36.3925, Confs: 7th International Conference on Onomastics “Name and Naming” (Romania)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3925. Mon Dec 22 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3925, Confs: 7th International Conference on Onomastics “Name and Naming” (Romania)

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Date: 20-Dec-2025
From: Oliviu Felecan [olifelecan at yahoo.com]
Subject: 7th International Conference on Onomastics “Name and Naming”


7th International Conference on Onomastics “Name and Naming”
Short Title: ICONN 7
Theme: Names and Humour

Date: 09-Sep-2026 - 11-Sep-2026
Location: Baia Mare, Romania
Contact: Oliviu Felecan
Contact Email: iconn3bm at gmail.com
Meeting URL: https://onomasticafelecan.ro/iconn7/

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Applied Linguistics;
General Linguistics; Sociolinguistics
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                     French (fra)
                     German (deu)
                     Italian (ita)
                     Romanian (ron)
Language Family(ies): Indo-European

Submission Deadline: 10-Apr-2026

In a world living under the threat of war, natural disasters,
pandemics, and all other kinds of tragedies, humour acts as a beacon
of hope and makes almost any hardship easier to bear. Humour appears
everywhere, deliberately or incidentally; it is an intrinsic part of
human existence. Thus, we considered that the Seventh International
Conference on Onomastics “Name and Naming” (ICONN 7) should focus on
the connections one can establish between names and humour. In
anthroponymy, humour occurs in names from various subclasses: family
names (illo tempore nicknames: Cârnaț ‘sausage’, Gâlceavă ‘bickering’
– see Gafton 2021), first names (instances of accidental humour, as
the (god)parents are responsible for the name choices: Poliția ‘the
police’, Semafor ‘traffic lights’ – see Felecan 2014a, 2014b),
nicknames (used regardless of the name bearers’ and name givers’ ages
and social context of reference: Broscoiu ‘the toad’, Tutankhamun –
see Felecan 2016: 65–81). Similarly, there are traces of humour in
toponymy, despite the onomastic legal prescriptions in effect in
various geographical areas. Traditional toponyms are linguistically
motivated and may mirror a certain ancestral humour whose origin has
been lost in the mists of time (Cascada Pișetoarea ‘Pissing Falls’,
Curu dealului ‘the ass of the hill’ – see Mihali 2024: 343–360).
Humour also occurs in ergonymy. For instance, many company names are
underpinned by humorous intentions as marketing strategies, e.g., to
attract customers’ attention: La cățeaua leșinată (‘at the passed-out
bitch’), SC Bună ziua Doamne ajută SRL (‘Good day, God bless’), while
others may be interpreted circumstantially as being humorous: Cool
Cat, Dirty Habit (see Felecan 2017: 231–245). At the same time,
facetious phrases are found in names of sports clubs: AS Atletic
Orbeasca (‘Orbeasca Atletic Sports Association’, a pun on Atlético
Madrid, the name of the world-famous Spanish football club; the
humorous effect is obtained by the association between the
aforementioned element and the name of a Romanian village, Orbeasca,
in which the root of the Romanian verb a orbi ‘to blind’ may be
identified); Real Rio Cocoșești (a football club name indicative of a
threefold onomastic overlay: the first component likely refers to Real
Madrid, the name of the Spanish football club, the second reiterates a
part of the toponym Rio de Janeiro, and the third is the name of the
Romanian village Cocoșești [The toponym may be linked to the Romanian
slang verb a (se) cocoși, whose meaning may be construed as a
reference to ‘being cocky, i.e., overly self-confident’ or as a sexual
allusion, ‘to mate’.], in Prahova county). Humour appears even in
names of magazines, e.g., Plai cu boi (literally ‘oxen field’), a
periodical which was first issued just a few months after Playboy
Romania was launched. As regards literature, characters bearing
humorous names may be found in numerous texts across the world. In
