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Last T.C. Williams High School Class Celebrates Graduation, New Name

TC Williams High School from King Street (Photo by Addisnog, CC-BY-4.0)

Next year, “Alexandria City High School” will grace the diplomas of graduates from the former “T.C. Williams High School”. The school was named for former superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams, a fervent segregationist who argued against integrating Alexandria public schools. Students petitioned for a name change and were successful this academic year. The school is most recently famous for the motion picture Remember the Titans, which featured a dramatized version of the school district’s integration efforts as they impacted the lives of the students.

Call for Papers: ANS 2022, Online, 21-23 January 2022

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:

https://wp.me/a6e07Q-29o

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!

Candy Brands Fight to Retain Trademarks and Brand Names as States Legalize Recreational Cannabis

While the doppelgangers might not appear in the same aisle (or even the same local grocer), THC infused candies stylized like their popular non-THC infused equivalents are sweeping the markets in states that have legalized recreational cannabis. An article in The New York Times features images of two packages of Skittles, virtually identical save for a series of small cannabis leaves across the package. One is product of Mars Wrigley and the other a THC infused imposter.

Read more about efforts to protect trademarks and brand names, with a few interesting perspectives shared throughout, over at The New York Times.

Howard University College of Fine Arts to be Named After Chadwick Boseman

Chadwick Boseman at the Deauville Film Festival in 2014 (Photo by Georges Biard, CC-BY-3.0)

Howard University announced that it will name its College of Fine Arts after actor and alumnus Chadwick Boseman.An article in The New York Times quotes Dean Phylicia Rashad’s comments regarding Mr. Boseman: “Unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence, Chadwick was possessed with a passion for inquiry and a determination to tell stories — through acting, writing and directing — that revealed the beauty and complexity of our human spirit.”

Read more about the naming here.

Behind the Name: “Supermoon” is a Catchier Name for “Perigee Syzygy”

A Supermoon behind Cerro Armazones mountain in Chile (Photo by G.Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)/ESO, CC-BY-4.0)

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reviews the phenomenon called “perigee syzygy”, better known as the “Supermoon”. Jo Craven McGinty discusses the origins of the popular term supermoon: “Richard Nolle invented the neologism for an article published in Dell Horoscope magazine in 1979. It captured the imagination of the public and—perhaps adding insult to injury—eclipsed the technical term for the event.”

Read more about the phenomenon and when to see it at The Wall Street Journal.

University of Illinois at Chicago will Rename Law School, Dropping “John Marshall” Name

Citing the former Chief Justice’s racist views and history as a slave owner and trader, the University of Illinois at Chicago will rename its Law School, dropping the name “John Marshall”. The Chicago Tribune reports that “trustees’ vote Thursday followed a monthslong review by a university task force, which voted 6-1 to remove Marshall’s name. The law school faculty and faculty senate also voted in favor of renaming the school, which is separate from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana.”

Read more at the Chicago Tribune.

Hurricane Season: 21 Names for 21 Storms in 2021

The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland selected 21 names for the first 21 storms of 2021. Recently, USA Today reviewed these 21 names and an additional 21 supplemental names in case the initial names are exhausted. The initial 21 names are:

  • Ana
  • Bill
  • Claudette
  • Danny
  • Elsa
  • Fred
  • Grace
  • Henri
  • Ida
  • Julian
  • Kate
  • Larry
  • Mindy
  • Nicholas
  • Odette
  • Peter
  • Rose
  • Sam
  • Teresa
  • Victor
  • Wanda

Read more at USA Today.

Florida’s Duval County School Board to Rename 6 Schools Named for Confederate Leaders

Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville (Photo by Subwayatrain, CC-BY-3.0)

“Robert E. Lee High School” will be known as “Riverside High School”. Additionally, five other schools named for Confederate leaders will be renamed. The School Board’s decision comes after a year of community meetings, rallies, and protests. However, three other schools named for influential figures who are tied to “colonizers” will remain. Read more about the school board’s decision and the city of Jacksonville’s response here.

Study: Feminine Names Bring Greater Brand Appeal

As described in an article in The Wall Street Journal, a recent study titled “Is Nestlé a Lady? The Feminine Brand Name Advantage” in the Journal of Marketing finds “feminine-sounding brands may be more appealing, because they are often perceived as warmer and thereby associated with traits like trustworthiness, sincerity, friendliness, tolerance and good nature.” During the study, participants were 34% more likely to chose a fictitious feminine brand name than they were a fictitious masculine brand name. Read more about feminine names and branding here.