About Icelandic Names

The European Soccer Cup may be over for Iceland, but Europe’s fascination with the tiny island nation with the giant volcanoes is just getting started. In particular, the Europeans have become obsessed with Icelandic naming patterns. To feed this onomastic frenzy, the past few months have seen an unprecedented proliferation of online sites designed to help would-be Vikings generate their very own Icelandic name. Along with these fun e-sites, traditional websites devoted to the history and meaning of Icelandic names have also witnessed a huge increase in visitors. Want to see what all the fun is about? We have compiled a list of e-sources for you:

AutoCarto 2016 from the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, Albuquerque, New Mexico, September 14-16, 2016

What could be better than a few days of sun, fun, and cartography? If you agree, the Cartography and Geographic Information Society has just the event for you!

From the 14th to the 16th of September 2016, the Society will be holding AutoCarto 2016, a symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Visit the website for additional information about the conference, the scientific presentations, and scheduled workshops.

New Publication Released on Estonian Place Names

Names scholars and enthusiasts with a special interest in all things Estonian will be excited to learn that a new publication on Estonia toponyms has been recently released. Eesti kohanimeraamat, aka The Book of Estonian Place Names, offers readers over 6000 entries over 1,000 pages on the pronunciation, grammar, and history of Estonian toponyms, written, spoken, and signed. Read more about this resource in Estonian.

Call for Papers: Journal of Nubian Studies Issue on “Nubian Place Names”

A call for papers has been issued by the Journal of Nubian Studies on the topic of “Nubian Place Names”. For this special issue, the term “Nubia” is being defined as including both the Middle Nile Valley (from Aswan to the Gezira) as well as the peripheral regions of Nubia (i.e. the Eastern Desert, Kordorfar, Dafur, etc.). Submissions may address macrotoponyms as well as microtopoynms. The deadline for abstract submission is the 31st of September 2016. For more on this call, contact either Robin Seignobos [robin.seignobos@orange.fr] or Alexandros Tsakos [atsakos@gmail.com].

19th International Conference on Linguistic Theory and Lexicology (ICLT), Sydney, Australia, January 26-27, 2017

The 19th International Conference on Linguistic Theory and Lexicology (ICLT) will be held from the 26th to the 27th of January 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The purpose of the ICLT conference is to bring together scientists, educators, and practitioners to share and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and challenges from the fields of Linguistic Theory and Lexicology. Post conference proceedings will be abstracted and indexed in the International Science Index, Scopus, and Thomson Reuters.

The Names Society of Southern Africa Conference, Bloemfontein, South Africa, September 20-22, 2016

The Names Society of Southern Africa (NSSA) will be holding its 19th annual conference from the 20th to the 22nd of September 2016 at the University of the Free State in South Africa. Interested attendees are encouraged to register by the 14th of August deadline to ensure a place.

The Council of Geographic Names Authorities (CGNA) Annual Conference, Richmond, VA, May 2017

The Council of Geographic Names Authorities (CGNA) is a professional conglomerate of state and federal government agencies working together to promote the standardization of the names of geographic features for official use throughout the United States. Each year, the CGNA holds a conference for scientists, governmental policy-makers, and members of the general public. The conference program includes toponymic workshops, academic papers, and group discussions. According to CGNA officials, the organization’s next annual conference will be held in Richmond, Virginia during the week of May 10, 2017.

Call for Papers: 28th International Cartographic Conference (ICC)

The official call for papers for the 28th International Cartographic Conference (ICC) is now open. Researchers working within the areas of cartography and geography are invited to submit abstracts for formal posters or papers. A collection of refereed conference papers will be published in a Springer book. Selected papers will also be invited for submission to one of the official ICA journals: The International Journal of Cartography, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, Cartographica, and The Cartographic Journal.

Among the many themes scheduled, submissions for a session on Toponymy (T31) are also being solicited. The topics to be dealt with in T31 are “place names as cultural heritage”, “place-name conflicts”, and “toponymic field work and documentation”. The deadline for abstract submission is the 26th of October 2016.

The ICC will be held in Washington, D.C. from the 2nd to the 7th of July 2017.

Actor Michael Caine officially changes his name

British actor Maurice Micklewhite, known by his stage name Michael Caine, has now has legally changed his name to Michael Caine. It was too difficult to deal with the increased airport security checks.

China censors beetle named after President Xi

China has censored all online references to the beetle species named after the country’s president, Xi Jinping. This comes as a disappointment to the scientist who discovered and named it.