From Sligo, Pennsylvania to Limerick, Kentucky, the topography of the United States is filled with onomastic markers of its rich Irish heritage. Interested in learning more about Irish place names in the US? IrishCentral.com offers readers a fascinating look at this important part of American onomastic history.

Want to test your knowledge of eponyms? Which of the following words were NOT based on the names of real-life people?

1. pompadour
2. dynamo
3. sandwich
4. mesmerize
5. gerrymander
6. trumpet

Ready? The answers are 2 and 6.

Raking in ca 14 billion dollars per year, the US porn industry is very big business. With all that cash around, it’s no wonder that the industry continues to attract would-be stars. To help these onscreen hopefuls, the internet is filled with specialized name generators.

Although some may scoff, as porn legend Annie Sprinkle revealed in an interview with Alternet, landing the perfect porn name is critical: “My name helped me to totally change who I was […] and become who I wanted to be.”

Despite these unusual psychological and economic demands, Stanford Linguistics Professor Arnold Zwicky contends that most porn names are actually quite regular. For example, his examination of over two thousand porn star names revealed that the most common first name for erotic actors was… Mark.

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Ronald.

For many years now, the New Zealand government has made a concerted effort to replace long-outdated, highly offensive place names. Thanks to this effort, toponyms such as “Nigger Hill” and “Niggerhead” were changed into “Kanuka Hills” and “Tawhai Hill,” respectively. More on this government’s movement to replace place names featuring the N-word and other epithets can be found through Creative Spirits.

What do the names SoyJoy, Lytro, Kixx, Scribe, Spontania, and Yum! all have in common? They are all the brainchild of naming guru, Anthony Shore.

Read this New York Times Magazine article about the legendary man behind these brand names as well as the other companies that participate in this quirky (and lucrative!!) world of product naming.

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Jesse.

Legendary singer and actor Harry Belafonte did not always find that his name opened doors. In the 1950’s, he, like many African Americans, was routinely refused housing in segregationist America. An ardent supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, when Belafonte found his dream penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West, he did not take no for an answer. In a clever move, Belafonte sent his White publicist to pick up the rental agreement and then signed the lease in his own name. When the landlord discovered the name “Belafonte” on the agreement, he demanded the singer give up the apartment. Not only did Belafonte refuse, but he went on to buy the entire building!

According the Merriam Webster Dictionary, thingamajig is the name given to any object for which the namer “either does not know or cannot remember” the name. In other words, a thingamajig is what you call a doohickey when you forget what that infernal whatchamahoosit is called. How many names do you know for a whatsit? Test yourself against this list of than 60 different synonyms for a thingumaboobee.

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Penelope.