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Talk:Localized versions of the Monopoly game

Debate on title
This title is awful. How about Localized versions of the Monopoly game, or something like that? -- Zoe

Is it true that in the Congo Monopoly Game everything belongs to Leopold II and there is no game to play ?

I think it would be a good idea to move this page to a List of variants of the Monopoly game or something like that; that way, we could include things like Star Trek Monopoly and so on in addition to the localized versions we already have here. -Branddobbe 19:04, Feb 24, 2004 (UTC)

 * I tentatively concur, but there are so many variants that it could get unwieldy. The Simpsons Monopoly, University Of Manchester Monopoly, Star Trek Monopoly... the list is endless, particularly given the existence of Create Your Own Monopoly (I've seen it in geek shops (Forbidden Planet and such like) in the UK). Kinitawowi 11:55, Aug 17, 2004 (UTC)

 * I also agree with both of you (Branddobbe and Kinitawowi). It'd be better to at least call it (rather than List of...) Variations on the Monopoly game, because it would discuss the variations, not list them. Am I right? --D. F. Schmidt (talk) 08:33, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Well, no, according to Naming conventions, as a general rule, if you can't singularize it, then it's a List of… List of localized version of the Monopoly game. There should be a small sub-article in Monopoly (game) about localized vartiants, and then that should have a See List of localized version of the Monopoly game And perhaps pull out the section Monopoly (game) and make a List of themed Monopoly games as well. If you were clever, you could make that shorter themed Monopoly list and refer to it as a template inside the main Monopoly article with  until it got too large. But I digress. —Fitch 23:03, 17 October 2005 (UTC)

 * I've started something of a list at List of licensed Monopoly game boards. I'm mostly doing the officially licensed themed boards, by Hasbro, Winning Moves and USAopoly - I'm still debating whether or not to do "official" national sets, I might do that in a forked Monopoly history article, which I think the main article also could use. --JohnDBuell 04:34, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Are there state monopoly boards? I know there's a "Wisconsin" one, and a "Wisconsin Badgers" one, and I own a "National Parks" one - I was wondering if they'd count? mathwhiz  29  01:51, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Never mind, see Other editions ~ mathwhiz  29  01:55, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Jinsei
Isn't the game which the Japanese call "jinsei game" a different game? I think that "jinsei game" is the Game of Life, but I'm not sure. --User:Juuitchan

I need to add the Dublin board but the table could get very wide if all the variations are added, so I think we need to rethink the format of this page.

Dublin Monopoly
The Irish Monopoly contains the streets of Dublin on the board, with one noticable exception - Shannon Airport. The pound version of the game was replaced by the Euro version in 2002.

 * Formerly the Red streets were in Cork - Washington St, Oliver Plunkett St, Patrick St. I had heard the new version had Dublin Castle and Govt Bldgs replacing Shrewsbury Rd and Ailesbury Rd, and all Dublin railway stations.  Joestynes

German version colors
Can someone confirm the German colours? This picture of a German board from 2003 (with Berlin streets) http://www.muurkrant.com/monopoly/images/D-nostalgisch-2003.jpg, seems to have completely different colours. Mintguy (T) Also this page seems to use the British colours http://www.bewersdorff-online.de/monopoly/ Mintguy (T) 16:48, 16 May 2004 (UTC)

Good point.. and someone needs to fix the table with regards to the colours on the purple/brown properties.. the way it is now has the british version purple. I'd do it, but i'm not good with HTML :( 131.111.8.101 11:04, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Done, but I havent got a clue with HTML either and I still did it. You just need to do some intelligent searching

Board Help
Does anyone know the properties for Brighton and Hove, Coventry, Devon, Gloucestershire, Hull, Jersey, Kent , Norwich, Reading, Southhampton, Sunderland, Its for my Monopoly board maker and I only need them to compleat my Uk collection Thanks in advance.

