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Abstract Charles Dickens created almost a thousand fictional characters, many of whom have become synonyms for distinctive types of people or their pecu- liar traits. This article surveys seventeen Dickensian eponyms, cites their first appearance as such, and provides examples of their usage in magazines, books, and the Internet.

Abstract This study examined the influence of religion on women's decision to retain their birth names after marriage. Samples (N = 2575) were derived from wedding announcements in the New York Times, a major US newspaper. Multivariate analysis, controlling for age and year of marriage, indicated that the net effect of religion accounted for 2.6 percent of the likelihood of name keeping (p

Abstract Three studies showed that medical doctors and lawyers were disproportionately more likely to have surnames that resembled their professions. A fourth study showed that, for doctors, this influence extended to the type of medicine they practiced. Study 1 found that people with the surname "Doctor" were more likely to be doctors than lawyers, whereas those with the surname "Lawyer" were more likely to be lawyers. Studies 2 and 3 broadened this finding by comparing doctors and lawyers whose first or last names began with three-letter combinations representative of their professions, for example, "doc," "law," and likewise found a significant relationship between name and profession. Study 4 found that the initial letters of physicians' last names were significantly related to their subspecialty, for example, Raymonds were more likely to be radiologists than dermatologists. These results provide further evidence names influence medical career choices.

Abstract Although only recently legalized in many countries, women's boxing is gaining increasing worldwide popularity. However, participation of women in this hypermasculinized sport is inconsistent with long-standing cultural expectations of femininity. This survey catalogs the nicknames given to women boxers, obtained from two online data bases (Women's Boxing Archive Network; Boxing Encyclopedia) and contends that many of these nicknames are intended to reassure the boxing audience, and often the boxers themselves, that despite their aggressiveness, these women are still inherently female.

Abstract After surveying some of the origins for American placenames associated with the Devil, we determined the prevalence of those placenames including their cognates, e.g., Satan or equivalents in other languages, e.g. Diablo, and related terms such as Hell and its synonyms, e.g. Hades, compared to placenames with angel or Heaven and their equivalents, e.g., archangel, Cielo. We found a much higher prevalence of Devil and Hell placenames attached to natural sites such as mountains and lakes compared to inhabited sites such as cities and schools which were more likely to contain the terms angel or Heaven in their placenames. We also found a considerably higher percentage of Devil and Hell placenames in the western and southern states than in the northeastern and Midwestern states.

Abstract This study tested Levi-Strauss's hypothesis that birds are more likely to be given human names than are dogs or other pets. The hypothesis was not supported. Instead, dogs (and cats) are much more likely to be given human names. The results were interpreted in terms of the relationships people feel with different kinds of pets. Pets housed outside the home are least likely to be given human names. Inside the house, pets kept in cages are less likely to be given human names than are pets allowed to roam freely within the home.

Abstract Pets are considered as part of the family in many households. As such, the names people give their pets ought to resemble the names they give their children in terms of sex-stereotypic phonological characteristics. A previous study indicated that this was true for Golden Retriever dogs. The present study determined 1) if such sex stereotyping was true for dogs in general, 2) also extended to cats, and 3) if the same phenomena held for both the United States and Australia. We compared the final written letter and final spoken phoneme in pet and human names, as well as the ‘first and last consonants, and syllable lengths in their names. We found that people applied the same gender-related naming practices for pets that they used for both male and female children. The only difference we found between U.S. and Australian naming for pets was that Americans gave their pets names that were more characteristic of male names than female names. We concluded that Americans and Australians used the same masculine/feminine rules for naming their pets as they do for naming their children.

Abstract This study examines the nicknames of American Civil War Generals. Beyond categorizing these names in terms of “external” physical or behavioral characteristics, and “internal” word play, this analysis offers a context and a semantic paradigm for understanding their referential and expressive aspects, and the prevailing cultural values associated with them. Few Generals were given nicknames. Those that did had to have had some characteristic or had to have done something that made them distinctive. A distinction is made between those nicknames that were given by men who had a personal relationship with the nicknamee and those who did not. Examples are given of the way these nicknames affected attitudes toward and the behavior of nicknamees.