The International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS) is an international academic organization of scholars with a special interest in

onomastics Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...

, the scientific study of

names A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...

(e.g.

place-names Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

personal names A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is known, ...

, and proper names of all other kinds). The official languages of ICOS are English, French, and German.

Work of the scholars of ICOS

Members research: * the origin and history of names, * the personal name-systems used by different cultures, * the demographic patterns of names in different societies, * the use and significance of names of characters in literature, *

brand-name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

creation, * many related topics in the naming of persons, places, institutions, works of art, and other miscellaneous objects. They are also involved in practical projects such as the international

standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

of geographical names. One of the aims of ICOS, unlike many national societies for name-study, is the advancement, representation and co-ordination of name-research on an international level and in an interdisciplinary context. To achieve this goal, it is committed to the publication of research and the development of research tools. Thus, its members come from diverse disciplines such as

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

, history, sociology,

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

and literary research. This organization replaced the former International Committee of Onomastic Sciences, which was composed exclusively of representatives of member countries and did not welcome individual researchers as this new structure allows.

''Onoma''

ICOS publishes the annual journal ''Onoma'', which is its official publication. ''Onoma'' is managed by a General Editor in conjunction with an Editorial Board. It contains topical research reports as well as basic theoretical articles concerning all areas of scholarly name research. ICOS also publishes an irregular newsletter. .

Working groups

ICOS has two active working groups, striving: # to create an international bibliography of name-study # to help create an internationally agreed technical terminology for name-study

Congresses

The International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, which is normally held every three years, is a major academic conference organised on behalf of ICOS by one of its members. The General Assembly of ICOS, which also functions as its business meeting, and at which its officers are elected, is usually held at these congresses. The ordinary business of ICOS is transacted by the elected board of directors. Until the present, the following congresses have been run: # Paris, 1938 # Paris, 1947 # Bruxelles russels 1949 # Uppsala, 1952 # Salamanca, 1955 # München unich 1958 # Firenze

lorence Lorence is a given name and a surname. People so named include: * Lorence G. Collins, American petrologist * Lorence Wenke, American politician * Paul F. Lorence, United States Air Force Captain * Edna Sirius Lorence, Australian politician See ...

1961 # Amsterdam, 1963 # London, 1966 # Wien ienna 1969 # Sofia, 1972 # Bern, 1975 # Kraków, 1978 # Ann Arbor, 1981 # Leipzig, 1984 # Québec, 1987 # Helsinki, 1990 # Trier, 1993 # Aberdeen, 1996
Santiago de Compostela, 1999Pisa, 2005York University, Toronto, 2008Barcelona, 2011Glasgow, 2014Debrecen, 2017Kraków, 2021
(postponed from 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic)
Helsinki, 2024
The proceedings of each congress are available at the ICOS website.

Presidents

* Professor Hendrik Jozef van de Wijer (Leuven), 1950–1968 * Professor Henri Draye (Leuven), 1969-1983 * Professor Karel Roelandts (Leuven), 1984–1990 * Professor Wilhelm F.H. Nicolaisen (New York / Aberdeen), 1990–1996 * Professor Robert Rentenaar (Amsterdam), 1996–1999 * Professor Isolde Hausner (Vienna), 1999–2002 * Dr. Mats Wahlberg (Uppsala), 2002–2005 * Professor Maria Giovanna Arcamone (Pisa), 2005–2008 * Professor Sheila Embleton (Toronto), 2008–2011 * Professor Carole Hough (Glasgow), 2011–2014 * Dr. Milan Harvalík (Prague), 2014–2017 * Dr. Paula Sjöblom (Turku), 2017–2021 * Dr. Katalin Reszegi (Debrecen), 2021–2024

References

External links

*
OnomaSociety for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland
{{Authority control International learned societies Onomastics Linguistic societies