Colors on the article's table
Would anyone mind if I change the background colors of each property to its color, rather than have the label "Green Properties" and "Blue Properties" and so on? It just seems to be a waste of space, and is ungainly. I changed the colors momentarily (not even saving it) and noted that it doesn't work well for the red properties, where there are links to non-articles. It also doesn't look like it would be good for contrast purposes, but the way it is now (with the labels as above) just looks bad, in my opinion. --D. F. Schmidt (talk) 08:33, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

 * You mean you want every cell in the table to have one of those bright, garish colors? Personally, I think that would look awful. A term that was used in one of my UI courses that might apply was "angry fruit salad". :) Bryan 15:09, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Haha. You're right, now that I think on it a second more. But how about including another column to the left of the set instead of having an extra row? Basically like the board above, I mean. I'm not certain I can do it myself. I'll give it a shot. If it doesn't work, would someone else want to try? -- D. F. Schmidt (talk) 03:30, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Could work, though I need to think more about how to handle the brown/purple set of rows. I'll cogitate on that and see if I can think of something. Bryan 03:38, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

Leeds Monopoly
In 1993, the first non-London UK version was produced for charity and based on Leeds as the home of the manufacturers, Waddingtons. Only 500 (numbered) copies were made. They are very rare. Has anyone any more information?

Original Australian Monopoly
These monopoly articles all talk about an Australian version of the game, but the version they talk about is only a recent addition, and I'm fairly certain it's a flop and nobody considers it a true replacement of the original Australian edition. The Original board is identical to the brittish/UK version, except all money is in $ (Dollars). I couldn't tell you what those dollar amounts are though —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.206.137 (talk) 07:46, 5 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Extremely belated reply, but I believe that the dollar amounts are the same as the pound amounts in the UK version, only with a $ instead of a ₤. 219.90.141.233 (talk) 08:32, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

English Cities/Towns
Are all the cities listed for England actually cities? I know Reading is definately classed as a town, and I think Wigan may be...
 * The article is currently written in American, I am not aware of the existence of the ceremonial title of city in the US. In this context, it is appropriate to call any location which possesses more than a certain number of inhabitants city. Regards, Captain scarlet 15:48, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Use of village/city depends on local laws in the United States. In Illinois, for instance, small communities can begin their formal existence by incorporating as a village, and can later reincorporate as a city once certain standards (generally population levels) are met. I'm not sure that 'town' is actually used formally. --JohnDBuell 18:40, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Italian edition colors
These may have changed with more recent printings, but the colors on the board that I have from the late 1980s/early 1990s (the only clue I have to the exact date is that the license came from the Tonka Coporation in the USA, which dates it sometime between the mid-1980s, when the company was still Kenner Parker Toys, and the buyout by Hasbro in the early 1990s) are different than the one on the list. The first two properties are light purple, the next three are dark blue, followed by three orange, three brown, the traditional red, yellow and green, and dark purple for the final two properties. I didn't want to change the colors in the table in the article unless they are STILL that way in the Italian edition.... --JohnDBuell 19:01, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Finnish Monopoly has been redesigned
The Finnish version of Monopoly has been redesigned with new property names. Unfortunately I do not have the new version so I can't list all the new names of the properties. J I P | Talk 08:27, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

What is this list meant to cover?
A lot of editors keep adding the "On Board" or "-opoly" games, which are unofficial editions. Is this meant to be a list of OFFICIAL versions of Monopoly? If so, the unofficial versions should be forked off (and the company Help On Board needs its own article anyway). --JohnDBuell 14:16, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Other editions
This site has a LOT of boards and editions. Maybe someone has the courage to post them here in the page? The link http://www.muurkrant.nl/monopoly/country_index.htm Loool 21:11, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The list here will never end if we start this :) There is also a long list of "affinity editions" through 2005 in a recently published book, Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game & How it Got that Way. This even includes editions commissioned by corporations for their use. --JohnDBuell 15:10, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * This begs the question of what qualifies for this list. I am sure that the list does not contain some official localized versions (such as the Latvian one which I added yesterday). At the same time I understand that putting too much is not the best idea. What should and what should not be posted then? Loool 21:11, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Which echos the question I asked just yesterday. :) I would say that all of the national and city editions should be on this list, hence "localized." I filled in from a master U.S.A. list yesterday (and I know a number of the German cities are missing). --JohnDBuell 21:39, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

