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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: “Moses popularity brought on by athletics, pop culture and biblical revivals”

The Finding of Moses by Hendrik de Clerck, Eskenazi Museum of Art (Public domain)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 19th column, he looks at the name Moses.

Today should be a celebration of bowl haircuts.

Moses Horwitz (1897-1975), known by his stage name Moe Howard, was born 125 years ago today. From 1934 through 1970, he played the irascible leader of The Three Stooges, the world’s most famous slapstick comedy troupe, in more than 200 films. Their 190 Columbia Pictures shorts became television staples, making Moe’s trademark haircut known to millions.

The original Moses is the man who led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt by parting the sea in the Bible’s Book of Exodus. Egypt’s pharaoh ordered Hebrew male infants to be killed. To save him, Moses’ mother put him in a basket floating on the Nile. He was discovered by pharaoh’s daughter, who calls him Moses because she “drew him out” (Hebrew “mashah”) of water.

That derivation isn’t plausible. Why would Pharaoh’s daughter speak Hebrew? Moses is likely from an Egyptian word meaning “born of” or “child of,” found in names of Egyptian Pharaohs Thutmosis and Ramesses, “born of” gods Thoth and Ra. The basket story was probably invented to explain the name after its Egyptian origin was forgotten. That origin, though, makes it credible Moses was a real historical figure raised in Egypt.

Before the Reformation, Moses was primarily a Jewish name. In the 16th century, it was adopted by Puritans, one example being Moses Fletcher (1564-1620), a Pilgrim signer of the Mayflower Compact.

Moses stayed in use among descendants of the Puritans. Two later examples were Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806), a Connecticut Revolutionary War general who founded Cleveland, Ohio; and Moses Beach (1800-1868), founder of the Associated Press and inventor of print syndication.

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

“First Peoples Mountain” at Yellowstone will Honor Native Americans

The mountain formerly known as Mount Doane in 1977 (Public Domain)

What was once known as “Mount Doane” will now be called “First Peoples Mountain.” The former name of the mountain was given to honor Gustavus Doane, the person responsible for securing federal protection for the land during the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition. The National Park Service recently announced that Doane was also responsible for the Marias Massacre, an attack that led to the deaths of at least 173 Native Americans, and the mountain would therefore be renamed. The new name, NPR reports, “is part of a trend to better recognize the roles and contributions of Native Americans” and a priority of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

Read more over at NPR.

World Health Organization to give “Monkeypox” a New Name

Flag of the WHO (Public Domain)

The World Health Organization has pledged to change the name of the “monkeypox” virus. NPR reports that the decision was made “after scientists recently criticized the current name as “discriminatory and stigmatizing.” The researchers say it’s also inaccurate to name versions of the virus after parts of Africa.” The virus has gained notoriety after a growing outbreak in nearly 40 countries around the world.

Read more over at NPR.

Former McDonald’s Locations in Russia to be Rebranded “Delicious, That’s All”

The new logo for “Вкусно – и точка”

All of Russia’s former McDonald’s locations that were recently sold to Siberian coal baron Alexander Govor will be rebranded Вкусно – и точка, which various media translate “Delicious, That’s All” or “Tasty — full stop”. The move comes after McDonald’s ceased operation of its popular fast food restaurant after the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Govor announced that he will keep all employees of the former McDonald’s locations employed for the next two years. Many of McDonald’s famous dishes will remain on the menu at the rebranded fast food chain, though they are also slated for rebranding.

Read more about the name change over at NPR. 

Seeking New ANS Officers for 2023

Ever thought about getting more involved with the American Name Society?  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 in 2023, new officers will be needed to fill the positions listed below.

To apply for one or more of these Executive Council positions, please fill out the application form on this page.

 

Vice President (2023-2025)

The person elected to this position is primarily responsible for co-organizing the ANS annual conference in close cooperation with the ANS President. As conference co-chair, the person in this position will issue an official call for papers, organize a team of reviewers, design the program of paper presentations, and coordinate with the Linguistic Society of America and the other linguistic affiliates or “Sister Societies”: the American Dialect Society (ADS), the Society of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL), the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the America (SSILA), The Association for Linguistic Evidence (TALE), and the North American Association for the History of Language Sciences (NAAHoLS). In addition to these duties, the VP also serves as a voting member of the Executive Council and, as such, is actively involved in the legislative process of the ANS. The person selected for this office has the option of running for the office of ANS President, at the end of his/her term. Candidates for this position are expected to have superior organizational, time-management, and communication skills.

