Names: My newspaper column: now featuring The Old Man and the most famous spouse of witch

[maarsen]

Up here in Canada, the most famous Randy has to be the shirtless assistant trailer park supervisor in  The Trailer Park Boys. 

[Ormond]

Here's today's column. The quote from Ouida's book calling Gladys "pretty" and "a good graceful name" certainly shows how perceptions of names change across the generations. I do think avant-garde parents who like "clunky chic" names will start to revive Gladys in about a decade. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-from-welsh-roots-gladys-has-worked-its-way-through/article_2586b69e-733c-5835-bb77-6ce525cde222.html

[Ormond]

Here's the link to today's column.   I think part of Grace's popularity was that it, along with Ava and Audrey, was helped by a "sophisticated Hollywood actress" image that allowed it to "come back" somewhat earlier than it might otherwise have.  I also think many modern parents probably interpret the meaning more in terms of "beauty of form or movement" rather than the religious meaning.

 https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-a-name-that-s-managed-to-stay-in-our/article_775932f3-6eb9-58f9-b989-3124a1ae01ee.html

[Lady Winter Rose]

On 10/9/2018 at 5:20 PM, Ormond said:

Here's today's column. The quote from Ouida's book calling Gladys "pretty" and "a good graceful name" certainly shows how perceptions of names change across the generations. I do think avant-garde parents who like "clunky chic" names will start to revive Gladys in about a decade. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-from-welsh-roots-gladys-has-worked-its-way-through/article_2586b69e-733c-5835-bb77-6ce525cde222.html

It has Lady in it, so I believe you predicted right...

[Ormond]

Here's today's column. I was actually a bit surprised that Ethan wasn't more popular in the early 19th century than names like Heman. (Ethan Allen's brother was Heman, by the way.)

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-ethan-which-means-enduring-has-lasted-since-old-testament/article_7c5be329-166e-506e-9d11-30c0f5ef6306.html

 

[Ormond]

Here is the link to today's column:

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-no-matter-the-spelling-lindsey-has-a-lasting-appeal/article_8000345f-3ba7-56af-9093-4c0bffcaa34e.html

Tracing the history of women's given names in the census is sometimes difficult, because normally women have changed their surnames after marriage. I am reluctant to use as an example of early use of a name someone I can find in only one census, partly because I know census takers made many mistakes, including in gender.

With Lindsey Keenin, I lucked out because she did not get married until she was in her 50s -- and in the first census after her marriage she was still living with her brother and sister along with her new husband, so I could be sure all the different spellings census takers used over the years were referring to the same woman! Of course census takers also used multiple spellings of "Keenin" over the years -- I just picked the one that turned up most often in the records.

[Ormond]

Here is the link to today's column. I am not entirely happy with the headline because the idea that Marisa "means" "Star of the Sea" is a reinterpretation of the name, not its initial origin.

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-marisa-meaning-star-of-the-sea-got-boost-from/article_8c5250eb-76ac-57a3-8633-e39291e89a1c.html

 

 

[Ormond]

And in case anyone who reads this thread is interested, below is the call for nominations for Names of the Year from The American Name Society. Feel free to post this anywhere else you wish.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR
THE ANNUAL NAMES OF THE YEAR

The American Name Society requests nominations for the “Names of the Year for
2018”. The names selected will be ones that best illustrate, through their creation and/or
use during the past 12 months, important trends in the culture of the United States. It is
not necessary, however, for a nominated name to have originated in the US. Any
name can be nominated as long as it has been prominent in North American cultural
discourse during the past year. For example, the Overall Name of the Year for 2017 and
2016 were Rohingya and Aleppo. Charlie Hebdo, the title of the French satirical
magazine, won Trade Name of the Year in 2015.

Nominations are called for in the five following categories:

Personal Names: Names or nicknames of individual real people, animals, or hurricanes.
Place Names: Names or nicknames of any real geographical location, including all natural
features, political subdivisions, streets, and buildings. Names of national or ethnic groups based
on place names would be included here.

Trade Names: Names of real commercial products, as well as names of both for-profit and nonprofit
incorporated companies and organizations, including businesses and universities.

Artistic & Literary Names: Names of fictional persons, places, or institutions, in any written,
oral, or visual medium, as well as titles of art works, books, plays, television programs, or
movies. Such names are deliberately given by the creator of the work.

Miscellaneous Names: Any name which does fit in the above four categories, such as names
created by linguistic errors, names of particular inanimate objects other than hurricanes, names of
unorganized political movements, names of languages, etc. In general, to be considered a name
such items would be capitalized in everyday English orthography.

Winners will be chosen in each category, and then a final vote will determine the overall
Name of the Year for 2018. Anyone may nominate a name. All members of the
American Name Society attending the annual meeting will select the winner from among
the nominees at the annual ANS meeting in New York City, New York on January 4,
2019. The winner will be announced that evening at a joint celebration with the American
Dialect Society. Advance nominations must be received before January 2, 2019.
Nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the annual meeting.