New table layout
I put together a new table layout for the various editions. It uses a template for the table rows. Should be much easier to add editions or make edits. Instructions at Template:Monopoly localized version. Any questions or problems, let me know. JBarta (talk) 13:47, 31 January 2009 (UTC) Nix this, see below. JBarta (talk) 03:24, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

New article
I created a new article and a new template with the intent of combining this article and List of licensed Monopoly game boards into one nice, neat and consistant article for ALL Monopoly variations. If it gets too big, we can consider splitting it up, but in a way that stays consistant and doesn't create a bunch of overlap (like there is now). If anyone is interested in helping, the first order of business is to move board details from this article to the new article making use of the new template. JBarta (talk) 03:24, 11 February 2009 (UTC)


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Thia (disambiguation)

Thia may refer to:

 * Thia, a genus in which the thumbnail crab is the only extant species
 * Tegeticula, a prodoxid moth genus invalidly described as Thia by H. Edwards in 1888
 * 405 Thia, an asteroid
 * Thia Megia (born 1995), a contestant in the 10th season of American Idol
 * Henry Thia (born 1952), Singaporean actor and comedian
 * Shawn Thia (born 1995), Singaporean actor

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Thia (disambiguation)


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Michael Landy

Michael Landy (born 1963) is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). He is best known for the performance piece installation Break Down (2001), in which he destroyed all his possessions, and for the Art Bin project (2010) at the South London Gallery. On 29 May 2008, Landy was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Early life and works
Landy was born in London. He first studied art in Loughton and Loughborough, then at Goldsmiths College in London, having been inspired to take up art professionally after having a picture selected for display on the BBC television art program Take Hart.

After graduating from Goldsmiths in 1988, he exhibited in the Freeze exhibition, organised by Damien Hirst—an exhibition which first brought together a group of artists that would later become known as the Young British Artists.

In 1990, Landy exhibited in East Country Yard with several of the artists from Freeze. His first solo exhibition was Market (1990), an installation comprising numerous empty market stalls. Like much of his later work it was intended as a comment on consumerism and society.

In 1992, Landy started an association with Karsten Schubert by making Closing Down Sale for his gallery, an installation made up of a number of objects in shopping trolleys labelled "BARGAIN" and recorded announcements encouraging visitors to buy. The work was intended as a comment on the commodification of art, and might be seen as a precursor of sorts to Break Down, a work which produced no salable objects, except an edition of inventories (books) listing all destroyed items.

Before Break Down, Landy's best-known work was Scrapheap Services (1995–1996), which featured a fictitious cleaning company which sought to change society by way of "a minority of people being discarded". Promotional videos were made for the company and a large number of cut-out men were made from old magazines to be swept up and destroyed. This installation typifies the YBAs' interests in transforming the mundane into art, and recontextualisation. Its visual impact on one level is a typical industrial event, yet the gallery environment and bright red figures, along with the sinister irony of the title, is intended to force the viewer to address issues of humanity and consumerism.

In 1997, work which Landy had previously sold to Charles Saatchi was included in the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in London. This show later toured Berlin and New York, but Landy's work was somewhat overshadowed by some of the other more outrageous artworks.

Break Down
Break Down, the work which put him in the public eye, was held in February 2001 at an old branch of the clothes store C&A on Oxford Street in London (C&A had recently ceased trading, and the shop had been emptied). Landy gathered together all his possessions, ranging from postage stamps to his car, and including all his clothes and works of art by himself and others, painstakingly catalogued all 7,227 of them in detail, and then destroyed all in public. The process of destruction was done on something resembling an assembly line in a mass production factory, with ten workers reducing each item to its basic materials and then shredding them.

The exhibition was a joint commission from The Times newspaper and Artangel, and attracted around 45,000 visitors. At the end of the process all that was left was bags of rubbish, none of which was sold or exhibited in any form. An edition of inventory books listing all destroyed items was available to buy when exiting through the gift shop.

Landy made no money as a direct result of Break Down, and following it had no possessions at all.

