In the second chapter of Genesis, God brings all the animals to Adam so he can give them names. Christianity Today continues the story, highlighting the tradition of naming species after famous people or fictional characters—a practice that has increased in recent years.
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Petition launched to name one of the new elements added to the periodic table “octarine”
The four new elements, discovered by scientists in Japan, Russia and America, are the first to be added to the table since 2011. They will be officially named by the teams that discovered them in the months to come. However, chemist Dr Kat Day has put in an early bid for element 117 to be named “octarine” after Terry Pratchett’s novel The Colour of Magic. In his novel, Pratchett writes that octarine is “the King Colour, of which all the lesser colours are merely partial and wishy-washy reflections. It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a servant of the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself. But Rincewind always thought it looked a sort of greenish-purple.”
American Name Society Spring Newsletter
The American Name Society is pleased to share the ANS 2016 Spring Newsletter.
Please consider becoming a member to receive more news updates.
Psychological Effect of Naming Winter Storms
Nick Epley at the University of Chicago has been studying the effects of naming inanimate things like storms. He finds that doing so gives them human-like qualities —among them, intentionality.
Top dog and cat names in Ireland
A veterinarian’s survey lists the top ten names for dogs and cats in Ireland. The Irish seem way more likely to give “people names” to dogs than to cats!
Brands have different names in different countries
This graphic news story demonstrates how some worldwide brands have different names in different places.
About Names: Some of Shakespeare’s names have caught on
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores the names of Shakespeare’s characters.
About Names: With an e or an o, this Irish name is a unisex hit
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This recent column explores Shannen.
Mother banned from naming daughter Cyanide by court
What can be a name? One mother was recently banned from naming her baby daughter Cyanide, meant as a reference to Adolf Hitler.
Second Call for Papers: ANS 2017, Austin, TX, January 5-8 2017
The ANS is inviting abstract submissions for the 2017 annual conference to 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 June 30, 2016.
To submit a proposal, complete the 2017 Author Information Sheet found here. Please email this completed form to Dr. I. M. Nick [mavi.yaz@web.de]. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2017” 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, 2016.
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. I. M. Nick should you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to receiving your submission!