About Names: Noah enjoys revival thanks to flood of pop culture references

Noah Cyrus (sister of Miley)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 4th column, he looks at the history of the name Noah.

The first Noah (Hebrew “Noach,” “rest, renewal”) is told by God to build an ark to save his family and many animals from a worldwide flood in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. In early England, Noah was pronounced “Noy”; Noyes and Noyce families had ancestors called Noah. Noah was familiar to medieval Christians through church mystery plays. It was rare as a given name, perhaps because Noah is a comic henpecked husband in these plays. Noy was usually a nickname for someone who’d portrayed the character.

Boys began to be regularly named Noah after the Reformation. It was more popular with Puritans in America than England. Britain’s 1851 census found 3,688 Noahs. The 1850 United States census had 11,313, when the two nations had about the same population.

In 1880, when Social Security’s yearly baby name lists started, Noah ranked 130th. Its long decline bottomed out at 698th in 1963. Noah then rose as a “different but not too different” alternative for other Old Testament fashions like Joshua, Nathan, and Aaron. Bob Seger’s 1969 hit song “Noah” helped.

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

Second Call for Papers: ANS 2020, New Orleans, LA, January 2-5, 2020

The American Name Society (ANS) is now inviting proposals for papers for its next annual conference. The 2020 conference will 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 30, 2019. To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2020 Author Information Form.

Please email this completed form to ANS Vice President Laurel Sutton using the following address: <laurelasutton@gmail.com>. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2020” 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, 2019. 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 or Laurel Sutton 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!

Call for Papers: 3rd International Conference: “Literacy and Contemporary Society: Identities, Texts, Institutions”, Nicosia, Cyprus, October 11-12 2019

The Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus, in collaboration with the University of Cyprus, announces the 3rd International Conference on Literacy and Contemporary Society, titled “Identities, Texts, Institutions”. The conference will be held on 11-12 October 2019 at the “Filoxenia” Conference Center in Nicosia.

The 3rd International Conference on Literacy and Contemporary Society focuses on the complex interrelation between identities, texts and institutions. In the era of multimodality and multilingualism, literacy practices have at their epicenter polymorphic texts that derive from different communities of practice and are the results of representational and enacting processes of either individuals or groups. At the same time, in institutions like education, texts and literacy are approached from a more top-down perspective, which focuses on promoting and assessing particular bits of knowledge, skills, and competencies. The conference aims to shed light on these issues and interactions and to provide a dynamic platform where different aspects of identities, texts and institutions will be discussed.

To participate in the conference either with an oral paper presentation, a symposium or a workshop, authors may submit a proposal until no later than June 21, 2019, by filling in their details in the relevant form which can be found on the conference website (http://www.pi.ac.cy/literacy). Abstracts must be sent to the email address: literacy_cyprus@cyearn.pi.ac.cy

Logainm – new series exploring the place names of Ireland

Logainm is a new studio-based 26 part series celebrating and exploring the place names of Ireland. Much of Ireland’s history is locked up in its place names. They are a unique aspect of our shared culture and heritage. There are millions of place names all over the island, from the field behind your house, to the four provinces of Ireland. Each of them has its own story to unfold, each has a distinctive sense of place.

The presenter, renowned musician and singer, Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich is joined each week by a panel of guests who bring their expertise to bear on a lively discussion of Irish place names.

Fourteenth International Conference on Jewish Names, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, June 3, 2019

On Monday, June 3 2019, the Fourteenth International Conference on Jewish Names will be held. The day-long conference will take place in the Midrasha (Building 405), Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. The conference is supported by the Faculty of Jewish Studies and the Koschitzky Fund, Bar-Ilan University.

The complete program may be downloaded here.

For information: Yigal.Levin@biu.ac.il

The Public is Welcome!

Call for Papers: KU-ICL Kuwait University International Conference on Linguistics, Kuwait, March 29-30 2020

The International Conference on Linguistics (ICL) at Kuwait University aims to bring together leading academics, researchers and students of Linguistics to explore and share current research findings and scholarly contributions in the field. Providing a much-needed forum in the region, keynote speakers, presenters and panelists will introduce and discuss current research trends, concerns and practical challenges in the diverse field of Linguistics.

Deadline for abstract submission: November 15th, 2019

Call for Contributions:

Contributions are welcome in various subfields of linguistics. ICL main language is English, but it accepts presentations of thorough research findings in Arabic and/or French. Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

Syntax
Morphology
Phonology
Phonetics
Semantics
Pragmatics
Discourse analysis
Corpus linguistics
Computational linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Bilingualism
Language acquisition
Psycholinguistics
Neurolinguistics

Languages of the Conference:

Although English will be the main medium of presentation, applicants are welcome to submit abstracts of research findings in Arabic and/or French.