Later works
Landy made little art in the year following Break Down before returning with a solo show in late 2002, entitled Nourishment. The exhibition consisted of a series of detailed etchings of weeds, rendered in the traditional style of botanical draughtsmanship. The intricate detailing is reported to have resulted in lasting eye damage for Landy.

In 2003, Landy was selected to chair the judging panel for the Beck's Futures art prize.

In 2008, Ridinghouse published Michael Landy: Everything Must Go!, Landy's first monograph, which brings together over 20 years of the artist's work for the first time. It was in this year that Landy was elected a member of the Royal Academy.

Landy's Art Bin installation for the South London Gallery in February–March 2010 was described by the artist as "a monument to creative failure." A large transparent skip was installed at the gallery, into which he invited the public to throw art work with which they were dissatisfied. Artists and collectors were invited to apply to dispose of works of art via a dedicated website.

In 2016, Museum Tinguely Basel curated Landy's first retrospective exhibition titled "Michael Landy. Out of Order". It spanned his entire career, bringing together works from Break Down, Credit Card Destroying Machine, and Saints Alive among many others.

Personal life
Landy's partner is fellow British artist Gillian Wearing.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to art.

title: Michael Landy


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Japanese name

Japanese names (日本人の氏名、日本人の姓名、日本人の名前) in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name. Japanese names are usually written in kanji, where the pronunciation follows a special set of rules. Because parents when naming children, and foreigners when adopting a Japanese name, are able to choose which pronunciations they want for certain kanji, the same written form of a name may have multiple readings. In exceptional cases, this makes it impossible to determine the intended pronunciation of a name with certainty. Even so, most pronunciations chosen for names are common, making them easier to read. While any jōyō kanji (with some exceptions for readability) and jinmeiyō kanji may be used as part of a name, names may be rejected if they are believed to fall outside what would be considered an acceptable name by measures of common sense.

Japanese names may be written in hiragana or katakana, the Japanese language syllabaries for words of Japanese or foreign origin, respectively. As such, names written in hiragana or katakana are phonetic rendering and lack meanings that are expressed by names written in the logographic kanji.

Structure
The majority of Japanese people have one surname and one given name, except for the Japanese imperial family, whose members have no surname. The family name precedes the given name. People with mixed Japanese and foreign parentage may have middle names.

Very few names are in use both as surnames and as given names (for example Mayumi (真弓), Izumi (泉), Masuko (益子), or Arata (新)). Therefore, to those familiar with Japanese names, which name is the surname and which is the given name is usually apparent, no matter in which order the names are presented. It is thus unlikely that the two names will be confused, for example, when writing in English while using the family name-given name naming order. However, due to the variety of pronunciations and differences in languages, some common surnames and given names may coincide when Romanized: e.g., Maki (真紀、麻紀、真樹) (given name) and Maki (真木、槇、牧) (surname).

Family names
The term surname or family name can translate into three different Japanese words, myōji (苗字), uji (氏), and sei (姓), which historically had different meanings. Sei (姓) was originally the patrilineal surname which was granted by the emperor as a title of male rank. In the 8th century, eight types of were established, but later all surnames except for ason (朝臣)  almost disappeared. Uji (氏) was another name used to designate patrilineal clan. Uji and Sei used in the set: e.g., Minamoto no Ason (源朝臣), Taira no Ason (平朝臣), Fujiwara no Ason (藤原朝臣). Uji and together are called seishi or shōji (姓氏) and also simply. There were relatively few of the medieval noble clans, and they trace their lineage either directly to these  or to the courtiers of these. Myōji (苗字) was simply what a family chooses to call itself, as opposed to the granted by the emperor. While it was passed on patrilineally in male ancestors including in male ancestors called (uncles), one had a certain degree of freedom in changing one's. See also.

According to estimates, there are over 300,000 different surnames in use today in Japan. The three most common family names in Japan are Satō (佐藤), Suzuki (鈴木), and Takahashi (高橋). People in Japan began using surnames during the Muromachi period. Japanese peasants had surnames in the Edo period; however, they could not use them in public.

