World Names Profiler is a pretty amazing Flash tool, that allows you to see where other people with your last name are distributed across the world, in frequency per million, right down to the city and regional level. Fun to pair with the NameVoyager.
posted on Sep 10, 2008 - View this thread

Hurricanes, as seen from orbit. Flying straight into a Hurricane. The list of worldwide Hurricane names. The history of Hurricane names.
posted on Sep 8, 2008 - View this thread

New Zealand judge makes Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii a ward of the court.
posted on Jul 24, 2008 - View this thread

"My name is a combination of 'take photo' and the letter 'C' for Charlie. How on earth do you pronounce that, you might ask. Well the answer is you don't. You sign it."
posted on Jul 7, 2008 - View this thread

On Having A Black Name "I am a white woman, a blond, blue-eyed white woman, and I have a first name strongly associated with black women. My mother, a southerner by birth, never stopped telling me she made the name up. The fact that she truly could not remember ever hearing the name before, is a testament to the strength of southern segregation. It is likely she heard it once or twice, and simply forgot it until later. And so, even at 50 years old, I have a name that makes people do a double-take. "You're _____?" is something I have heard all my life. "Yes, that would be me," is what I say, as they look confused. I have upset the social order. Names, I have learned, are a big, big part of it."
posted on Apr 24, 2008 - View this thread

Identity crisis in scientific publishing :"Chinese authors are publishing more and more papers, but are they receiving due credit and recognition for their work? Not if their names get confused along the way."
posted on Apr 13, 2008 - View this thread

Here is an alphabetical list of the most popular music stars real names.
posted on Jan 30, 2008 - View this thread

Our notions of names and gender may be showing some 'fluidity.' A long-time trend of male names losing their popularity or even their acceptibility once the same names become popular for girls may be shifting to a new 'gender fluidity.' While it's still true that fewer and fewer boys are named Leslie, Shirley, Kim, Ashley, Shannon, Whitney, or Carol, other names have emerged as unisex monikers: Jordan, Angel, or Peyton. Logan has re-emerged as a more clearly male name. See this article in today's N.Y. Times Magazine. The essay was penned by Sam Kean: is that Samuel or Samantha? Does it matter?
posted on Oct 28, 2007 - View this thread

"He looks like a Bob." True? Apparently so. Researchers at Miami University have shown quantitatively that certain names are associated with certain facial features. Here's their press release; an article on their research will be published in the Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. (Of further interest: the bouba/kiki effect)
posted on May 22, 2007 - View this thread

Are you annoyed that there is no species of blind cave spider named Sinopoda metafilteris or worm salamander named Oedipina bluepepsi? You can fix that for 3,000 Euros at the controversal BIOPAT. For inspiration, the Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature site collects the puns, insults, and other weirdnesses that can be found in the scientific names of various plants and animals [prev.]. Genes are not immune to weird names, especially in the case of the fruitfly, where clever naming is normal; but even better are the world's strangest dinosaur names, which allow you to tremble in fear in front of the bambiraptor and meet the Dragon King of Hogwarts.
posted on Apr 9, 2007 - View this thread

Elementymology. An fascinating look at the origins of the names of 117 elements, which also includes the names of the elements in many languages and a discussion of the origin of chemical symbols. If the real elements bore you, you may be interested in the fictional elements and particles in Star Trek and the Legion of Super Heroes (as well as some real ones as used in comics, prev.).
posted on Mar 19, 2007 - View this thread

Name of the Year looks to determine the most absurd - but real? - name out there, March Madness-style. Be sure to fill out your bracket today! Somehow, I get the feeling none of these are gonna register on the Baby Name Wizard
posted on Mar 16, 2007 - View this thread

Put a little commerce in your art with Lulu's Titlescorer, a widget that analyzes your book title's chances of gracing the top of the New York Time's bestseller list.
posted on Nov 26, 2006 - View this thread

The 50 Worst Video Game Names Of All Time. This is no joke, there are some real stinkers here which show that people who market games never, never realise that people might actually have to ask for them in shops. Some of these are actually unpronounceable. [via]
posted on Nov 4, 2006 - View this thread

How many me's are there?
posted on Oct 26, 2006 - View this thread

The Surname Profiler Project Website. A recent research project based at University College London (UCL) has investigated the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic, in order to understand patterns of regional economic development, population movement and cultural identity. Start a search here.
posted on Feb 2, 2006 - View this thread

OK, so some professional sports players have less-than-usual first names. Certainly not ones that are likely to appear on the top ten list. But if you really want weirdness in names (and, quite possibly, other things) you need to head over to Utah. (Frameset page; click on 'The Cream of The Crop'.) Personal favorite: VulvaMae
posted on Jan 20, 2006 - View this thread

Parallel Wales. They came from Wales, and settled in places called Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. They brought new contributions to the American fabric, but also old names that took on new meanings. Now, more than a hundred years later, what echoes remain? (via Projects)
posted on Nov 18, 2005 - View this thread

Pete, we need you.
posted on Sep 13, 2005 - View this thread

Horatio Hornblower, meet Gentle Fudge Staff and researchers at the Cornwall Record Office compiled a list of more than 1,000 unusual names found in censuses as well as in births, deaths and marriage records going back as far as the 16th century. "My all-time favorites are Abraham Thunderwolff and Freke Dorothy Fluck Lane," said Rene Jackaman, archive assistant at Cornwall County Record Office.
posted on Sep 12, 2005 - View this thread

White Power if it's a boy, Aryan Justice if it's a girl.
posted on Mar 29, 2005 - View this thread

What do Norman Cook (AKA Fat Boy Slim), Lord (Richard) Attenborough, Aubrey Beardsley, Lord (Laurence) Olivier, Sir Winston Churchill, Magnus Volk, Dame Anna Neagle, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Rowland Hill and Annie Nightingale, have in common?

They've all had a bus named after them [full list here] in the city of Brighton & Hove on the south coast of England. In Jamaica the buses are named a little more irreverently but this whole naming tradition doesn't seem to be as popular as naming trains with the late Joe Strummer one of the latest in a long line. Pix of the Stummer train here. [Scroll down a bit.]

Anyone live in a place where they name their buses? Or other inanimate objects?
posted on Mar 18, 2005 - View this thread

Because "Tanning Salon" just won't bring in the punters. Where its worth spending some money just to see the names show up on your credit card statement.
posted on Mar 10, 2005 - View this thread

Names in Time [babyfilter]
Martin Wattenberg has crafted an elegant interactive visualization of this baby-name data (discussed mefiwise here ). Martin's work discussed here before: 1 2 3
posted on Feb 8, 2005 - View this thread

Imitation chicken. Kennedy Fried Chicken, JFK Fried Chicken, J. F. Kennedy Fried Chicken, Kantacky Fried Chicken, et al. [via cardhouse]
posted on Dec 30, 2004 - View this thread

The Names of Ancient Cities Still Stir the Imagination. While the City of 333 Genies has almost vanished in the sands and the Mirror of the World is tarnished with age, the City of Men's Desire abides. In 1000 years, will the Big Apple be as vital as the Eternal City or as forgotten as the City of Venerated Houses?
posted on Dec 7, 2004 - View this thread

Rude place names. If you're in England then this is for you. Please bare with us rest of the world, this is what we really like in our humour (at least it in Kilburn). If you're not in England then feel free to use my postcode, NW2. Ooooo, titter ye not (and who will be the first wag to post "not"?)
posted on Jun 28, 2004 - View this thread

Arsole? Putrescine? Dickite? Moronic Acid? This list of Molecules with Silly or Unusual Names (one NSFW image) proves that scientists can be funny, as does this Stuffy Scientists page, and Mark Isaak's terribly thorough Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature (see, especially, Puns). If you are tempted to wonder what the Father of Taxonomy might have thought of the irreverence of those last two collections, keep in mind that Linnaeus himself named this plant "Clitoria Mariana" in honor of an 'acquaintance', according to this page.
posted on May 18, 2004 - View this thread

One God, Many Names. An intriguing short paper (pdf) from the Nawawi foundation on names given to God within the Abrahamic faiths and beyond.
posted on Apr 27, 2004 - View this thread

Michelle Branch found by someone doing their taxes. No, it's not the pop singer. But have they ever found terrorist David Nelson? And will liberal radio host Michael Jackson ever get a job again?
posted on Apr 9, 2004 - View this thread

A real Gucci bag out of your reach? Don´t worry, just compensate by naming your kid Gucci! Or Lexus, Evian, Enternity.... more brand baby names here.
posted on Dec 27, 2003 - View this thread

Putzmeister!
Saw it on a truck on the street; thought I was hallucinating; Googled it, and yes, they're into concrete pumping, and it's a German company, too. One for the "Bad Business Name Hall of Shame" that I started with my Blonder Tongue thread a year-and-a-half ago. Got any more? Think of it as a MetaTurkeyShoot for the day before Thanksgiving...
posted on Nov 26, 2003 - View this thread

We've had lively discussion of unusual baby names here before, but this BBC report about a growing American trend is certainly a curious and rather disturbing angle.
posted on Nov 13, 2003 - View this thread

I'm Michael Jackson - No, I'm the real Jackson. All you other Michael Jacksons are just imitators. So won't the real King of Pop please stand up please stand up please stand up.
(Warning: Angelfire and Geocities links = extreme pop-up action)
_{With apologies to Eminem. Deep apologies.}
posted on Sep 9, 2003 - View this thread

Who Was General Tso And Why Are We Eating His Chicken? Unlike Chicken Marengo, a dish created to celebrate Napoleon's victory, or Beef Wellington, named, it seems for the Duke's boots, General Tso's Chicken has a humbler origin as a traditional Hunan dish revived in a New York Chinese restaurant in the 1970s, when Szechuan was the latest craze. But this article will teach you a bit about the General Sherman of Ch'ing-period China.
posted on Sep 8, 2003 - View this thread

Interesting list of college athletic teams' nicknames. [More inside.]
posted on Aug 4, 2003 - View this thread

What does your last name mean? This site has a good variety of surnames with etymologies that seem to be trustworthy in general. You may have to try variant spellings; for instance, "Cardoso" comes up empty, but "Cardozo" gives:

Spanish and Portuguese, derived from Cardoso 'place where thistles grew', town or city from which the first bearer moved; also found in the form CARDOZA; made popular by the Sephardim moiety (Spanish-Portuguese group of Jews).

And if your name isn't there, you can try Behind the Name, which depends on submissions from readers and so is spottier, but has (for example) Nixon ("son of Nicholas"), which vitalog omits. Enjoy!
posted on Jul 18, 2003 - View this thread

Giving Credit where credit is due. For your Friday browsing pleasure, may I present the staff at NPR's CarTalk. Enjoy!
The Conclusive, Definitive, Official Dewey, Cheetham, & Howe Staff List In the good old days, we had an engineer and a rotary telephone with a couple of buttons on it. We pressed a button and--BINGO-- someone was on the air. Of course, it was usually a wrong number...but that's the price you pay for simplicity. Now look at the mess we're in! Thousands of people on the staff...all trying to do less work than us. What a revoltin' development this is. Look at all these employees! But despite our huge payroll--we're always hiring. So if you know of someone who may be worthy to join our crack(ed) staff, send his/her/its name and potential position to the Car Talk Plaza Personnel Department via e-mail to Dewey, Cheetham and Howe.
posted on Jun 27, 2003 - View this thread

Walter Matuschanskayasky Understandably Changed His Name To Walter Matthau, Derek Gentron Gaspart Ulric van den Bogaerde to Dirk Bogarde and Goldie Jean Studlendegehawn to Goldie Hawn but who did Splanger Arlington Brugh and Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg turn out to be? What's in a name, you ask? A lot's in a name, as Famous Name Changes extensively shows!
posted on Apr 7, 2003 - View this thread

