You know the name, but why the number?FlickrCC/Mike Mozart
Why is it called Chanel No. 5? What happened to numbers 1 to 4? Take this fun and informative quiz from Business Insider, and find out the history of these 13 “numbered” brand names.
Actress Sofía Vergara is now facing a historic lawsuit from her pre-implanted eggs, Emma and Isabella. In a “right-to-live” lawsuit filed in the state of Louisiana, it is claimed that not allowing the eggs to be born is essentially depriving them of their inheritance. What began as a nasty custody dispute has erupted into an explosive discussion over whether and when an en vitro fertilized egg can be legally recognized as a “juridical person”. According to Vergara’s lawyer, the fact that Nick Loeb, the actress’s former partner and co-progenitor, has given personal names (Emma and Isabella) to the fertilized eggs was simply done to “garner sympathy from the public and the courts.”
Earlier this year, the New York Times asked women to talk about whether they changed their surname upon marriage. They received more than 16,000 responses and published a selection of them.
New York Times correspondent in London, Katrin Bennhold, also wrote about her own surname and family identity as part of this project.
Every year, many people go through the legal challenges of changing their names. Here’s a snapshot of a few of the New Yorkers who changed their names in 2016.
It’s not easy to turn a family name into a globally iconic business. And not all names start on even footing. In this article in Business World Naseem Javed discusses some of the family name considerations that are important to today’s successful global businesses.
How important is it to pronounce ethnic names correctly? Bronx-based teacher Adam Levine-Peres created this short video about why correct pronunciation is important. It boils down to teaching trust, perseverance, and common courtesy.
Iceland allows only a limited number of approved baby names. This is so that Icelandic babies receive names that are compatible with Icelandic culture. However, in an increasingly cosmopolitan generation, this can be challenging. This fall the official Personal Names Committee expanded the list of approved names to include Angelína, among others.
ANS 2017 saw the first ever “Onomastics Outside Academia” Panel, in which professional onomasticians talked about their work and their career paths outside of the university.
The panel included the following presentations:
Congratulations on a great panel, and many thanks to all of our speakers!
Pamela Redmond Satran
Lisa Spira
Jennifer Moss
In the United States, we are increasingly choosing more innovative, less common baby names. researched this phenomenon in relation to the economy and reports her findings in this article in Life Science.
“Aleppo” was chosen the Name of the Year for 2016 by the American Name Society at its annual meeting in Austin, Texas on January 6, 2017.
The name of the largest city in Syria, which has endured over four years of conflict in the country’s civil war, has became a symbol for the horrors of modern warfare. It also figured in the presidential election when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson asked an MSNBC interviewer “What is Aleppo?” in response to a question in September, showing he was not paying attention to international news.
Aleppo was also voted Place Name of the Year for 2016.
Aleppo won the vote in a close contest with Drumpf, which was chosen ANS’s Personal Name of the Year. The original German form of President-elect Donald Trump’s family name became well known when John Oliver, host of HBO’s satirical news show “Last Week Tonight,” urged viewers to refer to the candidate as “Drumpf”. HBO created DonaldDrumpf.com, which still sells “Drumpf” merchandise. The continued use of “Drumpf” shows the power of naming and name-calling.
Hamilton was chosen as Fictional Name of the Year. The title of this hugely popular Broadway musical was in the news in 2016 both because of winning 11 Tony awards, and because of a statement by cast members to Vice-President-elect Pence when he attended a November 18 performance, stating among other things “We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.” Donald Trump later demanded an apology for that in a Tweet.
Brexit and Uber tied for ANS’s Trade Name of the Year. Uber, the worldwide online transportation network company, was cited because of its influence on the language, now having become a verb. Brexit, the blend of “Britain” and “exit” which is the now universal title of the June referendum where United Kingdom voters decided to leave the European Union, was mentioned in the Presidential election when Trump called himself “Mr. Brexit.” The name Brexit was created on the analogy of the earlier Grexit, coined when Greece was deciding whether or not to leave the European Union in 2015.
The American Name Society is a scholarly organization founded in 1951 devoted to studying all aspects of names and naming. The Name of the Year vote has been held since 2004. “Caitlyn Jenner” was the 2015 Name of the Year. “Ferguson” won for 2014, “Francis” for 2013, and “Sandy” for 2012.
For further information contact Dr. Cleveland Evans, chair of the Name of the Year committee, at cevans@bellevue.edu or 402-210-7458.
