Is there a formal term for having a name change operation?

It's still me, now to be known as
Archae0pteryx
(formerly Apteryx)

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 10 Jul 2004 17:26 PDT

Howdy-hi, whateveryournameis!

I don't know of any common word for a name change, but I like the
Latinate coinage "neonomenclature," as used here:

"In Advance and Retreat, Turtledove provides his characters and
locations with playful names, ranging from Ramblerville, Franklin
(Nashville, TN) to General Doubting George (George Thomas).  At times,
these replacement names get in the way of the story as the reader
pauses to figure out the connection between the neonomenclature and
the historic analog."

http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/advance.html

The Greek for "change of name" is "metonymy," which I find to be a
rather charming word. Metonymy is a term used in rhetoric for a
certain kind of figure of speech.

You'll always be "Tryxie" to me. :-)

(Please excuse my posting this as a Request for Clarification; I tried
repeatedly to post it as a Comment, and could not get it to go
through.)

~Pink

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Clarification of Question by apteryx-ga on 10 Jul 2004 17:46 PDT

Thanks, Pink!  "Metonymy" is a lovely word, but inextricably
associated in my mind with analytic essays on poetry (which I always
did enjoy writing).  "Neonomenclature"--that's a good one, although
it's not a word for an action, just a thing.  I was wondering about
something more along the lines of "transnominalization."  What do you
think?

Archae0pteryx

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 10 Jul 2004 18:19 PDT

How about "nominomorphy?" 

I just made it up, but it has a wordish sound to it.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 10 Jul 2004 20:03 PDT

Wow, I hit the jackpot while looking for Latin terms involving names...

nom. alt.
 nomen alternativum
 alternative name
 
nom. ambig.
 nomen ambiguum
 an ambigious name, name with unclear and varying application
 
nom. confus.
 nomen confusum
 a confused name with uncertain or varied application
 
nom. cons.
 nomen conservandum
 a name conserved over another earlier usage                            
 
nom. dub.
 nomen dubium
 a dubious unclear name

http://www.xs4all.nl/~lakenpvd/Engels/Field%20numbers/latin.htm
 
nom. err.
 nomen errorum
 incorrect name
 
nom. illeg.
 nomen illegitimum
 an illegitimate name
 
nom. inval.
 nomen invalidum
 an invalid name
 
nom. legit.
 nomen legitimum
 validly published name
 
nom. nov.
 nomen novum
 a new name, published for the first time or an admitted substitute or
instead of an earlier name
 
nom. nud.
 nomen nudum n.n.
 a naked, undescribed name
 
nom. obsc.
 nomen obscurum
 a name of unknown origin
 
nom. prov.
 nomen provisorium
 Provisionally Accepted; waiting description (not nomen provisorium, a
provisional name)
 
nom. rej.
 nomen rejiciendum
 a name to be rejected 
 
nom. sol.
 nomen solum
 a name without description = nomen nudum
 
nom. superfl.
 nomen superfluum
 a superfluous illegitimate name
 
nom. tant.
 nomen tantum
 only a name, just a epithet
 
nom. triv.
 nomen triviale
 trivial but popular name
 
nom. usit.
 nomen usitatum
 usual name
 
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lakenpvd/Engels/Field%20numbers/latin.htm

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Clarification of Question by apteryx-ga on 10 Jul 2004 21:34 PDT

Delightful notions all, especially nom. nud. (would that be anything
like "Ding an sich"?) and nom. superf., a prickly pair, to be sure,
but perhaps more at home in a taxonomy of cacti than in the
transformation of one -pteryx into another.  I now think we should go
for a neologism if possible, custom and convention having let us down
once again.  "Nominomorphy" is looking like a winner.

Tryx

Arch --

It seems to be that what you have done is something similar to a
"relever un nom," since the previous "owner" of the name appears to
have disappeared:

"It is possible to change one's name in France, though it is an
arduous and costly process. Some families have changed their names and
given it a nobiliary appearance. It is also possible to re-use a name
which has become extinct (relever un nom): one needs to make sure that
there is no one still entitled to bear that name, and obtain a decree
of the Conseil d'Etat. This was the procedure followed by a M.
Giscard, who legally changed his name to Giscard d'Estaing (the family
d'Estaing became extinct with the execution of the admiral d'Estaing
in 1794). such a procedure does not make anyone noble, obviously. His
grandson, president of the French Republic (1974-81), ridiculed
himself by asking for the seat of the admiral in the Society of the
Cincinnati (he was admitted on an honorary basis)."

Heraldica: Nobility and Titles in France
http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/noblesse.htm


jughead-ga, . . . er . . ., markj-ga

Nomenectomy?

Gee, this is getting to be fun!

Markj, thanks for "nobiliary"!  I am going to look for opportunities
to use that, maybe at work.  You might not guess this from knowing me
here, but sometimes I like to stir things up a little at the
office...just to liven things up, you know?...sometimes I can do it
just with a well-chosen word.  I remember getting a lot of miles out
of "bovine" once.

"Arch," eh?  Gosh, I try not to be.  Too.

Sublime1, wouldn't that be the surgical removal of a name?  Ouch!

Pink, you are on top of things as ever.  I don't know about
"nominomorphy," but I sure do like "wordish"!  Reminds me of when I
told my husband that the film we'd just seen was very writey.

"Nominomorphy."  Hmm.  Grows on one.

A~~x

Regarding the coining of words, I remember challenging an English
literature professor once when he used a highfalutin word with which I
was not familiar. I said "Dr. Matthews, is that really a word?"

He fixed me with his steely gaze and said "It is now."

Regarding my previous comment, if anyone is curious about the word my
professor used, it was "hibernification." He used this word in
discussing the fact that the Department of English Literature at the
university was being dominated by professors who were primarily
interested in Irish literature.

Pink,

I've always been a fan of coinages myself; I was secretly in sympathy
with Humpty Dumpty, who wasn't talking about coinages but was
certainly talking about linguistic liberties, even though by
profession I am committed to reining them in:

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean?-neither more nor less."
   "The question is, " said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so
many different things."
   "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty. "which is to be master?-that's all."

I do love the fact that English lends itself so readily to coinages
that have their own legitimacy and the fact that it is possible to use
logical rules to generate real English words that aren't in the
dictionary, just as you did with "nominomorphy."  English may not be
the best at this--I have an idea that German is better, and I know
that Sanskrit is--but our language is still phenomenally hospitable to
creative improvisation like your professor's.  I used to keep an ear
open when my son at age 8 played Scrabble with his friends:  his
powers of invention in English went beyond legitimacy and into sheer
counterfeit.

As a child I attempted to invent a whole language, one word at a time,
and I made all my friends use my words in place of standard English. 
But I began to see that it was a rather large task, so I abandoned the
effort when the vocabulary reached about two dozen.  At that time I
hadn't been exposed to systematic grammar and did not know how to
classify my words, or I might have got a lot further.

As an adult I thought I'd invented the word "scrutinous" to
characterize the kind of editorial attention some writings require,
the idea being a blend of "scrupulous" and "scrutinize," but another
editor actually looked it up in the OED and found it.  I also used to
keep a list of words that needed inventing, such as an adjective for a
person who has integrity and an adjective (which isn't "friendly")
describing the relationship between people who are friends.

Of course my family does have the usual quota of funny words that have
meaning only within our household.  Or am I wrong in thinking that
everybody has those?  I'm not just referring to babytalk for bathroom
words, mind.  It's always a trick to convey to kids that nobody but us
is going to understand those words if they use them outside the
family.

Your story made me smile, although right up to the last line I thought
the professor was referring to how frigid and wintry the department
was becoming.

Tryx