Familial Naming Practices

Dear Colleagues,

We are thrilled to begin our editorship with a special issue on naming practices in family history, a topic particularly dear to both of us. This Special Issue of Genealogy invites submissions on the topic of “Familial Naming Practices” to examine ancestral naming and naming practices or patterns, specifically surnames. Surname can be used as an entry point to learning more about historical demographics and family make-up throughout the etymological family history. We acknowledge and honor, “A person’s given name is a badge of cultural identity” because “the names that people bear are determined in large part by the culture that they belong to” (Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, 1990, p. vii).

Manuscripts may focus on topics around identity and belonging in association with names, naming practices, and changing of names--particular surnames during immigration. Some potential areas of focus may include the following, although other submissions are welcome and encouraged:

• Diversity and naming
• Nationality, ethnicity, and naming
• Family names via origin through profession, birthplace/location, or kinship
• Immigration and recognition
• Immigration patterns and name changes
• Patronymic surnames
• Race, gender, and naming
• Familial naming patterns, including traditional patterns and faith-based application
• Research associated with modified or changed surnames due to xenophobia
• Names associated with location
• Enslaved persons and naming
• Assimilation
• Cultural identities

Because the literature surrounding naming within genealogical and historical scopes is expansive, we are open to how authors frame the conversations around this special topic. We call for a wide range of voices and scholarship to be represented. As José Medina (2014) observes, “We have the individual and collective responsibility to do everything we can to keep cultural dialogues open and to allow for the identities of groups and individuals to be polyphonic (original emphasis), that is, to contain a (diverse and heterogeneous) plurality of voices” (p.184). Diverse and heterogenous voices reside in people with diverse and heterogeneous names through the inclusion of naming and language as identity practices.

Those who wish to submit to this special issue on names and naming should send a short statement of interest with a short description of the plans for the manuscript to the editors no later than October 1, 2018. These should be sent to both: duane.roen@asu.edu AND sjrobertson@ualr.edu

Prof. Dr. Duane Roen
Dr. Sherry Rankins-Robertson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.