International Council of Onomastic Sciences - Work of The Scholars of ICOS

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 creation, and 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 of geographical names. The aim of ICOS (as opposed to the 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 that end, it is engaged in the publication of research and the development of research tools as described below. The Council's members are drawn from disciplines such as linguistics and philology, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, geography and literary research. This organization has replaced the former International Committee of Onomastic Sciences, which was a closed society consisting exclusively of co-opted representatives of countries. The former body was therefore not open to individual scholars as the present one is.