NamesCon, the world’s largest yearly domain-industry conference, will be holding its 2017 conference in Las Vegas from the 22nd to the 25th of January. The purpose of the four-day conference is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for domain-name professionals to learn about the latest developments in the field. Everyone from attorneys, brand managers, registrars, digital marketers, individual end-users, and web-hosting companies will be represented. Registration for this event has already begun and a limited time 40% discount is currently available to interested attendees.
Images
13 Emotional Stages of Picking the Perfect Name for Your Baby
Naming a baby can be an emotional process. Cosmopolitan recently published a take on the stages of this journey. Can you relate?
The Proper Way to Pronounce IKEA’s Most Challenging Item Names
Here’s a video to help you pronounce challenging Ikea product names. As a bonus, you’ll learn what these Swedish product names mean.
Alternative Pokemon Names
“I renamed all my Pokemon whatever my 2 year old called them” says it all.
Sephardic Jewish Surnames
This catalogue of Sephardic Jewish Surnames is thanks to Attorney Yoram Zara, who specializes in obtaining Portuguese citizenship for Sephardi Jews,
Akron Zoo snow leopard cubs choose their names
In an act of zoological onomastic history-making, Akron, Ohio’s famous snow leopard triplets were given the chance to pick their own names. After collecting almost 7,00 suggestions from the general public, zoo officials announced that the triplets had chosen the names “Altai”, “Asha”, and “Layan” which mean golden, hope, and gentle, respectively.
Which Is It: Prescription Drug or Tolkien Elf?
“Can you spot the prescription drug names among Elf names from J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium? Test your Elven race IQ.” It’s surprisingly difficult.
About Naming Traditions
Many families have naming traditions. The pressure to give your child your own name can be freeing or stifling. In this blog post, Joanna Goddard of cupofjo.com talks to her friend Mary Keith about this tradition.
Seeking New ANS Officers for 2018
Ever thought about getting more involved with the American Name Society but did not know how? Here is your opportunity! The American Name Society is currently looking for a few good people who are interested in joining the Executive Council. Starting January 2017, new officers will be needed to fill the positions listed below.
To apply for one or more of these positions, please fill out the application form on this page.
ANS Treasurer (2018-2020)
The person elected to this position will be responsible for keeping official record of all funds and securities of the Society; giving and keeping receipts for moneys due and payable to the Society; depositing all moneys in the name of the Society; responding to inquiries from annual conference attendees regarding registration payments; and informing the ANS President, the members of the ANS Executive Council, and the general membership about the financial status of the Society via an end-of-the year fiscal report. The ANS Treasurer will work closely with the ANS President, Vice President, and Membership Officer as well as Taylor & Francis, the current publisher of the ANS Journal NAMES. The person elected to this position is expected to have demonstrable accounting experience and competence in using standard spreadsheets programs (e.g., Excel). Applicants for this position must be long-term ANS members in good-standing.
Member-at-large (2017-2020)
The person elected to this position will serve as a voting member of the Executive Council (EC) and is expected to participate actively in the legislative decision-making involved in resolutions and motions placed before the EC. In addition to these duties, members-at-large serve on various auxiliary sub-committees to, for example, help with the nomination of new officers, coordination of the annual conference, and organization of allied conferences. Officers in this position can renew their term of service twice.
Allied Conference Coordinator (2018-2020)
The person elected to this position is principally responsible for organizing the ANS session at the annual conference of the Modern Language Association. This activity involves issuing a call for papers, assembling a team of abstract reviewers, selecting three authors whose work will be presented at the MLA conference, and coordinating the presentation of the three winning abstracts with the MLA administration. In addition to these duties, as a voting member of the ANS Executive Council (EC), the Allied Conference Coordinator participates in the legislative decision-making of the Society. Although the term of service for this position is for two years, the holder of this office may be re-elected pending approval by the EC. Given the fact that this position requires close communication with the MLA, candidates who have a demonstrated expertise in literary onomastics will receive preference. Holders of this position are also eligible for election as an ANS Vice President.
Coordinator for 4 ANS Facebook Special Interest Group (2018-2020)
The person elected to this position is principally responsible for managing the ANS Facebook Special Interest Groups (SIGs). There are four ANS SIGs: 1) Personal Names, 2) Literary Names, 3) Trade Names, and 4) Place Names. For each of one of those SIGs, the coordinator is responsible for stimulating and monitoring discussions between users; regularly posting material of thematic interest; answering queries from the general public; and coordinating an informal gathering in-person during the annual ANS meetings. The people chosen for these positions are expected to have excellent writing skills; be a frequent and enthusiastic Facebook user; and have a demonstrable interest in the thematic area of the relevant SIG. The coordinators of the ANS Facebook SIGs will work closely with one another, the ANS President and Vice President, and the ANS Information Officer.
Trump, Clinton campaigns influencing baby names
Presidential races even impact baby names. Babycenter’s recent study found that Clinton is currently influencing baby names more than Trump is.