大象传媒

Naming names on the Fifth Floor. David Amanor celebrates the power - and fun - of names, with Sucheera Maguire of 大象传媒 Thai, Famil Ismailov of 大象传媒 Russian, Janay Boulos of 大象传媒 Arabic, Cagil Kasapoglu of 大象传媒 Turkish, Roberto Belo Rovella of 大象传媒 Mundo, Shoaib Sharifi of 大象传媒 Afghan, Mohanad Hashim of 大象传媒 Africa, and Najiba Kasraee of the 大象传媒 Academy.

Nicknames
Somalis love nicknames, as the world discovered last February with the election of 'President Cheese' - Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo Mohamed. David is given a Somali-style nickname, and hears from Sucheera Maguire about the Thai tradition of nicknames.

The name in my news
Which name has dominated the news in your region? For 大象传媒 Russian's Famil Ismailov, it has to be President Vladimir Putin. Janay Boulos of 大象传媒 Arabic nominates President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. And Cagil Kasapoglu of 大象传媒 Turkish chooses two - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his sworn enemy, the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

My name, my identity
In some cultures, names can reveal whole stories about family, ethnicity or religion. Janay Boulos and Famil Ismailov explain what their names say about them, and Cagil Kasapoglu remembers her surprise at the sensitivity of asking someone their name in Lebanon.

The politics of naming
大象传媒 Korean was launched this year, but choosing its name proved tricky. Najiba Kasraee of the 大象传媒 Academy explains why. Plus Roberto Belo Rovella sheds light on why Uruguayans call themselves 'oriental'.

Choosing names
Astrologers and warlords - the finer points of choosing a child's name in Thailand and Afghanistan, with Sucheera Maguire and Shoaib Sharifi.

The nameless
Long-established taboos in some cultures mean that husbands and wives never address each other by their first names. Shoaib Sharifi describes the tradition in Afghanistan, and a recent campaign to change it.

Image: David Amanor and members of the 大象传媒's language services
Credit: 大象传媒