Now, "there are lots of little cottages with names and lots of puns, " says Bert Lippincott, reference librarian at the Newport Historical Society.

WSJ: A House by Any Other Name

The major objective of this joint effort is for UNESCO to provide assistance to its Member States by creating a reference table of country names and abbreviations for countries whose official languages are based on Cyrillic script.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

Techies invoke the names of richly acquired startups in the manner that preachers reference saints.

FORBES: By rejecting Google, Groupon swings for tech immortality.

In Haroun and the Sea of Stories, for instance, the names Haroun and Rashid are a reference to Harun al-Rashid, who appears in many stories.

BBC: Today