Sources for “What’s in a Name”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Number of companies rebranding: Interview with William Lozito of Strategic Name Development.

Among 150 fictitious companies: “Spoof brand names snapped up for real” BBC News, November 17, 2003.

Names starting with B, C and S: “A Name’s Sake,” Adweek, April 24, 2006.

Holding company Axa: Xignux, Interbrand press release.

Moratorium on drug names starting with X or Z: United States Adopted Names Council, based at the American Medical Association.

Adobe Systems is fighting the use of “photoshop”: Adobe: Permissions and Trademark Guidelines.

Pronunciation of Google in Mandarin: Google: China Daily.

Church of Scientology trademarks: Church of Scientology website.

Churches dropping “baptist” from their names: “Afraid of scaring away potential members, Baptist churches cloak identity,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jan. 16, 1999.

Southern Baptist Convention has considered dropping “Southern” eight times: Southern Baptist Convention, Public Relations Office.

Columbus Children’s Hospital Emergency Department: Columbus Children’s Hospital Press Release, June 6, 2006.

Margaret Mitchell and Tote the Weary Load: Margaret Mitchell, Reporter, edited by Patrick Allen, 2000.

$100 million gift from University of North Dakota alum: “Puck Politics,” Salon.com, March 8, 2001.

Indiana elementary school name change: Warren G. Harding Elementary School, Hammond, Ind.

Exxon Valdez becomes the SeaRiver Mediterranean: National Marine Fisheries Service newsclip, October 12, 2002.

Clark Tx becomes Dish: DISH Network press office.

Agra, Oklahoma becomes Viagra: KTST Radio Station.

Among the 50 million .com internet addresses: Verisign, Dennis Forbes, the longest domain name URL.

Thai word for Bangkok: Bucknell University, Linguistics Department; University of Pittsburg Asian Studies Center.

Llanfynydd name change: Carmarthenshire County Council, Wales, Press Office.

Supercalafajilisticespeealadojus: Album cover, Poster from 1951.

Bill Wyman gets sued: “Legal Row Over Bill Wyman’s Name,” BBC News, 2002.

American Trial Lawyers Association changes name: American Association for Justice, Press Office.

Idaho gubernatorial candidate becomes “Pro-Life”: Idaho Press, April, 2, 2006.

U.S. Senate candidate becomes “None of the Above”: “Candidate Wants to be ‘None of the Above,'” MSNBC.com, July 21, 2006.

Russian Governor becomes Harry Potter: “Russian Harry Potter Stands for Office,” BBC News, March 3, 2003.

North Dakota’s wintry image: North Dakota Chamber of Commerce.

South Central L.A.: Los Angeles Councilmember Bernard Park’s office.

New York’s laws named after crime victims: New York State Attorney General’s Office.

Brazil recognizes only 5 racial categories:
The Economist , 2006.

Siemens trademarks Zyklon:
United States Trademark Office , 2002.

Auschwitz gets renamed: World Heritage Centre, 2006.

Prince Charles may change his name:
BBC News , 2005.

Parma Ham: European Union, 2003. An overview of the case can be found here.

A new name for kangaroo meat: October 2006 newsletter of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia.

McDonald’s offered rappers $5 for Big Mac raps: “McDonald’s Buying Way into Hip-Hop Song Lyrics,” Marc Graser, Advertising Age, March 28, 2005.

Tupac on Rolling Stone Rolling Stone coversof April 4, 1996; Oct. 31, 1996; Aug. 7, 1997; Jan 22, 1998; and Aug. 24, 2006.

“Baby Got Backpack”: “
Freedom Rock
,” J. Freedom du Lac, Washington Post, September 6, 2006.

Sonny Sandoval and Neveah: Sonny Sandoval appearance on Cribs MTV, 2000

Popularity of name: Social Security Office, 2006

Love Story and the name Jennifer: Social Security Office, 1970-1984

Sex and the City and the name Aidan: Social Security Office, 2000-2006.

Malaysia outlaws certain names:
BBC News, 2006.

3 Americans named ESPN:
ESPN, 2004.

Muhammed Ali:
“Muhammed Ali Sells Rights to Name”mBBC News, April 11, 2006; Forbes, April 12, 2006.

Iran banned foreign words: “So English Is Taking Over the Globe. So What,” New York Times, August 6, 2006.

German citizen Khaled el-Masri: ACLU, Press Release, May 12, 2006.

Global War on Terror name changes: Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism, Secretary Rumsfeld’s U.S. Officials Retool Slogan for Terror War,” Eric Schmitt and Tom Shanker, New York Times, July 26, 2005; Chief Naval Officer’s Remarks on Navy’s 231st Birthday, October 12, 2006; President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union Address, January 31, 2006; Secretary Rumsfeld’s remarks at the 107th Convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars, August 28, 2006.

Congress debates “backronym” bills: “The Fine Art of Legislation Appellation,” Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2006; CAN-SPAM and ENRON from the Library of Congress.

Rep. Don Young names SAFETEA-LU for his wife: “The Fine Art of Legislation Appellation,” Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2006.

Sen. John Sununu quote: “The Fine Art of Legislation Appellation,” Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2006.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate