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This Month in Names, July 2018

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Born in the flames of Not Creative, schooled by LeBron James & Elon Musk

Born in the flames of Not Creative, schooled by LeBron James & Elon Musk.
Collected by Greg & Willem.

This Month in Names

July 2018

A monthly collection of interesting news and events on names. Shoot us a reply and let us know any thoughts and feedback. Subscribe here if you're not already a member.

🎓 Schoolhouse Rock Stars

When it comes to naming educational institutions, the go-to tropes fall into three categories: historical (or rich, or both) people, locations, and abbreviations. But a new generation of educators — and by educators we also mean rich people — are going a different route.

When Elon Musk felt his kids weren't getting the schooling they deserved, he set about reimagining primary and secondary education by founding a new private school named Ad Astra, from Virgil and a Latin phrase meaning “to the stars.” Word on the street is that the elites in LA are pulling every string they have to get their kids admitted.

Meanwhile, LeBron James felt underprivileged kids weren't getting the schooling they deserved, so he opened the I Promise School, a public school in partnership with Akron Public Schools. The name "stems from the foundation's road map for students who promise to go to school, do their homework, listen to teachers, ask questions and find answers, be respectful of others and live a healthy life." Every student is promised a full ride to college from the James Foundation, as well as a bicycle, transportation, and food assistance.

Planning to start your own school? Of course there's a name generator for that.


🔥 How Fires Get Their Names

We’re very familiar with how hurricanes are named, but the New York Times goes deep on the naming of wildfires. Unlike hurricanes, which are named from a predetermined list, wildfires are named based on geographical locations such as local landmarks, streets, lakes, mountains, and peaks. The results can be a bit mixed, including one Idaho fire named “Not Creative,” which is what comes from having too many fires to name, leading to the over consumption of christening champagne, and (perhaps) more important things to do, like fighting fires.


📈 Calling Redlining by Name

Porch, a directory of handypersons, recently analyzed words in the names of neighborhoods with the highest average household incomes in America. Their findings purport to show that wealthy households tend to be located within neighborhoods featuring luxurious geographic features like hill, island, acres, and beach (near private schools with Latin names, no doubt). At the other end of the financial spectrum, they claim neighborhoods tend to contain Spanish words including Los, Las, and Vista in addition to more urban references like City, Union, and University.

Analyses like these are problematic on a number of levels, and the primary takeaway in the context of professional naming should simply be this: words matter, but our biases matter more.


🌵 Should Austin, TX change its name?

Austin's Chief Equity Officer posed this question in a memo on the renaming of streets and landmarks named for Confederate leaders after examining Stephen F. Austin (the city's namesake) and his deep support of slavery. It was a prompt meant to spur discussion on where their renaming initiative should draw lines, but also seems to ask how, if at all, the scale of something should be considered when scrutinizing its name. Is a city of 1M people too large to rename in the service of social justice? And, if so, how about a sports team with hundreds of thousands of fans? At what point does a society decide a name is indelible, despite what harms it may cause? And, in a world of digital maps where large companies rename themselves regularly (often with employment bases and market caps bigger than many countries' populations and GDPs), will cities begin to change their perspectives on the permanence of their names?

More News in Naming

👙 Trend Watch: Online bra retailer Harper Wilde, named for authors Harper Lee and Laura Ingalls Wilder, continues the trend of apparel startups mashing together the names of two famous people (previously: Oliver CabellWarby Parker). Expect similar mashups to come.

👃The New York Times digs into the subtle differences between cologne, eau de toilette, and perfume.

🚇A new startup called The New L is looking to cash-in on New York’s upcoming L-train shutdown offering a “luxurious daily commute” and a Lyft-styled pink brand. We’d rather just have a well-functioning MTA.

🔌 Tronc has unwinds its pseudo-techie name (and logo!) and will again be called Tribune Publishing.

👑 Speaking of LeBron James (aka King James and, to some, the GOAT), he has regrets about naming his son after himself.

📃 Google continues its brand focusing, this time renaming its flagship advertising product from Adwords & Doubleclick to Google Ads.

🥐 The Paris Metro renamed many of its stations to celebrate Les Bleus World Cup victory (warning, lots of bad puns).

Onym names everything from startups and consumer products to children and pro sports teams. Get in touch and let us help you name your next thing.