Most surnames are written with two kanji characters, but some common surnames are written with one or three kanji. Some surnames written with four or five kanji exist, such as Kadenokōji (勘解由小路), but these are rare.

One large category of family names can be categorized as names. The kanji 藤, meaning wisteria, has the  (or, with, ). Many Japanese people have surnames that include this kanji as the second character. This is because the Fujiwara clan (藤原家) gave their samurai surnames ending with the first character of their name (which can be pronounced either  or ), to denote their status in an era when commoners were not allowed surnames. Examples include Atō, Andō, Itō (although a different final kanji is also common), Udō, Etō, Endō, Gotō, Jitō, Katō, Kitō, Kudō, Kondō, Saitō, Satō, Shindō, Sudō, Naitō, Bitō, and Mutō. As already noted, some of the most common family names are in this list.

Japanese family names usually include characters referring to places and geographic features.

Given names
Given names are called the "name" (名) or "lower name" (下の名前), because, in vertically written Japanese, the given name appears under the family name.

While family names follow relatively consistent rules, given names are much more diverse in pronunciation and characters. While many common names can easily be spelled or pronounced, parents may choose names with unusual characters or pronunciations; the pronunciation of such names generally cannot be inferred from the written form, or vice versa. Unusual pronunciations have become much more common, as the trend has significantly increased in popularity since the 1990s. For example, the popular masculine name 大翔 is traditionally pronounced "Hiroto", but in recent years alternative pronunciations "Haruto", "Yamato", "Taiga", "Sora", "Taito", "Daito", and "Masato" have all entered use.

Male names often end in "son" or "clear, bright" (郎/朗) (e.g. "Ichirō"), "great, thick" or "first [son]" (太) (e.g. "Kenta"), or "man" (男/雄/夫) (e.g. "Teruo" or "Akio"). Male names often also contain "first [son]" (一) (e.g. "Ken'ichi"), "first [son]" (一) (also written with 一, along with several other possible characters; e.g. "Kazuhiro"), "second [son]" or "next" (二/次) (e.g. "Jirō"), or "great, large" (大) (e.g. "Daichi").

Female names often end in "child" (子) (e.g. "Keiko") or "beauty" (美) (e.g. "Yumi"). Other popular endings for female names include "scent, perfume" or "flower" (香/花) (e.g. "Reika") and "greens" or "apple tree" (奈/菜) (e.g. "Haruna").

Most personal names use one, two, or three kanji. Four-syllable given names are common, especially in eldest sons.

The usage of -ko (子) has changed significantly over the years: prior to the Meiji Restoration (1868), it was reserved for members of the imperial family. Following the restoration, it became popular and was overwhelmingly common in the Taishō and early Shōwa era. The suffix increased in popularity after the mid-20th century.

Around the year 2006, due to the citizenry mimicking naming habits of popular entertainers, the suffix was declining in popularity. At the same time, names of western origin, written in kana, were becoming increasingly popular for naming of girls. By 2004 there was a trend of using hiragana instead of kanji in naming girls.

Molly Hakes said that this may have to do with using hiragana out of cultural pride, since hiragana is Japan's indigenous writing form, or out of not assigning a meaning to a girl's name so that others do not have a particular expectation of her.

Names ending with dropped significantly in popularity in the mid-1980s, but are still given, though much less than in the past. Male names occasionally end with the syllable as in Mako, but very rarely using the kanji 子 (most often, if a male name ends in, it ends in , using the kanji 彦 meaning "boy"). Common male name endings are and ; names ending with  are often adjectives, e.g., Atsushi, which might mean, for example, "(to be) faithful."

Katakana and hiragana spellings are characteristic of feminine names rather than masculine names, with katakana often used for women's names in the early 20th century due to being easier to read and write.

A single name-forming element, such as "expansiveness" can be written by more than one kanji (博, 弘, or 浩). Conversely, a particular kanji can have multiple meanings and pronunciations. In some names, Japanese characters phonetically "spell" a name and have no intended meaning behind them. Many Japanese personal names use puns.