 

Allied Conference Coordinator (2023-2025)

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.

 

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: <luisacaiazzo2@gmail.com>. 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, <luisacaiazzo2@gmail.com>, 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!

Call for Papers: XXV International O&L Conference, University of Pisa, 16-17 September 2022

 

The Society “Onomastica & Letteratura” (O&L) invites you to participate at theXXV International O&L Conference, University of Pisa (Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics), 16-17 September 2022.

The topics it will focus on are the following:

  • Games, parodies, acknowledgments: the name to entertain and to reveal
  • Lists, sequences, lists, onomastic catalogs in literature
  • Names and identities
  • The name and the voices in the text (in literature and in particular in the theatrical genre)
  • Onomastics in some authors whose significant anniversaries occur: Hoffmann, Proust, Buzzati, Meneghello

Those who intend to participate in the Conference or who wish to submit their article to the editorial staff of the journal “il Nome nel testo” are requested to send Donatella Bremer (donatella.bremer@unipi.it) no later than 30 July 2022 an abstract, not generic, but sufficiently indicative (about one page) of their contribution.

Please also attach a short resume.

The length of the articles to be submitted to the peer review process for a possible publication in the journal “il Nome nel testo” must be around 12 pages.

For more information about this Call for Papers, please visit: https://oel.fileli.unipi.it/call-for-papers-xxv-convegno-internazionale-di-ol/

About Names: “Exotic Ian found American popularity after the 1960s”

Photo of English-Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid, best known for his role as Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) in the Star Wars (Official Star Wars Blog, CC-BY-2.0)

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his June 5th column, he looks at the name Ian.

Ian will find a way to deal with dinosaurs again next Friday.

“Jurassic World: Dominion,” the sixth film in the hit “Jurassic Park” series, opens June 10. It features Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, an expert on mathematical chaos theory whose line “Life finds a way” is iconic for fans.

Ian is a simplified spelling of Iain, a Scottish Gaelic form of John, ultimately from Hebrew “God is gracious.”

Before 1880, Ian was very rare in written records. Back then names, like other words, were translated from one language to another. A Scottish Highlander called “Ian” in Gaelic would automatically be called “John” in written or spoken English. Only one man is listed as Ian in Scotland’s 1851 census, alongside 252,476 Johns.

Educated artistic parents often start new name trends. Scottish-born John Forbes-Robertson (1822-1903) was one of the first professional art and theater critics in London. Five of his eleven children became actors, including second son Ian (1858-1936), perhaps the first example of Ian’s use as an official name in England.

In 1894, Presbyterian minister John Watson (1850-1907) published “Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush” under pen name Ian Maclaren. This collection of sentimental tales whose characters spoke in heavy Scots dialect (“Wull ye no come wi’ me for auld lang syne? … it wud dae ye gude”) was a huge bestseller in both Britain and America. “Ian Maclaren” died in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, while on an American lecture tour.

The actor and the author inspired many namesakes. By 1935, Ian was a top 50 name for baby boys in England and Scotland. That year, Ian entered the top thousand in the United States, helped by the career of character actor Ian Wolfe (1896-1992).

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

NAMES Vol 70 Issue #2 is published!

The latest issue of Names: A Journal of Onomastics is now available online! Click here to read the latest in onomastics scholarship in volume 70, number 2 of Names. A table of contents appears below.

Names is published as an open access journal available to all via the Journal’s new home at the University of Pittsburgh. All journal content, including the content found in previous volumes, is now available for free online as downloadable PDF files.

Subscribers to the print version of the journal will receive their copies within the next few weeks.

 

Articles

Translating Character Names in Fantasy Literature: A Study of the Turkish Translation of Invented Names in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Triology, by Naile Sarmaşık

Gendering Urban Namescapes: The Gender Politics of Street Names in an Eastern European City, by Mihai S. Rusu

Cat Naming Practices in Saudi Arabia, by Muteb Alqarni

From Bonehead to @realDonaldTrump: A Review of Studies on Online Usernames, by Lasse Hämäläinen

 

Book Reviews

Grant W. Smith, Names as Metaphors in Shakespeare’s Comedies, by Dorothy Dodge Robbins

Alexander Avram, Historical Implications of Jewish Surnames in the Old Kingdom of Romania, by Brandon Simonson