two groups with the same name

[33girl]

Originally Posted by truelies

We share the same name (and nickname) as a regional sorority based out of PA. I believe we were founded about 20 or so years earlier and we are not linked to them. In the guest book archive from our old website you could see a few of their sisters have written to us and left their contact information but this was before I was a sister so I have no clue if we contacted them or not.

I was just going to ask if you knew this, as I thought you were them till I saw your other posts!!

[truelies]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I was just going to ask if you knew this, as I thought you were them till I saw your other posts!!

I actually had someone PM me about this before asking the year we were founded and saying that our website needed to be updated since it says we were established in 1966.

I believe some of our sisters meant some of theirs at NGLA last year. I mean, it's no big deal since we barely cross paths and I doubt their founders did it intentionally, it's not like they were able to google the name back then lol.

[WhiteRose1912]

My favorite fraternity is Beta Phi Omega, a local founded in '67. Their letters now appear to belong to a black lesbian sorority founded in 2000. http://www.betaphiomega.net/ ...I'm not really sure. I know our boys are thinking about going national, so I don't know how that will work.

[pshsx1]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

That is, however, the official public story given by Alpha Chi Omega for their name. Whether there's more to the story, only Alpha Chi Omega's sisters know, and I'm sure none of us expect them to tell.

Like Kappa Alpha (Society or Order) and Kappa Alpha Theta? Or Kappa Alpha Psi? Or Alpha Kappa Alpha? Or Pi Kappa Alpha?

Sigma Phi and Sigma Phi Epsilon?

Delta Phi and Delta Phi Epsilon? Or Alpha Delta Phi?

Kappa Sigma and Phi Kappa Sigma?

Sigma Kappa and Phi Sigma Kappa?

Phi Mu, Phi Mu Delta and Phi Mu Alpha?

There are lots of these coincidences. I wouldn't read too much into them.

Sigma Phi was actually SigEp's original name but the founders realized Sigma Phi was an established fraternity already and slapped Epsilon on at the last minute. If you look at our original founder's badge, it has Sigma and Phi in the heart and Epsilon stamped on the very bottom at the point.

I also find it funny that Sigma Chi was once Sigma Phi as well! Popular letters, eh? :P

[minDyG]

There is a drama society at Young Harris College that is called Delta Gamma. I'm a theatre major, so when friends of mine from back home who had gone to YHC heard that I'd pledged DG, they assumed I was in a drama sorority.

To the original question:
There was (is) Delta Sigma Theta Pharmaceutical Fraternity. Their crest included a skull and cross bones, and mortar and pill dish.

A relative of mine who didn't know any better gave me a t-shirt saying I bought you a t-shirt of your sorority for your birthday--hope you like it.

[summerlily]

**mods, if you feel this is in the wrong place, please repost it**

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here...just a question for you all:
I am starting a new organization on my campus for a small demographic of women who are non-trads and specifically who are married/mothers. We all would have loved to join a sorority, but we go to a very small school and there are only a couple of sororities - and they are very party-oriented (which, for obvious reasons, we cannot be - even though we are in the same age group, etc). We would like the sisterhood aspect and the networking side, but our college is not open to new national sorority chapters, etc, so they have asked us to form our own group and have given us permission to use Greek letters. Our problem is that all the ones we have chosen are taken (or scrambled and taken). Would it be offensive for us to use an anagram of a major group's letters? For example, if we wanted to call our group "Sigma Kappa Gamma" (just an example), and it was already taken, would it be a problem to mix it up and use "Gamma Sigma Kappa" or similar? We're so frustrated because it seems all the names we would like have been chosen already. Any creative suggestions? We wanted to include the Greek initials for the beginning sounds of "Compassion, Dedication and Friendship."
I appreciate all your help - it means so much.
- Lily

[minDyG]

Originally Posted by summerlily

We wanted to include the Greek initials for the beginning sounds of "Compassion, Dedication and Friendship."

