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The Royal Family are far from the typical British Family. They don't live in normal houses, they don't have normal cars—and they don't have normal jobs. Another thing that is unusual about the Royal Family is that they hardly ever use their surname. They generally refer to themselves by their royal title and their first name—Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, or Prince William and Prince Harry for example. The additional letters HRH are used for princes and princesses and stand for His (or Her) Royal Highness. The Queen herself is often referred to as simply Her Majesty. Historically, the monarchy didn't have surnames. They were referred to by the name of the dynasty they led, such as the Tudors, the Stuarts or the House of Hanover of which dynasty Queen Victoria, who died in 1901, was the last monarch. This convention changed in 1917 when Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather, George V, decided that he and his descendants should bear the surname Windsor and the dynasty became known as the House of Windsor. The Royal Family had German connections—Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert was German-born, and since Britain and Germany were at war, George V decided to adopt a British surname. Instead of the German sounding name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he chose the name Windsor after their popular family castle of that name which is situated to the west of London. Since then all royals have been given the official surname of Windsor, even though it is rarely used by them or anyone else. In 1960 Queen Elizabeth II modified this decision by adding the surname of her husband, Prince Philip, otherwise known as Lord Mountbatten, to the royal surname. All her children were to take the name Mountbatten-Windsor. However, the British royals don't use this name very often either. The Queen's eldest son Charles, as recorded in the marriage register at his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, was His Royal Highness Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, The

Prince of Wales. The Royal Family has a history of using the same babies' names over and over again. If you look back over the royal family tree, you will see there have been eight King Henrys, four Kings called William, and eight called Edward. There haven't been very many queens so we can only count two Queen Elizabeths and one Queen Victoria. Other popular names for royals include Anne, Albert, James and George which was so popular that four kings in a row were called George between 1714 and 1830. And there were two more crowned King George in the 20th century between 1910 to 1952. That's nearly 160 years of King Georges! And they were all named after the patron saint of England. Because they are often used for royalty, these names are seen as very traditional and are among the most popular children's names in Britain. William and Harry for example, regularly make the list of top ten boys' names. But as the make-up of society changes and unusual names become more and more trendy, perhaps we will start to see a change in the names chosen by royals as well as in the rest of the people

OK, so a little test. Coca-Cola ... Nike ... Ferrari. Think! What images did you get as I said these very famous brand names? Wait a moment. There's no real need to answer, is there, because we know, more or less, don't we? Coca-Cola—that delicious fizzy drink, ice cold, on a hot summer's day. Nike—running shoes for strong, beautiful bodies. Ferrari—an attractive, powerful car for attractive, powerful people. The fact is, the names, the brand names, say it all. What's in a brand name? Ideally, everything! Everything the manufacturer wants you to think of when you hear the name. That's certainly what both customers' experience and research tells us. It's the reason why manufacturers attach such importance to choosing the right name for their product. Let's take a look at some of the qualities

a good brand name should have. Firstly, it should be simple and easy to remember. Imagine if Coca-Cola had been named \"Cocafantasticola\". It's just much too long! Or, take another name—Starbucks, the name of a famous coffee shop. Now, that's an easy name to remember. Starbucks. Second point. The brand name should be different, unique, something you can't confuse with anything else. Like Coca-Cola. Or—let's take another famous brand name—Microsoft. It combines two words,

micro, meaning very small, and the word soft. Two words that together make a

unique name—Microsoft. Thirdly, if the name is a real word, it should have strong, positive associations. Take the name Alfa Romeo, the name of a car. Alfa is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and has the association of the best or the strongest.

Romeo is the name of one of the most romantic lovers of all in a famous

Shakespeare play. Alfa Romeo—strong, romantic. The words have great

associations, don't they? Fourth point. The sound of the name is very important. Take Ferrari. The word has a long vowel sound—\"aaari\"—that makes it sound luxurious. So a Ferrari must be a luxurious car, right? How about Coca-Cola? It's got a sharp, fizzy sound, just like the drink. So—all these things are what you should be looking for when choosing a brand name—something simple,

memorable, unique, with positive associations, and a great sound. Whew! It's not easy, is it, to choose a name that does all those things? But the very best brand names do exactly that.

Clare, tell me about the names in your family. You say some of them have quite an interesting history.Yes, they do. Well, OK, I'll begin with my own name. My maiden

name

was

Habibis,

but

I'm

married

and

my

name's

Thompson.Thompson.Yes. I don't know much about the names on my husband's

side of the family, so I'll talk about my own instead ... OK, so ... my full name's Clare Elsie Thompson. \"Elsie\" is my middle name, which used to be a very old-fashioned name. In fact, it's just come back into fashion — I met someone who called their baby \"Elsie\" — but when I was younger it was the kind of name that made people laugh and I hated it. Anyway, my parents wanted to name me after my grandmother, whose name was Elsie Clare, so their first idea was to call me Elsie Clare.Elsie Clare!Yes, but when they told my grandmother, she was horrified, and said, \"You can't do that to the child, I've had to put up with Elsie all my life, I don't want her to have to.\" So they called me Clare Elsie instead.Sounds better!Yes ... My father's surname is Habibis. My mum's English but he was Greek, so that was the name I grew up with. But Habibis isn't a Greek name, it's a Middle Eastern name and means \"loved one\" in Arabic.Really?Yes, and the reason for the surname, we discovered, is that my great-grandfather on my father's side lived in Lebanon—there was a well-established Greek community there. And my great-grandfather was a very sociable, friendly kind of person and everyone liked him a lot so they gave him the name, \"Habibi\lovely!Yes, I do like that story. But my father had a great first name too. He was called Homer, after the Ancient Greek poet.The English would see that as a very unusual name, but I suppose the Greeks wouldn't, would they?No, I don't think so. But one of his brothers was called Milton.Milton, the 17th century English poet?Yes. And you wouldn't think that a Greek family would call their son after an English poet, would you? But they did!