Please send your nominations, along with a brief rationale, by e-mail to either Dr. Cleveland K. Evans:
<[email protected]> or Deborah Walker:<[email protected]>

[Lady Winter Rose]

I would think Kulture as celebritiy baby name made a lot of dust this time of year

 

[Ormond]

Here's today's column. I was so interested in the history of the Keith family in Scotland and in mentioning the connection between Keith and Brian that I didn't have room for famous Keith examples besides Richards. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-keith-popular-in-britain-peaked-in-u-s-when/article_e2f7afba-abac-5465-afb2-4510564cf8ca.html

[HexMachina]

On 12/4/2018 at 5:13 PM, Ormond said:

And in case anyone who reads this thread is interested, below is the call for nominations for Names of the Year from The American Name Society. Feel free to post this anywhere else you wish.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR
THE ANNUAL NAMES OF THE YEAR

The American Name Society requests nominations for the “Names of the Year for
2018”. The names selected will be ones that best illustrate, through their creation and/or
use during the past 12 months, important trends in the culture of the United States. It is
not necessary, however, for a nominated name to have originated in the US. Any
name can be nominated as long as it has been prominent in North American cultural
discourse during the past year. For example, the Overall Name of the Year for 2017 and
2016 were Rohingya and Aleppo. Charlie Hebdo, the title of the French satirical
magazine, won Trade Name of the Year in 2015.

Nominations are called for in the five following categories:

Personal Names: Names or nicknames of individual real people, animals, or hurricanes.
Place Names: Names or nicknames of any real geographical location, including all natural
features, political subdivisions, streets, and buildings. Names of national or ethnic groups based
on place names would be included here.

Trade Names: Names of real commercial products, as well as names of both for-profit and nonprofit
incorporated companies and organizations, including businesses and universities.

Artistic & Literary Names: Names of fictional persons, places, or institutions, in any written,
oral, or visual medium, as well as titles of art works, books, plays, television programs, or
movies. Such names are deliberately given by the creator of the work.

Miscellaneous Names: Any name which does fit in the above four categories, such as names
created by linguistic errors, names of particular inanimate objects other than hurricanes, names of
unorganized political movements, names of languages, etc. In general, to be considered a name
such items would be capitalized in everyday English orthography.

Winners will be chosen in each category, and then a final vote will determine the overall
Name of the Year for 2018. Anyone may nominate a name. All members of the
American Name Society attending the annual meeting will select the winner from among
the nominees at the annual ANS meeting in New York City, New York on January 4,
2019. The winner will be announced that evening at a joint celebration with the American
Dialect Society. Advance nominations must be received before January 2, 2019.
Nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the annual meeting.

Please send your nominations, along with a brief rationale, by e-mail to either Dr. Cleveland K. Evans:
<[email protected]> or Deborah Walker:<[email protected]>

Interesting! Do you ever nominate names for this?

[Ormond]

4 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Interesting! Do you ever nominate names for this?

I am the person who collects the nominations and runs the vote every year. I have been known to make nominations myself if we end up with a category with fewer than two nominees, but we also accept nominations from the floor at the meeting.

[Ormond]

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-deep-roots-have-kept-violet-around-for-hundred-of/article_d7e4f7ae-5b0b-5e6d-9aed-ddf6cafe466e.html

Above is the link to today's column. I was surprised Violet went back that far in history and that it has a Scottish connection.

I am flying to New York City tomorrow for this year's annual meeting of The American Name Society. The January 15 column will be the annual one on the ANS Names of the Year.

[Ormond]

Here is a link to today's column, the annual one on the American Name Society's vote on Names of the Year for 2018. Because of the limitations on length of the column imposed by the newspaper, this report does not include every nominee which was not a category winner. A full report will be found later this year in the society's journal. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-jamal-khashoggi-chosen-as-s-name-of-the-year/article_df384dd5-d6a1-5114-8b7f-0a182c55a57f.html

 

[Ormond]

Here's the link to today's column. There is a typographical error in the sentence about Orphea and Orpheus -- those figures are from the 1850 census, not the 1950 census. Names data from the 1950 United States census isn't even available yet.

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-why-oprah-winfrey-has-such-a-rare-first-name/article_ea5339bb-de1a-5832-a44b-0acd346ae153.html

 

[Ormond]

Here's the link to today's column:

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-long-history-has-helped-abraham-endure/article_32d6cd3c-e1a7-5aca-8bae-a95db15c125d.html

In researching this I was rather surprised to see that Abraham was among the top 50 boys' names in England all the way from 1550 until the end of the 19th century. I also was a bit surprised to see how it has risen on the SSA lists since 1967. It seems to be one of those slow-rising "sleeper" names that people don't realize are getting more popular. 

Does anyone on the board know any Abrahams under the age of 30 in the USA? Do they tend to go by Abe or by Bram these days?

[Lady Winter Rose]

On 2/12/2019 at 5:42 PM, Ormond said:

It seems to be one of those slow-rising "sleeper" names that people don't realize are getting more popular. 
 

Like Valentina, right? What are other names in that category, besides Abraham?

[Ormond]

https://www.omaha.com/living/evans-levi-s-genes-can-be-traced-to-the-bible/article_20572138-a14a-5d16-8da8-79542634bad5.html

Above is the link to today's column. I was a bit surprised at how quickly Levi has risen as a name in the USA the last decade. One thing I didn't have room to mention in the column is that there is a popular character called Levi Ackerman in the manga & anime series "Attack on Titan." Perhaps he is also part of the reason for the recent boom. 

[Ormond]

Here's the link to today's column. It's so interesting how often scriptwriters and novelists will give teen and even adult characters names now common for babies which were not common at all when the characters will born. 

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-stella-s-star-is-shining-bright-again/article_d7a1904a-7d98-52a2-9665-11cb6fc11ece.html

 

[Ormond]

Here's the link to today's column.

https://www.omaha.com/living/cleveland-evans-leonard-prospered-even-before-nimoy-on-star-trek/article_76115920-712c-58c0-822d-3746c0711c67.html

Sorry I didn't have room to include a reference to the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, who named themselves after a high school coach named Leonard Skinner.