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About Names: “Cleveland Evans: Kyle raced up the charts of boy names”

A football card dated to 1952 featuring Kyle Rote (Public Domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his July 31st column, he looks at the name Kyle.

Kyle’s racing into his fourth decade.

Kyle Larson, 2021’s NASCAR Cup Series champion, won the ESPY for Best Driver on July 20. He turns 30 today.

Kyle is a Scottish surname that can come from places named from Gaelic “caol” (narrows, strait.) It’s also from the district of Kyle (Gaelic “Cuil”) on Scotland’s southwest coast, possibly named for legendary British king Coel Hen, where Coel means “belief, trust.”

Kyle was a prominent surname among Scots who settled Northern Ireland during the 1600s. In the 1700s, Kyle families were among Scots-Irish immigrants to America. In 1850, 2,200 Americans had the surname Kyle. In Scotland and England together there were only 950 in 1851.

When the custom of turning surnames into given names began, Kyle was among them. An early example is “Kyle Stuart” (1834), a long poem by Robert Mack. There Kyle buries his father on a Virginia mountaintop and later sails to Scotland to claim his inheritance. Though published in Tennessee, “Kyle Stuart” condemns slavery, and claims studying law develops morality while practicing law ruins it.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name Kyle!

J. Lo is now J. Aff. Here’s Why it Matters.

J. Lo (Photo by dvsross, CC-BY-2.0)

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, author Jennifer Weiner discusses the significance of marriage-related surname changes in America. Actress Jennifer Lopez’s decision to become “Jennifer Affleck” represents the majority attitude of American women toward marriage-related surname changes, Weiner writes, but it also coveys a longer tradition of historical power imbalance between men and women. Weiner argues that “Names confer identity. And married women continue to give theirs up, while married men rarely reciprocate. No matter what else changes, that power imbalance endures.”

Read more in The New York Times.

Call for Papers: ANS 2023, Online, 20-22 January 2023


The American Name Society is now inviting proposals for papers for its next annual conference. After deliberation of an official proposal made on the 27th of May 2022, the Executive Council of the American Name Society unanimously voted to hold the 2023 Annual Conference online. All presentation sessions will be held online during the three days of the conference. This means that our conference will NOT be held in conjunction with the LSA meeting, which is still slated to be held in person, January 2023 in Denver, CO.

Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome. The DEADLINE for receipt of abstracts is July 31, 2022. To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2023 Author Information Sheet (AIS) found here:

http://www.americannamesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ANS-2023-Author-Info-Sheet.doc

Please email this completed form to ANS Vice President Luisa Caiazzo using the following address: <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2023” in the subject line of your email.

All proposals will be subjected to blind review. Official notification of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before September 30, 2023. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS. Please feel free to contact ANS Vice President, Luisa Caiazzo, <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>, should you have any questions or concerns.

Registration for the conference will open in September 2022.

A downloadable PDF of the Call for Papers can be found here.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

“Alethia Tanner Day” and the Namesake it Honors

Alethia Browning Tanner, 1781-1864 (Public Domain)

On July 6, 1810, Alethia Tanner bought her freedom for $275. An article in The Washington Post tells the rest of her compelling story. On July 23, 2022 Alethia Tanner Day was celebrated in Washington D.C. at a park that bears her name in the NoMa neighborhood. After Tanner purchased her own freedom and while she was working for President Thomas Jefferson, she set up a vegetable stand near the White House. This allowed her to free dozens of her family members. Read more about Alethia Tanner’s story over at The Washington Post.

Vermont’s “Suicide Six” Ski Resort to be Renamed “Saskadena Six”

An aerial view of the former “Suicide Six” Ski Resort (Photo by Jared C. Benedict, CC-BY-4.0)

According to a report over at CNN, the Vermont Ski Resort once known as “Suicide Six” will rename itself “Saskadena Six”. The name change is prompted by the perceived insensitive nature of the term suicide and “increasing awareness” surrounding mental health

After consulting indigenous populations, the company chose the term “Saskadena” as the new name for the ski resort. Saskadena is an Abenaki term that means “standing mountain”. Read more over at CNN.

Product Placement and Brand Names on Television

A bowl of milk and cereal comprised of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus (Public Domain)

A recent article in the New York Times explores alternatives to traditional commercials on television: product placement. As more and more consumers skip or ignore traditional advertising, corporations are placing their products in television and movies. Though not a new practice (the first product placement—”Sunlight” soap—can be found in the 1896 film “Laveuses”), product visibility allows manufacturers to reach consumers while minimizing production costs. Mike Proulx, an advertising consultant, says that brand names should appear “in a way that doesn’t feel like an advertisement.” Read more over at the New York Times.

Call for Papers: ANS 2023, Online, 20-22 January 2023


The American Name Society is now inviting proposals for papers for its next annual conference. After deliberation of an official proposal made on the 27th of May 2022, the Executive Council of the American Name Society unanimously voted to hold the 2023 Annual Conference online. All presentation sessions will be held online during the three days of the conference. This means that our conference will NOT be held in conjunction with the LSA meeting, which is still slated to be held in person, January 2023 in Denver, CO.

Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome. The DEADLINE for receipt of abstracts is July 31, 2022. To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2023 Author Information Sheet (AIS) found here:

http://www.americannamesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/ANS-2023-Author-Info-Sheet.doc

Please email this completed form to ANS Vice President Luisa Caiazzo using the following address: <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>. For organizational purposes, please be sure to include the phrase “ANS 2023” in the subject line of your email.

