An exhausted Rohingya woman arrives with her children at Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar in September 2017. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his January 16th column, he looks at the ANS 2017 Name of the Year.
At its meeting in Salt Lake City earlier this month, the American Name Society voted Rohingya as the 2017 Name of the Year.
More than 650,000 members of the Islamic group Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017, creating a massive refugee problem in Bangladesh. The Myanmar army has targeted the Rohingya for persecution and massacres.
The American Name Society vote comes in protest of attempts to suppress the Rohingya name and deny them status as people deserving equal treatment and protection from persecution. Each year, the ANS chooses Names of the Year for places, fictional names, personal names and miscellaneous and/or trade names before choosing an overall Name of the Year.
Want to know more? Read on to find out more about the Names of the Year!