The American Name Society is pleased to share the ANS Summer 2021 Newsletter. 
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August 15th column, he looks at the history of the name Guy.
Right now on movie screens a Guy is saving his world.
“Free Guy” premiered Friday. In this fantasy film, a new program makes Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a minor nonplayer character in video game “Free City,” self-aware. He then must save his virtual world from being erased.
Guy is the French form of Wido, an ancient Germanic name from either witu (“wood”) or wit (“wide”). Brought to England in 1066, it stayed in use partly because of the legend of Guy of Warwick, retold in ballads since around 1200.
In his story, Guy is a lowly cupbearer who loves Felice, daughter of the Earl of Warwick.
To become worthy of her, he travels the world slaying dragons and other monsters. After wedding Felice, Guy makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, returning just in time to save Winchester from Danish invaders by defeating giant Colbrand in single combat.
The name’s heroic reputation was ruined by Guy Fawkes (1570-1606).
In 1605, Fawkes joined several other Catholics in the Gunpowder Plot, planning to blow up King James and Parliament on Nov. 5. Though Fawkes wasn’t the leader, he was first arrested, and his name came to exemplify treason.
Parliament declared Nov. 5 an annual celebration. Effigies of Fawkes made of old rags were tossed into bonfires. Soon these were called “guys”. Around 1830 “guy” became slang in England for any shabbily dressed man.
Photo of a bank app (Photo by TInkoff Bank, CC-BY-4.0)
This short piece in The New York Times showcases interviews with folks who share names with money- and banking-related apps. Included are Dave, Marcus, Robin, and other common first-names. Read more in The New York Times.
ANS Member Smita Joseph published two books recently: The Anglo Indians In Hyderabad: Socio-Linguistic, Historical And Anthropological Perspectives (2020) and A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Indian Christian Names: The Case of Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians (2022).
The Anglo Indians In Hyderabad: Socio-Linguistic, Historical And Anthropological Perspectives is described as giving “a fascinating account of how the Anglo-Indians of Hyderabad maintain their ethnic identity through the use of proper names and slang. The data on slang and names has been elicited through a combination of interview, survey and ethnographic methods.”
Due out in 2022, A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Indian Christian Names: The Case of Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians “gives a sociolinguistic account of Syrian Christian and Telugu Catholic personal names. Unlike previous works on the linguistic or sociolinguistic analysis of the personal names of Indian Christians, which have mainly used a reflexive approach to analyse names, this book takes a constitutive approach by analysing the personal names of two Indian Christian communities (Telugu Catholics and Syrian Christians) from the perspective of community members. This novel approach provides greater insights into individuals’ motivations for naming and how names are used to create social identities.”
Both books can be purchased on Amazon India or via the publisher’s links above.
Fred Gwinne as Herman Munster in CBS’s “The Munsters” (Public domain)
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his August 1st column, he looks at the history of the name Herman.
Today’s the birthday of Moby Dick’s father.
Herman Melville (1819-1891) was born 202 years ago. One of America’s most famous authors, he’s best known for “Moby Dick” (1851), the story of Captain Ahab and his obsession with the great white whale that bit off his leg.
Herman’s the English form of German Hermann, derived from ancient Germanic “army man.” Hermann was a common name in medieval Germany. One example, Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054), a Benedictine monk, who, despite having cerebral palsy, studied mathematics and astronomy and composed hymns that are still sung today.
Norman invaders brought the name to England in 1066. Families surnamed Harman are descended from medieval Hermans. Though rare in England, Herman never completely died out, partly because it was continually reinforced by goldsmiths and merchants immigrating from Holland.
Herman was more common in America than England, mostly because of German and Dutch influence. That’s how Melville got the name — his mother, Maria, was a great-great-granddaughter of Harmen Gansevoort, a Dutch settler who came to New Amsterdam in 1655. Harmen’s grandfather, Hermann (born 1570), was a brewer in Dersum, just over the Dutch border in northern Germany.
One interpretation of generation names, set against major events and year of birth (Image by Cmglee, CC-BY-4.0)
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Philip N. Cohen discusses the use of generation names and their lack of real meaning. He writes:
“The supposed boundaries between generations are no more meaningful than the names they’ve been given. There is no research identifying the appropriate boundaries between generations, and there is no empirical basis for imposing the sweeping character traits that are believed to define them. Generation descriptors are either embarrassing stereotypes or caricatures with astrology-level vagueness.”
Cohen also discusses the harmful effects of stereotyping and character judgement brought about by generation names. Click here to read more from Cohen and listen to his interview in the podcast “Please, go on”.
The American Name Society is now inviting proposals for papers for its next annual conference. After serious deliberation of an official proposal made on the 5th of May 2021, the Executive Council of the American Name Society unanimously voted to hold the 2022 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 2022 in Washington, DC.
Abstracts in any area of onomastic research are welcome. The DEADLINE for receipt of abstracts is July 31, 2021. To submit a proposal, simply complete the 2022 Author Information Sheet (AIS) found here:
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 2022” 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, 2021. 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.
A downloadable PDF of the Call for Papers can be found here.
We look forward to receiving your submission!
New Cleveland Guardians Logo
After over one year of deliberation, the “Cleveland Indians” will be known as the “Cleveland Guardians”. The announcement came this morning as the team released a video announcement narrated by Tom Hanks on Twitter:
New York City, home of “New Yorkers” and (rarely) “Gothamites” (Photo by Deitmar Rabich, CC-BY-4.0)
In an article in Popular Science, Jennifer Billock explores demonyms of major US cities and consults linguist and long-time ANS member Dr. Frank Nuessel. A “Phoenician” can refer to either an ancient person of a seafaring civilization or a resident of the city of Phoenix. Read this article in Popular Science to learn more about modern demonyms of major US Cities.
Delta Air Line tails at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (Photo by Aeroprints.com, CC-BY-3.0)
What happens when the latest and most virulent strain of the virus causing the worldwide pandemic shares a name with your trademark? Delta Air Lines might have to consult with Cervecería Modelo, the Mexican brewery that produces Corona Beers, for marketing advice as the delta variant of the coronavirus grips the world, accounting for 58% of cases in the United States alone. An article in Business Insider discusses Delta Air Lines’ decision to “call it the variant”.