All proposals will be subjected to blind review. Official notification of proposal acceptances will be sent on or before September 30, 2023. All authors whose papers have been accepted must be current members of the ANS. Please feel free to contact ANS Vice President, Luisa Caiazzo, <luisa.caiazzo@unibas.it>, should you have any questions or concerns.

Registration for the conference will open in September 2022.

A downloadable PDF of the Call for Papers can be found here.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

About Names: “From religious beginnings to spy thrillers, Gabriel still a ‘mighty’ name”

A mosaic of the Archangel Gabriel from the Gelati Monastery, Kutaisi, Georgia (Public Domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his July 17th column, he looks at the name Gabriel.

Gabriel’s back in action Tuesday.

“Portrait of an Unknown Woman,” Daniel Silva’s 22nd novel about art restorer and Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon, will be released Tuesday. Since “The Kill Artist” (2000), Silva’s spy thrillers about Allon have been bestsellers. “Portrait” finds Gabriel retired from Israeli service and investigating a multibillion dollar art forgery.

Gabriel is from Hebrew Gavri’el, “God is my strong man.” Gabriel is the archangel who interprets Daniel’s visions in the Old Testament and announces Jesus’ birth to Mary in the New Testament. Traditionally, Gabriel’s expected to be the angel blowing a horn to signal the Last Judgment, though that angel isn’t named in the Bible. Muslims believe Gabriel dictated the Quran to Muhammad.

Silva named his spy Gabriel because of its meaning. In “Prince of Fire” (2005) Allon’s mentor tells him “Your mother named you Gabriel for a reason. Michael is the highest [angel], but you, Gabriel, are the mightiest … You’re the angel of judgment — the Prince of Fire.”

Despite that, Gabriel was less popular with medieval Christians than Michael. In England, 686 churches were dedicated to Michael, but only six to Gabriel.

Gabriel became regularly used in the 17th century, ranking in the lower half of the top 50 names between 1610 and 1689. However, Puritan parents avoided it, believing it was sacrilegious to name children after angels. Instead, Gabriel was taken up by Anglican gentry and others opposed to Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell’s radical Protestant regime (1653-1658).

In the American colonies, German Lutherans and French Huguenots also used Gabriel. Architect Gabriel Manigault (1758-1809) was a son of Peter Manigault of South Carolina, a Huguenot descendant thought to be the wealthiest American at his death in 1773.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name Gabriel!

Introducing Alessia Battista, Recipient of the 2021 ANS Emerging Scholar Award

Alessia Battista, Ph.D. Student at the University of Naples (Photo courtesy of Alessia Battista)

In 2021, Alessia Battista of the University of Naples was named the winner of the ANS Emerging Scholar Award (ANSESA) for her research in literary onomastics. Her winning paper was entitled “Stone Butch Blues: A linguistic negotiation of butch identity” which she presented at the ANS Annual Conference in January 2022. Ms Battista is currently working with her ANS mentor, Professor I.M. Nick, to turn her presentation into a manuscript for possible publication in NAMES. In addition to this mentorship, the ANSESA winner also received a cash prize of 250 US dollars, and one year of membership in the ANS. As a part of her doctoral studies, Ms. Battista would like to expand her knowledge in onomastics through a study abroad in Germany. In this interview, the 2021ANESA winner explains how she first learned about onomastics and describes what she hopes to gain from studying in Germany. If you would be interested in temporarily hosting this summa cum laude PhD student in Germany, or if you have a colleague who might have such an opportunity open for this self-funded emerging scholar, please contact her directly via email, using the phrase “GERMANY” in the subject line of your email.

How did you first become interested in names?
I have always been truly passionate about names ever since I was a child. As I grew older, I became curious to find out more about names connected to my birth city and my hometown. I first became aware of the field of onomastics by chance. I was about to complete my Master’s Degree, when the call for the ANS Emerging Scholar Award was brought to my attention. I suddenly realized how my final dissertation could contribute to the field. I was already analyzing names, but I was not aware that my work fit perfectly into onomastics. However, once I realized that, I started learning more and more about the field, and now it is an area I am deeply committed to pursuing.

Why is it important for you to study abroad in Germany?
I am currently enrolled in an international PhD program in my home country of Italy. However, as a part of my studies, I am expected to spend several months abroad for research. I would love to spend that time in Germany. I have always wanted to move there for my studies. Its advanced education system, multicultural cities, rich culture, and musical language have always attracted me. After completing my BA and MA in Foreign Languages (English and German), now is the time I hope I can make my dream of studying in Germany come true.

What could you offer a potential sponsor?
As an Italian PhD student in English and Terminology, I am currently seeking opportunities to carry out research which is relevant to my PhD project. My doctoral thesis is examining European Languages and Specialized Terminology. I would also welcome the chance to contribute to the research being conducted by a department willing to host me as an exchange student. I am a qualified teacher of Italian as L2/foreign language and I am currently a teaching assistant for English at the University of Naples. I have also successfully completed exams in Business Law, EU Law, Marketing, and Economic Sustainable Development.

Applications are now being considered for the ANSESA2022. To learn more about the application guidelines submission procedures, and eligibility requirements, please click here.