The only Google result I found for Gamma Delta Phi was some group in the Philippines...I doubt it would be protected by US copyright laws. And I really doubt that scrambling the letters (I'm thinking of Phi Gamma Delta) would offend anyone, especially if you're a sorority and not another fraternity.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by summerlily

**mods, if you feel this is in the wrong place, please repost it**

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here...just a question for you all:
I am starting a new organization on my campus for a small demographic of women who are non-trads and specifically who are married/mothers. We all would have loved to join a sorority, but we go to a very small school and there are only a couple of sororities - and they are very party-oriented (which, for obvious reasons, we cannot be - even though we are in the same age group, etc). We would like the sisterhood aspect and the networking side, but our college is not open to new national sorority chapters, etc, so they have asked us to form our own group and have given us permission to use Greek letters. Our problem is that all the ones we have chosen are taken (or scrambled and taken). Would it be offensive for us to use an anagram of a major group's letters? For example, if we wanted to call our group "Sigma Kappa Gamma" (just an example), and it was already taken, would it be a problem to mix it up and use "Gamma Sigma Kappa" or similar? We're so frustrated because it seems all the names we would like have been chosen already. Any creative suggestions? We wanted to include the Greek initials for the beginning sounds of "Compassion, Dedication and Friendship."
I appreciate all your help - it means so much.
- Lily

You could go as Nu Tau Omega (Non Traditional Women) and have Compassion, Dedication, and Friendship as your motto.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by summerlily

We wanted to include the Greek initials for the beginning sounds of "Compassion, Dedication and Friendship."
I appreciate all your help - it means so much.
- Lily

Originally Posted by minDyG

The only Google result I found for Gamma Delta Phi was some group in the Philippines...

The beginning sounds for Compassion, Dedication and Friendship would be Kappa Delta Phi, not Gamma Delta Phi. Kappa Delta Phi is an NIC fraternity -- it's small but still national.

FWIW, per Babelfish, Compassion, Dedication, Friendship in Greek would be Oiktos, Ayierwsh, Filia (Oiktos, Apsierose, Philia), which would give you OAF. There is a local "Greek Club" at Lee University by that name, but that's all I can find.

[Xidelt]

I don't really see a problem if your group happens to share a name with another local organization (group that only has one chapter). I mean, there are only so many combinations of letters in the Greek alphabet. I would definitely avoid using a name that a national or regional group has. Isn't there a sorority for mothers? Sigma Beta Xi? There are also several community-based sororities that have chapters on campuses. Check out Beta Sigma Phi or Epsilon Sigma Alpha. You might be able to start a chapter of one of these organizations on your campus and it might be a better fit for your demographic. Since these groups are service-oriented, you may be able to charter the group through the Student Activities department and not have to go through Greek Life. That way you will be able to incorporate service and sisterhood, which seems to be more of what you are looking for instead of a primarily social aspect.

[summerlily]

Thank you for all of your responses.

[KAPital PHINUst]

Having the same name as a local GLO typically isn't a problem, unless the local trademarked the name, which rarely is the case. Should your name become a national org with its name trademark, it is good if you inform the local org that the name is now trademarked and that they should consider a name change (especially considering they had more than adequate time to do so prior to your org coming into existence).

As far as the thread topic goes, I knew of 2 other Delta Sigma Thetas besides "the original": a pharmacy organization founded 1915 @ the Brookly College of Pharmacy (there is actually some pix of a frat house at the Rutgers chapter c. 1980 bearing similar colors as DST the sorority floating around the Internet), and a Christian fraternity (2 actually: Phi Tau Theta and Sigma Epsilon Theta) that merged in 1941 as Delta Sigma Theta and became Sigma Theta Epsilon in 1949 after discovery of DST sorority being already in existence (trivia: I actually considered joining STE when I was a freshman in college).

Also, Gamma Phi Delta sorority was originally founded as Phi Gamma Delta sorority, but changed its name after FIJI discovered that G Phi D was using their name. But this incident led to a very interesting twist:

FIJI threatened G Phi D with a lawsuit BUT it was discovered that FIJI never registered their name. So they offered G Phi D $10,000 cash, plus all expenses paid to change their name, including payment of all documents and materials that bore the name Phi Gamma Delta. G Phi D accepted (hey, $10,000 in 1945 dollars for an org that was still in its infancy was a heckuva come up for its treasury).

Now G Phi D the sorority shares the same name as a Christian fraternity by the same name that was founded in 1988(?) But it appears that both orgs are co-existing amicably sharing the same name.

I also know of some orgs sharing the same name as a local org (e.g. Iota Phi Theta, Zeta Phi Beta), but IMHO national and local orgs are obviously on two entirely different paradigms, so it obviously doesn't have the same impact as two national orgs having the same name.

[LucyKKG]

I found an interesting Facebook group regarding Alpha Psi fraternity at Sonoma State and Alpha Psi sorority at UC Santa Cruz. I know the sorority has been around a while longer and the two are not related.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/gr...6605484&ref=mf

[Mevara]

Not in the same ballpark as the rest of the same names, but there is a local (socal) Kappa Zeta Phi that goes by "Kappa". There is also a Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter there so the two sometimes get confused.