangelical conversion, he ended up founding Methodism. Wesley was also an abolitionist and accepted women preachers.

In 1880, Wesley ranked 109th as a baby name. It plateaued between 151st and 171st from 1940 through 1975.

On Sept. 25, 1987, fantasy film “The Princess Bride” was released. Cary Elwes played Westley, farmhand turned pirate who’s killed by Prince Humperdinck, revived by Miracle Max and saves beautiful Buttercup from marrying the villain. In 1988, spelling Westley ranked 562nd, its highest ever.

Three days later “Star Trek: The Next Generation” premiered, with Wil Wheaton as teen Wesley Crusher (named after Gene Roddenberry, whose middle name was Wesley). Baby name Wesley ranked 92nd in 1987, highest since 1979.

Want to know more? Read on to find out more about Wesleys in history!

Call for Papers (Third Extended Call): ANS 2019, New York City, NY, January 3-6, 2019

The ANS is inviting abstract submissions for the 2019 annual conference to be held in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America.  Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is July 31, 2018.  To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2019 Author Information Form.

Please email this completed form to Dr. Dorothy Dodge Robbins using the following address: drobbins@latech.edu. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2019” in the subject line of your email. Presenters who may need additional time to secure international payments and travel visas to the United States are urged to submit their proposal as soon as possible.

All proposals will be subjected to blind review. Official notification of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before September 30, 2018. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS and need to register with both the ANS and the Linguistic Society of America. Please feel free to contact Dr. Dorothy Dodge Robbins 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!

About Names: Phyllis flourished thanks to poetry, prose and TV

Phyllis Diller

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his July 17th column, he looks at the history of the name Phyllis.

Phyllis is Greek for “foliage.” In Greek myth, Thracian princess Phyllis marries Demophon, King of Athens. She kills herself when he abandons her. An almond tree on her grave blossoms when Demophon returns. Classical poems retold Phyllis’ tale. When Renaissance Englishmen rediscovered these in the 1500s, Phyllis was confused with Felis (a form of Felicia) and became an English girl’s name. Romantic poets in the 17th century loved the name. John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680), wrote “Phillis, be gentler, I advise; make up for time misspent. When beauty on its deathbed lies, ’tis high time to repent.”

Phyllis peaked in 1929 at 24th. It stayed in the top 50 in the United States until 1950. It then fell, leaving the top thousand in 1985. It had one minor uptick in 1975, when “Phyllis,” Cloris Leachman’s “Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff in which snobbish Phyllis Lindstrom has to move in with in-laws and get a job, debuted. Only 21 American babies were named Phyllis in 2017.

Want to know more? Read on to find out more about Phyllises in history!

Extended Call for Papers: 2019 ANS Conference Special Panel on Names and Tourism

EXTENDED DEADLINE – July 31st, 2018

The ANS is inviting abstract submissions for a panel on Names and Tourism for the 2019 annual conference, to be held in New York in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America. The purpose of the panel is to highlight research in and the study of names in relation to tourism discourses. More specifically, naming practices in tourism are relevant as they suggest distinction, originality, authenticity or even romance for a number of reasons. The range of issues at stake is quite broad as it may include linguistic, literary, historical and archeological references to local traditions as well as the strategies adopted to rebrand places to make them more appealing to potential visitors.

All names enthusiasts are invited to submit an abstract for a 20-minute presentation. Abstract proposals should focus on one or more of the following areas of interest:

  • archaeological sites and tourism
  • film/documentary-induced tourism
  • history, collective memory and tourism discourses
  • literature-induced tourism
  • tangible/ intangible heritage tourism

To submit a proposal, simply send a 250-word abstract proposal and a 100- word professional biography to Luisa Caiazzo [luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it] by the 31th of July 2018. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2019 Panel” 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, 2018. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS and are expected to register with both the ANS and the Linguistic Society of America. Please feel free to contact Luisa Caiazzo should you have any questions or concerns.

A downloadable version of the extended call for papers can be found here.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

Say goodbye to AdWords and DoubleClick: Google rebrands

After 18 and 22 years, respectively, the AdWords and DoubleClick brands will soon cease to be. As part of a comprehensive effort to streamline its offerings, Google’s flagship advertising products are getting new names and reorganizing to better reflect their current capabilities and where the company sees trajectories for growth.

There will now be three primary brands:

  • Google AdWords is now Google Ads.
  • DoubleClick advertiser products and Google Analytics 360 Suite are now under the brand Google Marketing Platform.
  • DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange are integrated into a new unified platform called Google Ad Manager.

Along with the new names, these Google brands are getting new logos. To find out more, read this informative article at Search Engine Land!