Although usually written in kanji, Japanese names have distinct differences from Chinese names through the selection of characters in a name and the pronunciation of them. A Japanese person can distinguish a Japanese name from a Chinese name. Akie Tomozawa said that this was equivalent to how "Europeans can easily tell that the name 'Smith' is English and 'Schmidt' is German or that 'Victor' is English or French and 'Vittorio' is Italian".

Characters
Japanese names are usually written in kanji, although some names use hiragana or even katakana, or a mixture of kanji and kana. While most "traditional" names use (native Japanese) kanji readings, a large number of given names and surnames use  (Chinese-based) kanji readings as well. Many others use readings which are only used in names, such as the female name Nozomi (希).

The sound, indicating possession (like the Saxon genitive in English), and corresponding to the character の, is often included in names but not written as a separate character, as in the common name well-(possessive)-top/above, top of the well (井上), or historical figures such as Sen no Rikyū.

Difficulty of reading names
A name written in kanji may have more than one common pronunciation, only one of which is correct for a given individual. For example, the surname written in kanji as 東海林 may be read either or. Conversely, any one name may have several possible written forms, and again, only one will be correct for a given individual. The character 一 when used as a male given name may be used as the written form for "Hajime", "Hitoshi", "Ichi-/-ichi" "Kazu-/-kazu", and many others. The name Hajime may be written with any of the following: 始, 治, 初, 一, 元, 肇, 創, 甫, 基, 哉, 啓, 本, 源, 東, 大, 孟, or 祝. This many-to-many correspondence between names and the ways they are written is much more common with male given names than with surnames or female given names but can be observed in all these categories. The permutations of potential characters and sounds can become enormous, as some very overloaded sounds may be produced by over 500 distinct kanji and some kanji characters can stand for several dozen sounds. This can and does make the collation, pronunciation, and romanization of a Japanese name a very difficult problem. For this reason, business cards often include the pronunciation of the name as furigana, and forms and documents often include spaces to write the reading of the name in kana (usually katakana).

A few Japanese names, particularly family names, include archaic versions of characters. For example, the very common character, "island", may be written as 嶋 or 嶌 instead of the usual 島. Some names also feature very uncommon kanji, or even kanji which no longer exist in modern Japanese. Japanese people who have such names are likely to compromise by substituting similar or simplified characters. This may be difficult for input of kanji in computers, as many kanji databases on computers only include common and regularly used kanji, and many archaic or mostly unused characters are not included.

An example of such a name is Saitō: there are two common kanji for here. The two characters have different meanings: 斉 means "together" or "parallel", but 斎 means "to purify". These names can also exist written in archaic forms, as 齊藤 and 齋藤 respectively.

A problem occurs when an elderly person forgets how to write their name in old kanji that is no longer used.

Family names are sometimes written with periphrastic readings, called, in which the written characters relate indirectly to the name as spoken. For example, 四月一日 would normally be read as "April 1st", but as a family name it is read "unpadded clothes", because the first day of the fourth lunar month (in the old lunar calendar, closer to 1 May) is the traditional date to switch from winter to summer clothes. In the same way 小鳥遊 would normally be read as "little birds play" or, but is read , because little birds play  where there are no  hawks.

Most Japanese people and agencies have adopted customs to deal with these issues. Address books, for instance, often contain furigana or ruby characters to clarify the pronunciation of the name. Japanese nationals are also required to give a romanized name for their passport.

Not all names are complicated. Some common names are summarized by the phrase "the village in the middle of the rice fields": the three kanji ("rice field" (田), "middle" (中) and "village" (村)), together in any pair, form a simple, reasonably common surname: Tanaka, Nakamura, Murata, Nakata (Nakada), Muranaka, Tamura.

Despite these difficulties, there are enough patterns and recurring names that most native Japanese will be able to read virtually all family names they encounter and the majority of personal names.

