The Californer - "Ozempic" Chosen as 2024 ANS Name Of The Year

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SAN FRANCISCO - Californer -- "Ozempic" was chosen as the winner of the Name of the Year for 2024 by the American Name Society at its annual Name of the Year discussion and vote on January 9, 2025. This pharmaceutical brand name was selected for its significant linguistic features and spin-offs like "Ozempic face", "Ozempic Olympics", "oat-zempic", "faux-zempic". Reflecting an important US trend, "Ozempic" has also become nearly synonymous with weight-loss drugs like "Wegovy" and "Mounjaro". "Ozempic" was also chosen as the winner of the Brand Name of the Year over "ChatGPT", "Bluesky", and "DOGE" (Department of Government Efficiency).

"Kamala" was chosen as Personal Name of the Year. The US Presidential hopeful of the Democratic Party, Vice President Harris's campaign leaned heavily into the use of her first name as a rallying cry, in slogans like "Yes We Kam". "Kamala" was one of the joint winners of the 2020 Name of the Year. In 2024, it gained renewed linguistic significance because of the public discourse around its pronunciation. Other candidates in this category included "Gisèle Pelicot" and "Kennedy".

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"Ohio" was voted Place Name of the Year. In the summer of 2024, this US state name became a social media meme meaning something weird or "cringe". Although the meme started on Tumblr in 2016, it went viral in 2024 among Generation Z and Generation Alpha. Other candidates in this category included Mar-a-Lago and Denali.

"James" was chosen Artistic/Literary Name of the Year. It is both the title and name of the main character in, Percival Everett's re-telling of Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The winner of the National Book Award, the book tells the story from the perspective of James, whom his White enslavers call "Jim". Other candidates in this category included "Diddy", "Brat", "Spider-Verse".

"Wrapped" was voted E-Name of the Year. Introduced by the music streaming company Spotify, this trademarked name refers to a marketing service that allows users to compare their listening activity over the past year. The name has been adopted by other companies, like Duolingo and Reddit. Other candidates in this category were "Bluesky", "ChatGPT", and "Discord".

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In the Miscellaneous category, the winner was "Brat". The title of Charli XCX's popular album, the name later appeared in "Brat Summer", a season of female strength and empowerment. "Brat" was also embraced by Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign. Other nominations in this category were "Moo Deng", "UAP", and "Project 2025".

Founded in 1951, the American Name Society is a scholarly organization devoted to investigating names and naming. The Name of the Year vote has been held since 2004. Past overall winners include "Gaza" and "Barbie" which tied for 2023; "Ukraine" for 2022; and "Great Resignation" for 2021. https://www.americannamesociety.org/