Monday, June 28, 2004

Name-Givers and Name-Changers

Some people are given unfortunate names, while others have only themselves
to blame.

A. Name-Givers

1. "Cox, Arquette welcome baby Coco"
   <http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-06-13-cox-baby_x.htm>

2. "Jackson will be couple's 15th J-name child"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_947206.html>
"So far the couple have Jana, John, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah,
 Joanna, Jedadiah, Jeremia, Jason, James and Justin"
[I think they missed one]

3. "US father names son 'Version 2.0'"
   <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3451207.stm>
"A proud US father and self-confessed engineering 'geek' has named his son
 after a computer software term"

4. "British girl named Diot Coke in 1379"
   <http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3840922,00.html>
"Naming your child after a popular soft drink could be seen as a little bit
 faddish, but the parents of young Diot Coke might be forgiven - they gave
 their baby daughter the name way back in 1379"

5. "Moniker's progress"
   <http://www.economist.co.uk/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2685710>
"The names that parents give their children illuminate cultural evolution"

B. Name-Changers

1. "Madonna talks about her new name"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_991727.html>
"Madonna has revealed why she's changed her name to Esther"

2. "Springfield man changes his name legally to Bubba Bubba Bubba"
   <http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/113003_ap_sn_bumba.html>

3. "Karin No More: animal-rights activist changes name to GoVeg.com"
   <http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2003/07/31/150754-cp.html>
"A young animal rights activist from Indiana once known as Karin Robertson
 has legally changed her name to that of a Web site run by her employer,
 the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals"

4. "DotComGuy will take old name back"
   <http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_894787.html>
"A Texas man who legally changed his name to DotComGuy, is to sell his
 trademark name"