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Waltzing More Than Matilda

~ Names with an Australian Bias of Democratic Temper

Waltzing More Than Matilda

Tag Archives: name social groups

Name News: Changing Names and Sharing Names

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

adult name changes, African names, birth notices, changing a child's name, Congolese names, controversial names, gender reassignment name changes, name meanings, name social groups, social media, unisex names

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Elizabeth No More  

It’s not often that an entry in the birth notices of the newspaper is reported in the media, but one in Brisbane’s Courier Mail this week has gone viral and made the news section of KIIS FM’s website. It retracts the name given to the child nineteen years ago, and informs the world of their new one. Here’s the full text, which is accompanied by a photo:

A retraction – Bogert –

In 1995 we announced the arrival of our sprogget, Elizabeth Anne, as a daughter. He informs us that we were mistaken. Oops! Our bad. We would now like to present, our wonderful son – Kai Bogert.

Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. Tidy your room.

The message of unconditional love is warming hearts, while name nerds must be excited about a new way of relaying name information.

He’s No Longer Harry

Another name change story from the AFL’s website. Brazilian-born Collingwood star Harry O’Brien has reclaimed his birth name at the age of 27, and from now on will be known as Heritier Lumumba. When he was nine, he had his surname changed to his stepfather’s surname of O’Brien, but has decided to revert to his biological father’s Congolese surname. He explains:

The name Heritier means the inheritor or the heir … the inheritor is the inheritor of the Lumumba name and the name Lumumba is a very famous one in Africa, in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Heritier has found connecting with his original name quite empowering, and feels that it is more truthful to go back to where he started. His team mates have been supportive, and are gleefully anticipating hearing the commentators pronounce his name.

Same Name, Different People

Do you know someone who has the exact same name as someone famous? One of my uncles has the same name as a prominent businessman in his city, and he has had to get used to hearing his name on radio and TV advertisements. And once at the airport he obediently trotted over to the front desk as requested by the loudspeaker, only to find the message wasn’t for him after all, but for the other man. By the time they got it sorted out, he had missed his flight.

A few months ago, news.com.au had a feature on ordinary Australians who have the same name as celebrities. Apart from everyone thinking it must be new information for you (“Did you know you have the same name as Jessica Simpson?”), the main drawback seems to be how difficult it is to get noticed online, as your social media profiles and websites get sent to the back of the queue by the sixteen billion jagillion hits for your more famous namesake.

The main perks were the ability to get through to absolutely anyone on the phone due to the star power of their name, and to get good tables at restaurants. In two cases, the ordinary person met or had contact with their celebrity namesake, and got an extremely frosty reception, or were forced to change their name professionally – apparently celebs don’t like us common folk “stealing” their names!

A common theory is that people’s names will influence their destiny – the old Your daughter won’t be a doctor if you call her Candy Starr routine. That does of course call into question why everyone named Catherine Middleton isn’t married to a prince – shouldn’t everyone with the same name have the same destiny? On the other hand, there are occasionally a few intriguing parallels between the famous and not-so-famous.

People with Embarrassing Names

Kerry Parnell from the Sunday Telegraph muses over all the people in the world whose name, which seemed so normal to their parents when they wrote it on the birth certificate, attracts unwanted attention or ridicule. She’s talking about people like Isis Leskien, who was mentioned in a previous bout of Name News, and found her name is now frowned upon. Kerry notes she knows a parent of another Isis who has changed her daughter’s name.

Then there’s the Harry Potters, the Justin Biebers, and the Edward Snowdens of the world – talking of sharing your name with someone much more famous than you, sometimes for reasons you don’t want to be associated with, especially when proffering your passport. And the people whose name is perfectly reasonable in their own country, but once they travel abroad, find that Kim Dong-Suk, Mario Turdo, or Argelico Fucks is greeted with sniggers.

Kerry herself had problems with her name when she emigrated from Britain to Australia twenty years ago, and discovered to her surprise that she now had “a man’s name”, thanks to the very powerful and famous businessman Kerry Packer. Kerry wonders if a Sydney doctor named Kerri Parnell is ever embarrassed by sharing her name.

Ms Parnell has brisk advice for those saddled with such names – change it or own it. She obviously decided on the latter course.

They All Have the Same Name

And then there’s people who share the same name, and love it. The first Shirley Club was formed in Western Australia in 1996, with others following their lead nationally and worldwide. The ABC reported that the Port Augusta Shirleys held their twice-annual luncheon in October, with a dozen ladies named Shirley meeting at a local hotel.

