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Would you believe it? Welcome to our blog about crazy name-news...
French Town Changes Name, February 26
The French town, Eu, is changing its name to improve its rank in search engines. Because 'Eu' could yield many other search results -- the European Union, the .eu extension -- potential visitors might not see information about this historic town. The mayor of Eu, Marie-Françoise Gaouyer, has therefore decided to improve organic rankings by giving the town a new name. Residents of the will vote on the name, the following are the top contenders: Ville d’Eu, Eu-le-Château and Eu-en-Normandie.
Original News Source: Digital Inspiration
Badu Names her Daughter Mars, February 6
Erykah Badu has named her newborn daughter Mars Merkaba, following her children Seven Sirius and Puma Rose.
Racism in the Shipping System? December 29
A UPS driver entered terrorist in place of a Sikh man's name in the package-tracking database. The man, Anant Singh, discovered the entry while looking up a package UPS hadn't yet delivered. Singh said, “All of my community who wears a turban and belongs to the Sikh faith are not terrorists. We are a peace-loving people and are part of the community.” The epithet has been changed to the man's last name, and UPS is looking into the incident.
Original News Source: ABC, Turnto23.com
Poor Little Adolf, December 17
Little Adolf Hitler can't get a personalized birthday cake for his third birthday. The parents of Adolf Hitler Campbell, Heath and Deborah Campbell, were distraught that their local ShopRite supermarket in Greenwich Township, N.J., would not write the boy's name on the cake. Karen Meleta, a ShopRite spokeswoman, told the Express-Times that the request to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler "inappropriate." The Campbells, on the other hand, don't understand what the problem is.
Original News Source: My Fox News
2008 Name of the Year, December 10
Joe is the name of the year, according a survey done by Laura Wattenberg on her site, the [http:://BabyNameWizard.com. Baby Name Wizard]. This was, Wattenberg explained, a very political year. Runners-up included Palin's children, Trig, Bristol, Piper and Track. Joe's popularity as the 'American everyman' peaked in the 1920s-50s. In recent years, the idiomatic use died out, and the connotations became more derisive. The "good Joe," responsible, hard-working, became the "bad Joe," lazy Joe Schmo and Joe Six-Pack. Not anymore. The 2008 election has restored the name Joe as a classic, good-guy name. According to Wattenberg, the celebration of Joe's ordinariness, this time around, made the name seem a "little more special." Original News Source: BabyNameWizard.com
Atlas of True Names, December 5
Attention etymologists and word fanatics: unique new maps featuring the etymological origins of places are now on sale. The Atlas of True Names alters the names of cities, countries, rivers and mountains to show their origins and literal meaning. Chicago is named 'The Stink Onion,' Great Britain is the 'Land of the Tattooed' and Namibia means 'Place Where There is Nothing.' Sean Quigley, Outstanding Map Distributors, explains: "They not definitive works on the etymological roots of geographical names but more of a stimulus, and a very amusing one at that, to make us think about why places are called as they are."
Original News Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Bronx Mowgli and the Baby Name Experts, November 28
Bronx Mowgli is the new celebrity baby name, bestowed upon the child of Pete Wentz and Ashley Simpson. Baby Name Expert Whitney Walker says she likes the name, overall. Bronx is a harsh sound, and a tough place, but she approves because the couple probably has a connection to the place. Walker also likes the idea of naming children after fictional characters, like Mowgli. Like Baby Name Expert Maryanna Korwitts, however, Walker declares that Bronx Wentz sounds odd, given the two 's' sounds. Korwitts also thinks the name Mowgli is embarrassing. The composite grade given by the experts was a "C."
Original News Source: GoogleNews.com
Maja Butscher: A Baby Miracle, November 20
Maja Butscher, appropriately named after the Roman goddess of fertility, is the first baby to be born as the result of an ovary transplant. Her parents, at the ages of 39 and 41, Susanne and Stephan Butscher, are delighted to welcome this new child into their lives. Two years ago, Mrs. Butscher underwent a procedure, accepting an ovary donated by her twin sister, Dorothee. Her main motive for the transplant was to halt the advance of osteoporosis -- which began as a result of her early menopause. Mrs. Butcher, who'd been infertile her whole life, began ovulating naturally for the first time after receiving the ovary. Thirteen months later, she was pregnant. Mrs. Butscher says, "Being a mother at last is an indescribable feeling. It's been hard to take my eyes off her since she was born." Maja is a symbol of hope to women around the world who could benefit from the same procedure which enabled an infertile woman to conceive naturally.
Original News Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Little Obamas and Little Michelles, November 13
The names Michelle and Obama became the top baby names in Kenyan maternities last week. Last Wednesday, in Kisumu, the capital of the same region as Barack Obama's ancestral village, the New Nyanza general hospital saw about a dozen names in honor of the new president (variations on Michelle, Barack and Obama). Pauline Adhiambo gave named her twins Obama and Michelle, and Josephine Anyango Anyango named her son Barack Obama.
Original News Source: Yahoo! NEWS
Teenager Chooses Fantastically Long Name, November 5
A 19-year-old in Britain changed his name to "Captain Fantastic Faster Than Superman Spiderman Batman Wolverine Hulk And The Flash Combined." He used an online service to officially change his name for $20. He abandoned the name George Garratt, because, as he says: "I wanted to be unique." The name is thought to be the longest in the world. It made his Grandmother so angry that she refuses to speak with him.