Get Your Own Name, Buster! It's doesn't get any sillier than finding out how many people in the U.K. are at this very moment walking about pretending to be you; the limey bastards. But it's humbling, to say the least - and a bit of fun too. [Via Linkmachinego and Plep.]
posted on Mar 5, 2003 - View this thread

The Name Game Valley Creek Farms "solicits help from clever people each year to help name their young horses." If you consider yourself a gifted wordsmith with a knack for penning equine monikers that will get the bugs a buzzin' and make the farrier smile, this is your chance to take the reins. But it's not easy. The rules are extensive and your choice may already be taken. But with luck, you may one day hear your literary masterpiece of 18 letters or less roll off the caller's tongue and become part of thoroughbred history.
posted on Feb 27, 2003 - View this thread

Fido, Spot or Rover are mere nicknames for show dogs. This site explains the long show dog names, most popular names, and CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.
posted on Feb 11, 2003 - View this thread

Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia... BBC Radio1 clowns/idiots Mark and Lard have an ongoing quest to find the worst band name ever. Personally I think some of the bands in the poll have the best names. What makes a crap band name? Something unimaginative like The Michael Schenker Group? Something crass like Speculum Fight or Alien Porno Midgets? What, for that matter, makes a good name? Do tell.
posted on Jan 22, 2003 - View this thread

'I am who I am' A Florida man wanted to legally change his name to "God" but a judge denied his request. So he took a passage from the Bible where Moses asks God who he is and hears "I am who I am or I will be who I will be" I'm suprised that a government official would be protecting a religion-based request. Is there anything you shouldn't be allowed to change your name to?
posted on Oct 8, 2002 - View this thread

KPMG Consulting is now BearingPoint "Employees briefly rallied behind the chief executive's surname, Blazer, but that's also the name of a Chevrolet sport-utility vehicle. The name BearingPoint is based on navigational terms that signify 'setting a direction to an end point,' the company said." It seems like this one's going to last a bit longer than Monday did.
posted on Oct 3, 2002 - View this thread

Avast, ye MeFi mateys!! I be Red Roger Rackham -- what be ye pirate name?? Nyar!!
posted on Sep 20, 2002 - View this thread

It's big, it's bad, and it's coming your way. Beware Bonnie! No, no, wait. Hide from Hanna! Hmm, nope. Run from Rene! Geez, this naming thing isn't easy. How do you name a tropical storm? Should the name be masculine or feminine? Should it roll off the tongue with ease or be a mouthful? Are there some names you can't use? If a tropical storm was closing in on your neighborhood, what would you call it?
posted on Sep 12, 2002 - View this thread

Brooklyn Welcomes Romeo Beckham! The stuffy old Daily Telegraph heartily approves of Romeo, the name Victoria and David Beckham have given to their new baby, a brother to Brooklyn. So now an extra throne must be added to the happy parents' atrocious, unmissable website. I would have let this foolishness pass, had I not noticed with alarm that there already exists a bottomless resource catering to those who insist on giving their offspring Shakespearean names. If this is a trend, how bad can it get?[Please, no suicide jokes.] Or, to put it in Shakespeare's own words, from Romeo and Juliet no less, is this a case of "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by another name would smell as sweet"[Act ii, sc.2] or, rather, of "the children of an idle brain begot of nothing but vain fantasy"?[Act i, sc.4]
posted on Sep 2, 2002 - View this thread

Can't think of a name for your new album? Then don't give it one. Apparently none of the songs on the forthcoming Sigur Ros album will have names, either. Taking the "black album" concept a little too far?
posted on Aug 23, 2002 - View this thread

What's in a name? Apparently not much. One son was named Loser, the other Winner. One became a cop and eventually was promoted to detective - shield number 2762. The other fell into the life of a small-time crook, racking up at least 31 arrests before being sent away for a two-year stretch in state prison - inmate number 00R2807 {found on OpinionJournal}
posted on Aug 2, 2002 - View this thread