They know only one child named Shirley in Port Augusta, so understand that the club has a definite shelf life. However, perhaps in the future there will be an Emily Club, or an Ava Club to replace them. By the way, only women ever seem to start these clubs – I have yet to hear of a group of men forming the Happening Harolds or the Brian Brigade. Why is this?

(Photo shows two Kate Middletons – can you spot the difference?)

Names in the News

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

created names, epithets and titles, Game of Throne names, honouring, name campaigns, name combinations, name contests, name popularity, name social groups, name studies, names from television, nicknames, popular names, sibsets, vintage names

News

Dr Benjamin Pitcher, from the University of London, analysed the most popular names in the UK, Australia, and the US, and found that boys names are more likely to have “large” vowel sounds, while girls are more likely to have “small” vowel sounds in their names. Larger sounding vowels pull the tongue to the back of the mouth, creating more airspace and releasing lower frequency sounds, while smaller vowels force the tongue forwards and upwards, giving high pitched sounds. Examples of “large” vowels in names include Jack, Lachlan, Cooper, Noah and Tom, while “small” vowels can be found in Isabella, Olivia, Mia, Lily and Ella. Dr Pitcher says this is an example of biological evolution, but only looked at names between 2001 and 2010, which doesn’t seem like enough of a time period to evolve in. I was interested to see that a Dr Pitcher would end up studying pitch, and that his first name, Benjamin, tends towards the more feminine vowels.

More studies into gender differences in names show that in English-speaking countries, girls names tend to be longer, to have unstressed “weak” initial syllables, end on a vowel sound, and to have more vowel sounds generally. It is thus supposed that girls names are more “decorative”, and boys names more “functional”. I wonder what they think in non-English countries, because in India, Arabic countries, and Polynesian islands, male names are often just as long and vowel-heavy as female ones, and I’m sure they don’t think of their boys names as “weak” or “girly”. Perhaps we should we be asking ourselves why we see our girls names as “weak and decorative” – it probably says a lot more about our own attitudes than it does about their vowels. Because take away all our value judgements, and there is no real reason while a girls name like Jane is “stronger” and more “functional” than one such as Olivia or Isabella.

The invented word Khaleesi, from Game of Thrones, has the meaning of “queen” in the fictional Dothraki language, although it is a title and not a personal name. Khaleesi has been used as a baby name since the TV show aired in Australia, and it turns out that it is more popular in Queensland – 15 babies named Khaleesi have been born in Queensland so far this year, compared to 4 each in Victoria and South Australia, and 6 in New South Wales. Could it be the meaning of “queen” which unconsciously makes it more appealing to Queenslanders? Two Queensland fans of the show who chose the name for their daughter say that they couldn’t agree on any name until the first season of Game of Thrones began airing. They thought Khaleesi was a really nice name which would be suitable for an adult too, and found out the spelling from the show’s website. Makes you wonder what all these Khaleesis would be called if the books hadn’t been turned into a TV series …

The town of Busselton on Western Australia’s south-west coast has a social group for women named June, and on June 1 each year, they celebrate Happy June Day. (Because if the first of May is May Day, then obviously the first of June is June Day … right?) In existence since 2010, this year eight women named June got together for a cuppa and to find out what else they have in common. Two of the Junes were born in June (well, actually, one of them was born on May 31, but so close to midnight it was practically June). One of the Junes has four children born during the month of June, half the Junes had a mother named Mary, and two Junes have a sister named Barbara. June peaked in the 1930s at #10, and this is something cool to look forward to if you have a popular name – starting your own name group.

This year’s mission for the Junes was to see more newborn babies named June – a wish which was granted instantly, because after a friend sent her the story about June Day in the Busselton paper, Eleisha Whiston contacted the June group to tell them she named her daughter June on May 25. Baby June is named after her 83-year-old great-grandmother, who was born in June. Her brother Hugo also has a June birthday. The Happy Junes were “overwhelmed” to hear of a new June so soon. You know what? June is a lovely name. Seriously consider having a little June – no matter what the moon, or whether born at morn or afternoon, that name would be a real boon, bringing great fortune. Then every day would mean a Happy June.

Meanwhile, Dave Noonan from Hobart’s Heart 107.3 radio station became alarmed at the thought that his own name might die out, and initiated a Save Dave campaign, to convince the women of Hobart to call their sons Dave. Eventually, Matt and Melissa Moore welcomed their son at 4.33 am on July 19, and named him David Xander, to be rewarded with a newly-renovated kitchen. Melissa plans to call her son Davey as his nickname, which she finds “cuter”, making the contest seem a bit pointless.

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