Regulations
Kanji names in Japan are governed by the Japanese Ministry of Justice's rules on kanji use in names. , only the 843 "name kanji" and 2,136 "commonly used characters"  are permitted for use in personal names. This is intended to ensure that names can be readily written and read by those literate in Japanese. Names may be rejected if they are considered unacceptable; for example, in 1993 two parents who tried to name their child Akuma (悪魔), which means "devil", were prohibited from doing so after a massive public outcry.

Though there are regulations on the naming of children, many archaic characters can still be found in adults' names, particularly those born prior to the Second World War. Because the legal restrictions on use of such kanji cause inconvenience for those with such names and promote a proliferation of identical names, many recent changes have been made to increase rather than to reduce the number of kanji allowed for use in names. The Sapporo High Court held that it was unlawful for the government to deny registration of a child's name because it contained a kanji character that was relatively common but not included in the official list of name characters compiled by the Ministry of Justice. Subsequently, the Japanese government promulgated plans to increase the number of kanji "permitted" in names.

The use of a space in given names (to separate first and middle names) is not allowed in official documents, because technically, a space is not an allowed character. However, spaces are sometimes used on business cards and in correspondence.

Customs
Historically, families consisted of many children and it was a common practice to name sons by numbers suffixed with "son" (郎). The first son would be known as "Ichirō", the second as "Jirō", and so on. Girls were often named with "child" (子) at the end of the given name (this should not be confused with the less common male suffix hiko (彦)). Both practices have become less common, although many children continue to be given names that originate from these conventions.

Speaking to and of others
Conventions of direct address and name use in conversation are heavily governed by respect for those considered in higher social positions (ex. older family members, teachers, employers), familiarity with those considered to be in lower social positions (ex. younger family members, students, employees) and the speaker's relationships with the listener and the addressee. Typically, the family name is used to refer to an individual, and personal or given names are largely restricted to informal situations and cases where the speaker is older than, a superior of, or very familiar with the named individual. When addressing someone or referring to a member of one's out-group, a respectful title such as -san (さん) is typically added. Calling someone's name (family name) without any title or honorific is called yobisute (呼び捨て), and may be considered rude even in the most informal and friendly occasions. This faux pas, however, is readily excused for foreigners.

Japanese people often avoid referring to their seniors or superiors by name at all. Rather, it is considered more respectful to address one who is considered a social superior by their title. Within a family, this might be a kinship relation such as "mother" (お母さん), in a school it could be "teacher" (先生), while a company president would be addressed as "company president" (社長).

Pronouns meaning "you" (anata (あなた), kimi (きみ), omae (お前)) are uncommon in Japanese, as they are sometimes considered disrespectful. It is more common for people address each other by name, title, and honorific, even in face-to-face conversations.

Nicknames
Any given name corresponds with one or more hypocoristics, or affectionate nicknames. These are formed by adding the suffix -chan (ちゃん) to a name stem. There are two types of stem: the full given name or a modified stem derived from the full given name. Examples of the first type are Tarō-chan from Tarō, Kimiko-chan from Kimiko, and Yasunari-chan from Yasunari. Examples of the second type are Ta-chan from Tarō, Kii-chan from Kimiko, and Yā-chan from Yasunari. Hypocoristics with modified stems are considered more intimate than those based on the full given name.

Hypocoristics with modified stems are derived by adding to a stem consisting of an integral number, usually one but occasionally two, of feet, where a foot consists of two moras. A mora (音節) is the unit of which a light syllable contains one and a heavy syllable two. For example, the stems that may be derived from Tarō are /taro/, consisting of two light syllables, and /taa/, consisting of a single syllable with a long vowel, resulting in Taro-chan and Tā-chan. The stems that may be derived from Hanako are /hana/, with two light syllables, /han/, with one syllable closed by a consonant, and /haa/, with one syllable with a long vowel, resulting in Hanachan, Hanchan, and Hāchan. The segmental content is usually a left substring of that of the given name. However, in some cases it is obtained by other means, including the use of another reading of the kanji used to write the name. For example, a girl named Megumi may be called Keichan or just Kei, because the character used to write Megumi (恵), can also be read.