This week, on Cross-Cultural Awareness: Holidays and Customs in Asia we meet some international students who are attending school in California. Many

students here are Asian. Asians celebrate a lunar New Year, so the exact date changes every year. New Year is the biggest holiday in Asian cultures. The holiday lasts for 15 days and ends with a lantern festival on the full moon. This woman used to live in Vietnam. She now lives in California

We go by the lunar calendar and so, um, our New Year's is usually in the springtime, our, the calendar here in America, so we celebrate it in February- Marchish. That's probably one of my favourite Vietnamese holidays

Asians usually celebrate this holiday by lighting off firecrackers to send out the old year and to welcome the new year. They usually don't wash their hair on New Year's. Washing hair washes away good luck for the coming year. This woman used to live in Shanghai, China. She remembers a tradition that brings good luck and wealth to children.

One special custom for Chinese New Year is that parents give their children red envelopes of money

Red is an important colour because it means happiness. People use red paper to write special messages of happiness like this one. \"May the Star of Happiness, the Star of Wealth, and the Star of Longevity shine on you!\" Asians observe many special customs at New Year's. They spend several days before the holiday cleaning the house completely, and decorating the house with flowers and plants. Flower arrangements often include pine branches, bamboo, and blossoms. Blooming flowers are placed around the home. Flowers are important because

flowers will turn into fruit. Fruits with special meanings are served during New Year's. Oranges and tangerines symbolize happiness. Coconuts represent togetherness, and lychee nuts represent strong family relationships. Other foods have special meanings too. A whole fish represents togetherness and bamboo shoots mean happiness to everyone. Noodles represent long life. Asians don't cut noodles, this is considered unlucky. Tofu is one food that Asians never eat during this holiday. Tofu is unlucky because it is white. In Asian cultures, the colour white signifies death.

Meals during New Year's are very important in Asia. But, there are special rituals and customs during mealtimes all year long. The Chinese are gracious hosts.

For the most part, Chinese people are very, like, um, they're very generous, like, they always insist on hosting and they would never serve themselves food before other people, like, if you're all sitting at a table they'd divvy it out, um, you'll always pour tea for other people before yourself

In South Korea, mealtimes are a little different

South Korea has a custom of eating together, um, in, in a family setting. With, there's a base soup and all these side dishes and the whole family eats together. Um, I think in America you get your own plate, and you kind of share the, the dishes but, um, in Korea you kind of dig in together.

We asked these Asian students if there are American customs that they don't

like. In general, Asian students felt that Americans don't show enough respect for their elders.

It does bother me sometimes the way I see, um, more American kids speak to their parents, um, how they address their mums and dads in public. And, I, I really respect the fact that in Vietnam we hold it so high, um, our elders, and how the younger generation treats them.

I think that the respect for elders is a big thing

And then, we asked Asian students what customs they like here in the United States.

I think the custom of Thanksgiving because, um, we don't have that in Korea and Thanksgiving is a good, you know, great holiday to give thanks for your family and friends and all you have

Well, we've only got 15 hours to go to Christmas and people are frantically rushing around buying last-minute Christmas presents. But how do people really feel about these big festivals? Do we actually enjoy them? Bella, you're a psychologist, how do you feel about Christmas?

I have mixed feelings about it. It's basically a religious festival but I'm not a religious person so it doesn't have that kind of meaning to me. And these days, I think for many people, it's primarily a reason for families to get together, eat a lot

of good food and give each other presents.

That's a good enough reason, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely, it's very important for families to have a special meal together and for people to show their love for each other. And children love it, the excitement of thinking that Father Christmas will come down the chimney and leave them presents. But at the same time, I worry about its commercialization.

Ted, you're American, a journalist, what's your attitude to Thanksgiving?

I love it, and almost all Americans do, I think. It's Americans' favourite holiday—takes place on the fourth Thursday in November.

So it's a moveable feast? I didn't know that.

It is. Everyone comes home and as its names suggests, it's a time to give thanks for everything we have. What do you eat?

Traditionally, we eat turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. It's a huge meal—in a way, the festival is the meal.

Is it as commercialized as Christmas?

Probably. But you know for many people it's a very happy occasion. And one important thing we do at Thanksgiving is we collect food for people who have very

little. That's part of the tradition too. Admirable! Douglas, as a Scot, what's the most important festival of the year for you?

Hogmanay, of course. It's actually more important than Christmas?

Now, that's an English person speaking. I'm Scots and Hogmanay is the most important festival of the year for us. It's on December 31st. Obviously, it's New Year's Eve. But it can continue until the 2nd or 3rd of January. It's a big party really, an excuse to eat and drink I think. But it's a very old tradition. Christmas and Hogmanay are both examples of winter solstice festivals—the shortest day of the year. I'd imagine that every culture has always celebrated it in some form or other.

I think many festivals were originally connected with the seasons.