--- title: Ferguson: The American Name Society's Name of the Year description: Ferguson beats out Uber, Malala and Anna from 'Frozen' canonical: https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-09T21:58:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:11.117Z og:title: 'Ferguson' Is 2014's Name of the Year og:description: Beating out Uber, Malala and a certain princess from 'Frozen' og:url: https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe62d77044ce6f8/6987793435ba6f791cc0669b/ferguson-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Snow covers a yard sign placed outside a home near the police station on Nov. 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Ferguson' Is 2014's Name of the Year twitter:description: Beating out Uber, Malala and a certain princess from 'Frozen' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe62d77044ce6f8/6987793435ba6f791cc0669b/ferguson-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Ferguson' Is 2014's Name of the Year by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Jan 9, 2015 9:58 PM UTC  Snow covers a yard sign placed outside a home near the police station on Nov. 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Snow covers a yard sign placed outside a home near the police station on Nov. 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.Scott Olson—Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Jan 9, 2015 9:58 PM UTC In the basement of a Portland hotel Friday, a room full of members of the American Name Society gathered for their big annual event: voting on the name of the year for 2014\. They nominated and spoke for and against the names of people, places and things that mattered last year before a decisive vote. By a 15-vote margin over the other finalists, “Ferguson” became their name of the year. Ferguson, of course, is the name the St. Louis suburb where a police officer [shot and killed](http://time.com/3646805/antonio-martin-berkeley-missouri-mayor-teen-shooting/) teenager Michael Brown last year, setting off weeks of racially charged unrest around the country. Others also spoke up in favor of the eventual winner. “We can use our voice for social good and also for a movement that has some political weight to it,” said one member. Iman Laversuch Nick, the incoming president of the society, gave a short speech in support of Ferguson right before the vote. “It’s the amount of power that it evokes,” she said. “It’s a name like Columbine. This name will always have that meaning. … Ferguson is going to take that kind of place historically where we will immediately have those associations, and I think it’s incredible that a name can do that.” ### See 23 Key Moments From Ferguson  On Aug. 9, 2014, unarmed teenager Michael Brown was fatally shot by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. This image provided by KMOV-TV shows investigators inspecting Brown's body. Tiffany Mitchell—AP  Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, is comforted by her husband, Louis Head, on Aug. 9, 2014, after her son's death Huy Mach—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP  A fire burns at a QuikTrip store in Ferguson on Aug. 10, 2014, as protests turned violent one day after Brown's death. The night marked the first violent turn for the protests. David Carson—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP  Heavily-armed police advance on a protester on Aug. 11, 2014\. Law enforcement's tactical response, which included military-grade weapons, tanks and SWAT teams, touched off a debate over the militarization of local police forces. Whitney Curtis—The New York Times/Redux  A protester takes shelter from billowing smoke during demonstrations in Ferguson on Aug. 13, 2014\. Such scenes were relatively common during the first week of protests. David Carson—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP  A demonstrator throws back a tear gas container after tactical officers worked to break up a group of bystanders on Chambers Road near West Florissant in Ferguson on Aug. 13, 2014. Robert Cohen—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT/Zuma Press  Captain Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol addresses the media in Ferguson on Aug. 15, 2014\. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon appointed NIxon to coordinate law enforcement's response after local departments were criticized for fanning the flames. Lucas Jackson—Reuters  Darren Wilson at a Ferguson city council meeting on Feb. 11, 2014\. The image was the first widely-circulated photo of Wilson after the shooting. City of Ferguson/AP  Tear gas rains down on a woman kneeling in the street with her hands in the air during a demonstration in Ferguson on Aug. 17, 2014\. The "hands up, don't shoot" pose became the defining gesture of the protests. Scott Olson—Getty Images  Police in Ferguson fire tear gas in the direction of bottle-throwing crowds on Aug. 18, 2014. David Carson—St Louis Post-Dispatch / Polaris  Law enforcement officers look on during a protest on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Aug. 18, 2014. Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appeared with Capt. Ron Johnson at Drake's Place Restaurant in Ferguson on Aug. 20, 2014\. Holder's visit was meant to calm tensions after almost 10 days of protests. Pablo Martinez Monsivais—Pool/Getty Images  An anguished Michael Brown, Sr. yells as his son's casket is lowered into the ground at St. Peter's Cemetery in St. Louis, Mo., on Aug. 25, 2014. Richard Perry—Reuters  Members of the Ferguson Police Department wear body cameras during a rally on Aug. 30, 2014, in Ferguson. Like a number of departments around the U.S., Ferguson police began using the wearable cameras after Michael Brown was killed. There are no video recordings of the incident involving Brown and officer Darren Wilson. Aaron P. Bernstein—Getty Images  A fire on Sept. 23, 2014 burned a memorial for Michael Brown on the site where he was killed. The memorial was later rebuilt. Jacob Crawford—AP  Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, left, addresses protesters in front of the Ferguson Police Department, on Sept. 25, 2014\. Protesters have called for Jackson to resign. Robert Cohen—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP  Demonstrators participate at a rally on the campus of St. Louis University on Oct. 13, 2014\. Citizens around St. Louis continued to demonstrate throughout October, including during a performance by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Scott Olson—Getty Images  Academic Cornel West is taken into custody after performing an act of civil disobedience at the Ferguson, Mo., police station on Oct. 13, 2014. Charles Rex Arbogast—AP  Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown's mother, attends a press conference addressing the U.N. Committee Against Torture, in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 12, 2014\. Brown's parents testified in front of the committee about their son's death. Martial Trezzini—EPA  After the