Abstracts Format and submission guidelines:

Abstract are to be submitted online to KU-ICL@Arts.ku.edu.kw. Authors may submit the pdf’s of up to two abstracts. Applicants should indicate their presentation preference: plenary session, research presentation session (paper presentation), workshop session, poster or virtual paper session. Abstracts are expected to meet the following guidelines:

Up to 400 words (not counting references)
Times New Roman 12 points only
1.5 line spacing
1.5 cm left and right margins
2.0 cm top and bottom margins
Up to seven keywords
No tables, charts, or graphics

For further information and enquiries on abstract submission, contact Dr. Amin Almuhanna at (KU-ICL@Arts.ku.edu.kw).

For general inquiries contact Dr. Khaled Albahri at (KU-ICL@Arts.ku.edu.kw).

What Happens When A Big Business Tries To Rename A Neighborhood

That happened to some Californians in 2017, when Google Maps changed the moniker of three San Francisco neighborhoods. Given the extensive reach that Google has in the transmission of geographic data, through Google Maps and its geospatial analysis software Google Earth Engine, the name quickly spread and was adopted by other businesses. But residents decried the change.

There are many reasons why someone might want to change their neighborhoods name, but what’s driving current name-changing initiatives carried out by big businesses with little or no personal connection to the places they rename? Raechel A. Portelli, as a geographer at the Michigan State University, discusses three main driving forces.

About Names: Cleveland Evans: Jackson, Sophia were most popular baby names in 2018

Sophia Loren

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 21st column, he looks at the United States’ top baby names for 2018.

Know anyone named Jackson or Sophia? Kindergarten teachers do. On May 10, the Social Security Administration released the United States’ top baby names of 2018. On SSA’s lists, Liam and Emma rank first. Emma’s been No. 1 since 2014. Liam became No. 1 in 2017, beating out Noah.

When Sofia and other spellings are added, 21,691 Sophias arrived in 2018. Sophia has been No. 1 since 2011. Last year, 10% more Sophias were born than Olivias, the No. 2 girls’ name. The rest of the girls’ top 10 are Emma, Isabella, Ava, Charlotte, Mia, Amelia, Riley and Evelyn. This is the same top 10 as last year, though Charlotte and Amelia moved up in the ranks.

Want to know more? Read on to find out more about the top US baby names for 2018!

Call for NAMES Editorial Board Members

Onomastic Experts Sought for the NAMES Editorial Board

To compensate for the growing number of submissions NAMES is receiving, the number of article reviewers for the Editorial Board is being expanded. Toward that end, NAMES Editor-in-Chief Dr. I. M. Nick is currently soliciting applications for new Board members. Members of the Board are expected to critically assess submissions on the following points: 1) scientific contribution to onomastic studies; 2) interest for NAMES readers; and 3) adherence to the stylistic, grammatical, and formatting regulations of the NAMES Style Sheet. Members of the board typically review two submissions per month by providing detailed evaluations of ca. 500 words. Onomastic experts are particularly needed in the areas of place names, literary onomastics, brandnames, and trade names. Along with their reviewing duties, once a year, the members of the Editorial Board also vote to select the Best Article of the Year.

If you are interested in applying to become a member of the Board, please complete and return the application via the following link: <https://nick662.typeform.com/to/P6dzaz>. All members of the Board are expected to be members of the ANS in good-standing. Should you have any questions about the Board, please do not hesitate to contact, NAMES Editor-in-Chief, Dr. I. M. Nick (mavi.yaz@web.de).

About Names: Winifred, rooted in a resurrection story, has often come back to life

Winifred Atwell, famous boogie woogie and ragtime piano player.

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 7th column, he looks at the history of the name Winifred.

Winifred is the English version of Gwenfrewi, a Welsh name combining “gwen” (“white” or “holy”) with “frewi” (“reconciliation” or “peace”). The English form came from confusion with the Old English male name Winfred, from “win” (“friend” or “joy”) and “fred” (“peace”). The original Gwenfrewi lived around 650 in northern Wales. Though she was venerated as a saint by 750, nothing was written about her until around 1130, when Robert, prior of the Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury, England, began promoting her.

Babies named Winifred began turning up all over England after 1400. Though never very common, Winifred never disappeared. The 1851 British census found 2,272 Winifreds in England and Wales. Winifred wasn’t as popular in America, partly because the Puritans avoided saints’ names. The 1850 United States census found 934 Winifreds. A quarter were born in Ireland — the Irish adopted Winifred as an English equivalent of Irish “Una” when their British rulers banned Gaelic names.

Since 2011, avant-garde parents looking for retro names have rediscovered Winifred. There were 21 Winifreds born in 2010 — 168 arrived in 2017. If it keeps increasing at that rate, Winifred will be back in the top thousand names in 2021.

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