Romanian literature, I.L. Caragiale is the classical example of author
in this respect. His characters are suggestively named for the
readers’ amusement. In English literature, the charactonyms coined by
Charles Dickens are widely quoted in this context: e.g., Baron
Koëldwethout, Dowager Marchioness Publicash, Lady Coldveal, Lady
Snorflerer, Lord Knowswhom, Lord Verisopht, Mrs Wooden Leg Walk
Blores, Sir Arrogant Numskull, Sir W. Jolterhead, (see Harder 1959:
37, 39–40). Charactonyms also fulfil a humorous function in William
Shakespeare’s comedies (e.g., Bottom, Flute, Quince, Snug, Starveling
– see Smith 2021: 180-182) or in works by Terry Pratchett: e.g., Bjorn
Hammerhock, Captain Mayonnaise Quirke, Deranged Lord Harmoni, Laughing
Lord Scapula, Lord Rust, Mad Lord Snapcase, Old Leggy Gaskin, Viscount
Skater (see Gibka 2018: 51–53). The names may be considered amusing
based on their sonority or underlying semantic associations.
The connection between humour and names is prolific, complex, and
topical. It can open new directions for research into anthroponymy,
toponymy, and other onomastic categories.
References:
Attardo, Salvatore. 2020. The Linguistics of Humour: An Introduction.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Felecan, Oliviu. 2014a. Unconventional First Names: Between Onomastic
Innovations and Illustrious Models. In Unconventional Anthroponyms:
Formation Patterns and Discursive Function, Oliviu Felecan, Daiana
Felecan (eds.), 133–155. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars
Publishing.
Felecan, Oliviu. 2014b. Gypsy names: Anthroponymic
Identity/Assimilation. In Els noms en la vida quotidiana. Actes del
XXIV Congrés Internacional d’ICOS sobre Ciències Onomàstiques/Names in
daily life. Proceedings of the XXIV ICOS International Congress of
Onomastic Sciences, Secció 4, Joan Tort i Donada, Montserrat Montagut
i Montagut (eds.), 502–514. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya,
Departament de Cultura, DOI: 10.2436/15.8040.01.55.
Felecan, Oliviu. 2016. A Psycholinguistic Approach to Nicknaming (With
Reference to Nicknames Given by Students to Teachers). In Names and
Their Environment. Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of
Onomastic Sciences, Glasgow, 25–29 August 2014, vol. 3, Carole Hough,
Daria Izdebska (eds.), 65–81. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.
Felecan, Oliviu. 2017. The Typology of Romanian Firms in Urban Areas.
In Di nomi e di parole. Studi in onore di Alda Rossebastiano, E. Papa,
D. Cacia (eds.), 231–245. Roma: SER (Società Editrice Romana)
ItaliAteneo (QuiRIOn 8).
Gafton, Ioana. 2021. Repertoriu al schimbărilor de nume (1893–1946)
[Directory of name changes (1893–1946)], 2 vols. Iași: Editura
Universității Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
Gibka, Martyna. 2018. The Humorous Function of the Characters’ Names
in Terry Pratchett’s Men at Arms. In All About Pratchett: czyli
wszystko o sir Terrym Pratchetcie, Kamil Karaś, Aleksandra Hołubowicz,
Agata Włodarczyk (eds.), 45–55. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu
Gdańskiego.
Harder, Kelsie B. 1959. Charles Dickens Names His Characters. Names 7
(1): 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.1959.7.1.35 (accessed in
December 2025).
Mihali, Adelina-Emilia. 2024. Toponime „ruşinoase” – între imaginaţie
şi explicaţie [“Shameful” toponyms – Between imagination and
explanation]. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on
Onomastics “Name and Naming”: (In)correctness in Onomastics, Oliviu
Felecan, Alina Bugheșiu (eds.), 343–360. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Mega,
DOI: 10.30816/ICONN6/2023/27.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace, Don Nilsen 2019. The Language of Humour: An
Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Chapter on
Names, 218–233, DOI: 10.1017/9781108241403.018).
Smith, Grant W. 2021. Names as Metaphors in Shakespeare’s Comedies.
Delaware: Vernon Press.



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