announcement that the grand jury brought no charges against Darren Wilson, police officers and protesters faced off on a tense night in which cars and buildings were burned by protesters and tear gas thrown by police, in Ferguson, Mo. on Nov. 24, 2014. Jim Young—Reuters  On March 4, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice released two reports clearing Officer Wilson of any civil rights violations when he shot and killed Brown but found a pattern of explicit racism and unfair treatment of minorities by Ferguson police officers and local officials. Carolyn Kaster—AP  Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson stepped down March 11, 2015, after a federal report harshly criticized the police department, becoming the sixth Ferguson official to resign since the investigation. Scott Olson—Getty Images  Two police officers were shot outside the Ferguson Police Department March 12, 2015, during a demonstration that followed the resignation of the agency’s embattled police chief. The two officers—one from Webster Groves, Mo., the other from St. Louis County—were seriously injured. Lawrence Bryant—St. Louis American/Reuters The town beat out Uber (the car service), Malala (the Nobel Peace Prize winner) and Elsa (the Disney princess of _Frozen_ fame) in the final round of voting. Each of the four were winners in their own respective categories: place names, trade names, personal names and fictional names. About 30 people cast their votes by a raise of hands. The American Name Society is the oldest and largest society dedicated to the investigation of names and how they develop. Laversuch Nick, a New Yorker who teaches at the University of Cologne, is passionate about how much power names have and how much they say about the people who use them. “It starts with the fact that everything that’s significant to us gets a name,” she says. She reels off examples. The identity crises people have in naming their first-born child; the arguments people have over who can call themselves a Native-American or whether _black_ is preferable to _African-American;_ why some products have names that resonate with consumers and inspire copycatting across industries (See: the iPod); the life-and-death power of names written on Schindler’s List; genocidal killers in Africa targeting victims with certain tribal names; the act of taking away a prisoner’s name and giving him a number; a woman’s decision about whether to keep or drop her last name when she marries; the fact that tampons are euphemized on aisle guides as “feminine hygiene” products; the unclear reason that it’s hard to imagine a lumbersexual named Herbert. Because of her first name, one used among Muslim people, Laversuch Nick has had to deal with being constantly flagged going through customs post-9/11\. “People aren’t aware how much these names mean to them,” she says. Though among the people gathered for the vote, Ferguson was an obvious exception. “I don’t think anyone in here had heard it before,” said another member right before votes were cast. “It’s this innocuous place that suddenly is a major city in the world’s perspective. I don’t think anybody will ever forget about Ferguson.” ### 25 Key Evidence Photos From the Ferguson Grand Jury  Officer Darren Wilson's vehicle is shown at the scene of the confrontation in this undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office St. Louis County  A bracelet was found near where Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014 St. Louis County  The cap 18-year-old Brown wore the day he was shot by Officer Wilson St. Louis County  This photograph shows a casing from a bullet fired from Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson's gun. St. Louis County  A blood-stained sheet covers the body of 18-year-old Michael Brown. St. Louis County  Brown's blood is spattered on the ground near where his body lay after being shot by Officer Wilson St. Louis County  Another bullet casing from Officer Wilson's gun, which was fired a total of 12 times that day in August St. Louis County  This photo shows shattered glass from Officer Wilson's car window, which was shot out during a struggle between Wilson and Brown, according to grand jury testimony St. Louis County  The interior of Officer Wilson's police vehicle. Wilson says he used the radio to call for backup after the shooting St. Louis County  Another bracelet discovered near Officer Wilson's vehicle following the shooting St. Louis County  A close up of the exterior of Wilson's vehicle following the incident St. Louis County  Evidence left following the incident on the exterior of Officer Wilson's police car St. Louis County  Handprints mark the rear window of Wilson's vehicle. St. Louis County  A traffic cone and police tape mark the scene near where Brown was shot on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. in August St. Louis County  Officers fetch a bullet from a hole left in the side of a building near the scene St. Louis County  A bullet fired by Wilson's gun St. Louis County  The uniform Officer Wilson wore the day he shot and killed Michael Brown St. Louis County  Officer Darren Wilson St. Louis County  Wilson says he feared for his life during an altercation with Brown, leading him to use deadly force. St. Louis County  Evidence left on the breast pocket of Wilson's uniform following the shooting of Michael Brown St. Louis County  This image shows Wilson soon after the shooting. At the time, the officer underwent a medical examination St. Louis County  During the medical examination, bruising was discovered on Wilson's cheek where he says Brown punched him in the face St. Louis County  Medical examination also found cuts on the back of Officer Wilson's head St. Louis County  The gun Officer Darren Wilson used when he shot and killed Michael Brown St. Louis County  A bullet found in Officer Wilson's weapon after the shooting of Michael Brown St. Louis County ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/"},"headline":"'Ferguson' Is 2014's Name of the Year","datePublished":"2015-01-09T21:58:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:48:11.117Z","description":"Beating out Uber, Malala and a princess from Frozen","url":"https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/","keywords":["Living","Newsfeed","society","language","baby names","Culture","names","Ferguson topic","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe62d77044ce6f8/6987793435ba6f791cc0669b/ferguson-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe62d77044ce6f8/6987793435ba6f791cc0669b/ferguson-sign.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Snow covers a yard sign placed outside a home near the police station on Nov. 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.","caption":"Snow covers a yard sign placed outside a home near the police station on Nov. 16, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri.","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3662263/ferguson-name-of-the-year/","name":"'Ferguson' Is 2014's Name of the Year"}}]}] ```