Original News Source: UPI.com
Sedo Sales in the Financial Crisis, October 29
Sedo announced that the domain name moneywatch.com sold for $125,000 last week. This was the best sale of the week -- more than double the second .com runner-up (faire-part.com for $58,100). It seems that this is one name that went up as the economy went down. The other big sale was the ccTLD gmbh.de, which went for 73,185 EUR (GmbH is a type of legal entity common in Germany). Apart from these three domains, nothing sold for more than $16,000. Original News Source: DomainNews.com
New Baby Named Sarah McCain, October 15
Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton, Tenn. secretly changed his new daughter's birth certificate to read "Sarah McCain Palin." He thought it would be the best way to support his favorite candidate. Ciptak and his wife had agreed on the name Ava Grace, and he felt slightly guilty going behind his wife's back. But not that guilty. He said to reporters: “I was actually gonna name the baby John McCain, even as the girl, but I thought that was maybe too overboard. I decided to actually name her Sarah McCain Palin, figuring hopefully I would get two weeks in the doghouse rather than two months.”
Original News Source: TriCities.com
Windows 7 Will be Windows 7, October 13
Microsoft has officially named Windows 7. The name? Windows 7. For the first time for a Windows release, the code name is the real name. According to Mike Nash, the company chose the name Windows 7 because it "just makes sense." Microsoft doesn't want to come up with a new name like "Vista" -- so the seventh release of Windows is Windows 7.
Original News Source: Engadget.com
Men Change (Their Names) for Marriage, October 8
When Indie musician Todd Baechle married Orenda Fink, he took his wife's last name. His choice reflects a (slowly) growing trend of men taking their spouses' last names. Mark Rosenbaum, a Michigan lawyer, suggests that the trend is growing nationwide. Rosenbaum has led legal charges in California, in attempt to make it as easy for men to change their names through marriage as women. Unlike a formal name change, which costs roughly $500, a change of name through marriage should require only a certified marriage certificate. There are still relatively few recorded cases of new husbands changing their last names, but many, like Rosenbaum, imply that more men will follow suit.
Original News Source: Omaha Living Section
Could Your Middle Name be Hussein? September 25
A growing group of Obama supporters have changed their middle names to Hussein, in order to show their appreciation of the presidential candidate. The movement, which has mostly taken place online, has led to a number of unusual Hussein's: Jaime Hussein Alvarez of Washington, D.C., Kelly Hussein Crowley Oklahama, Sarah Beth Hussein Frumkin of Chicago and so forth. These names are appearing on Facebook pages and email accounts, on campaign pins and signatures.
Original News Source: New York Times
Seeking a New Name for the Large Hadron Collider,September 12,
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has asked the public to come up with a better name for the Large Hadron Collider. They have launched a competition, promising to award £500 to whomever comes up with the best name for the atom smashing machine. The name "Large Hadron Collider" is not particularly catchy, and it's difficult to spell. Internet users have had an especially tough time with the word "hadron" -- leading to some funny misspellings.
The LHC, located beneath Geneva, is the world's most powerful particle accelerator. The scientists would like a new moniker that captures people's interest and imagination. The competition will close on September 17 - after the LHC has been operating safely for one week. They have one stipulation: no prize will be awarded if the Earth is destroyed before Wednesday.
Original News Source: Telegraph.co.uk
How Did Sarah Palin Name Her Children?, September 5
Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin named her children Bristol, Piper, Track, Willow and Trig -- each for a special reason.
Bristol, the eldest girl was named after the favorite family fishing spot: Bristol Bay. There's a town in Alaska called Willow and a bush plane called Piper Super Cub -- which most likely explains the inspiration for those names.
She chose the name Trig because it means "true" or "strength" in Norse. His middle name, Paxson, carries on the Alaskan tradition; it is one of Palin's favorite spots. Finally, she named her son Track because he was born during track season, and Palin is a dedicated runner.
Original News Source:NYDailyNews.com
Yoda Can't Join Facebook, August 28
Hiroko Yoda, a Japanese author, received error messages when she attempted to create a Facebook account. Because she shares her surname, Yoda, with that little green Jedi Master, she was flagged for fraud.
Facebook has a long list of blocked names, including Gumby, Google, and the like, in order to prevent fraudulent registrations. Yoda, however, is a common surname in Japan, not just a fictional creature.
Original News Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Wrigley Fields on Wrigley Fields, August 21
On August 29th, at the start of the Cubs' home game against the Philadelphia Phillies, little Wrigley Fields of Lockport will pitch on Wrigley Fields.
Jerry Fields planned on naming his son Wrigley years before he was born, given that he was grew up in a family of Cubs fans. His wife, Kathy, initially though he was joking, but Jerry held his ground.
Kathy mentioned Wrigley's name in front of a former Cubs official, who promised her that seven-year-old Wrigley would get to pitch.
Original News Source: Chicago Tribune
China Has a Restaurant Named "Translate Server Error," August 15
This Chinese restaurant has an Engrish name. Speculators are wondering if they serve "404 Not found" fried rice and "Computer Error" crispy duck.
Original News Source: LiveNews.com.au
New Spider Species Named After Stephen Colbert, August 5, 2008
The name Aptostichus stephencolberti has been given to trapdoor spider species found along the coast of California. Like Colbert, the "t" is silent in the spider's name.
East Carolina University biologist, Jason Bond, named an arachnid after Neil Young in May, which is when Colbert expressed his wish for an eight-legged namesake. Now he has a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, a Virgin America airplane and a creepy-crawler.
Original News Source: MTV Newsroom
Outlandish Names Considered Abusive by New Zealand Court, July 24, 2008
The New Zealand court ruled that the nine-year-old girl, ‘Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii,’ be allowed to change her name. Justice Robert Murfitt declared that having an absurd name gives the child “a social disability and handicap.”
New Zealand officials declared that unusual names are abusive for children, and they have the authority to rule out the wacky ones. Some names that were questioned but accepted by the court include: Violence, Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter and a set of twins named Benson and Hedges. Names that they rejected include Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit.
Original News Source: Telegraph.Co.Uk.
