• New Museum of Names Resource Curates Leaders’ Own Name Stories
• Looking at Name Bullying Trends with the New York Post
• Coffee and Conversation with The Language of Names’ Co-Author Anne Bernays
• Upcoming Events (including one this weekend!)

Big Names in Business - In Their Own Words

A single name tells a story - but hundreds of name stories reveal unseen patterns. The Museum of Names LinkedIn page is bringing those pieces together to show the bigger picture of how names influence - and are influenced by - professional life.

Remember the well-known parable of the elephant and the blind man? It teaches us how touching only parts of the whole can be misleading.

Like that elephant, the impact of names in society is vast and multifaceted - and we experience it only in fragments. We may notice a name’s sound, its cultural background, its pronunciation, meaning, or even how it affects our perceptions, but each glimpse only tells part of the story.

The Museum of Names LinkedIn page seeks to change that. By compiling firsthand published accounts from professionals about their own experiences, the page will construct, story by story, a fuller picture of how names ripple through every aspect of work life.

First up, a Berkeley professor reveals how a traditionally Irish name can wreak havoc with travel plans. And a veteran nurse anesthesiologist explores the dual elation and grief of marital name change in a professional context. Coming next: At a milestone moment, an award-winning journalist observes that his name is “the only thing that would sit next to whatever I do, good or bad.”

These are not name scholars. They are busy professionals taking a few minutes to share what they’re experiencing in the moment. Weaving such voices together will illuminate patterns and surprises that remain invisible when names are considered in isolation. Curious to follow along, suggest content, or contribute? Follow the page on LinkedIn! (www.linkedin.com/company/museumofnames.)

Museum of Names on Name Bullying Trends

Following several years of speculation on what name would follow “Karen” as a common trope, mainstream and social media worldwide has locked in on the latest name-calling trend. Like its predecessor, "Jessica" has been appointed as shorthand to berate middle-aged women for behaviors or appearance.

Reporter Marissa Matozzo at the New York Post dove deeper than most reporters to reveal some of the trend’s causes and impacts. The Museum of Names contributed to the article, noting that name stereotyping has been around for centuries and that it can function differently than other insults, not only deriding the recipient but also challenging that person’s core identity.

As of yet, the “Jessica” trend appears to be a generation-specific social commentary, not a universal or political one, shielding women named Jessica from most of the blowback that hundreds named Karen describe in this study. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Coffee in Cambridge with Anne Bernays, Author of The Language of Names

“You will love her,” said the beaming doorman at Anne Bernays’ apartment building. “She is my favorite resident.”

In November, I traveled to Cambridge, MA, to visit with the 95-year-old co-author of The Language of Names, a rollicking romp through names in culture, history, and literature. A prolific fiction writer, Anne teamed up with her late husband, Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Justin Kaplan, to research and compile their book that showcases both fun and serious aspects of names.

Anne’s appreciation of names - both their artistry and their significance - started early. In her beautiful apartment overlooking the Charles River, she shared that her mother Doris Fleischman was an early leader in the Lucy Stone League, which fought for women’s agency, including the right to preserve their chosen identities. Not long before Anne was born, Doris became the first married woman issued a U.S. passport in her own name rather than her husband’s.

Justin and Anne often examined names together before they conceived the book, Anne told me. They discussed the way names shaped her fictional characters and the non-fictional people he biographized - and his own ambivalent relationship with his name dating back to a childhood when his parents disagreed over what to call him. “Names are invisible umbilical cords,” Anne told me. “They connect us indelibly to where we came from.”

Our conversation wandered easily, from literature to lineage to name-related topics, curious, expansive and generous - much like the book itself. It felt less like an interview than a meeting of minds with an insightful longtime friend. It’s easy to see why, even today, Anne remains an in-demand fiction writing coach with devoted students around the world.

The Language of Names: What We Call Ourselves and Why It Matters was published in 1997 by Simon and Schuster. Pick it up secondhand and once you read it you’ll be surprised, entertained, possibly even shocked and perplexed, and above all enticed to learn more.

COMING UP . . .

Looking for something to do this weekend? Happen to be in Vermont?

Stay warm and join me at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in Williston at noon on Saturday for a one hour presentation guaranteed to surprise and delight you! We’ll be looking at insights you almost certainly don’t know about your name - and everyone else’s!

🎟️ Ten Surprising Things About Names - Live!
🗓️ Saturday, Jan 24, 2026 | 12:00–1:00pm EST
🧠 Dorothy Alling Memorial Library - Williston, Vermont
👉 Open to the public - Get Details

Next up:

🎟️ Brandeis National Committee - South Miami-Dade Chapter
🗓️ February 5, 2026

🎟️ Discover Name Fluency Mini-Workshop (Zoom)
🗓️ Thursday, Feb 12, 2026 | 11:00–11:45am EST
🧠 Learn how names shape trust, identity, and belonging
👉 Reserve Your Free Spot

🎟️ CELEBRATE YOUR NAME WEEK!
🗓️ March 1-7, 2026
🧠 Bring a special names event to your group, workplace or school!
👉 Learn More

🎟️ American Camp Association Conference Session (Live)
🗓️ Saturday, Mar 28, 2026 | 12:15–1 pm EST

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