The common Japanese practice of forming abbreviations by concatenating the first two morae of two words is sometimes applied to names (usually those of celebrities). For example, Takuya Kimura (木村 拓哉), a famous Japanese actor and singer, becomes Kimutaku (キムタク). This is sometimes applied even to non-Japanese celebrities: Brad Pitt, whose full name in Japanese is Buraddo Pitto (ブラッド・ピット) is commonly known as Burapi (ブラピ), and Jimi Hendrix is abbreviated as Jimihen (ジミヘン). Some Japanese celebrities have also taken names combining kanji and katakana, such as Terry Ito (テリー伊藤). Another slightly less common method is doubling one or two syllables of the person's name, such as the use of "MamiMami" for Mamiko Noto.

Names from other ethnic groups in Japan
Many ethnic minorities living in Japan, mostly Korean and Chinese, adopt Japanese names. The roots of this custom go back to the colonial-era policy of, which forced Koreans to change their names to Japanese names. Nowadays, ethnic minorities, mostly Korean, who immigrated to Japan after WWII take on Japanese names (sometimes called 'pass names') to ease communication and, more importantly, to avoid discrimination. A few of them (e.g., Han Chang-Woo, founder and chairman of Maruhan Corp., pronounced 'Kan Shōyū' in Japanese) still keep their native names. Sometimes, however, ethnic Chinese and Koreans in Japan who choose to renounce Permanent Resident status to apply for Japanese citizenship have to change the characters in their names because not all characters are legally recognized in Japan for naming purposes.

Japanese citizenship used to require adoption of a Japanese name. In recent decades, the government has allowed individuals to simply adopt katakana versions of their native names when applying for citizenship, as is already done when referring to non-East Asian foreigners: National Diet member Tsurunen Marutei (ツルネン マルテイ), originally 'Martti Turunen', who is Finnish, is a famous example. Others transliterate their names into phonetically similar kanji compounds, such as activist Arudou Debito (有道 出人), an American-Japanese known as 'David Aldwinckle' before taking Japanese citizenship. (Tsurunen has similarly adopted 弦念 丸呈.) Still others have abandoned their native names entirely in favor of Yamato names, such as Lafcadio Hearn (who was half Anglo-Irish and half Greek), who used the name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). At the time, to gain Japanese citizenship, it was necessary to be adopted by a Japanese family (in Hearn's case, it was his wife's family) and take their name.

Individuals born overseas with Western given names and Japanese surnames are usually given a katakana name in Western order ([given name] [surname]) when referred to in Japanese. Eric Shinseki, for instance, is referred to as Erikku Shinseki (エリック シンセキ). However, sometimes Japanese parents decide to use Japanese order when mentioning the child's name in Japanese. Also, Japanese parents tend to give their children a name in kanji, hiragana, or katakana, particularly if it is a Japanese name. Even individuals born in Japan, with a Japanese name, might be referred to using katakana if they have established residency or a career overseas. Yoko Ono, for example, was born in Japan, with the name 小野 洋子, and spent the first twenty years of her life there. However, having lived outside the country for more than fifty years, and basing her career in the United States, Ono is often referred to in the press as オノ・ヨーコ, preserving the Japanese order of her name (Ono Yōko), but rendering it in katakana. Another example is the inventor of Bitcoin, who has gone under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, and which is most likely a pseudonym, perhaps even of a non-Japanese person; Nakamoto is referred to in Japanese with katakana in Western order, サトシ・ナカモト, rather than 中本聡.

Christians in Japan traditionally have Christian names in addition to their native Japanese names. These Christian names are written using katakana, and are adapted to Japanese phonology from their Portuguese or Latin forms rather than being borrowed from English. Peter, for example, is Petoro (ペトロ)), John is Yohane (ヨハネ), Jacob is Yakobu (ヤコブ), Martin is Maruchino (マルチノ), Dominic is Dominiko (ドミニコ), and so on. For most purposes in real life, Christian names are not used; for example, Taro Aso has a Christian name, Francisco (フランシスコ), which is not nearly as well-known. 16th century Dom Justo Takayama, on the other hand, is far more well known by his Christian name Justo (ジュスト) than his birth name, Hikogorō Shigetomo.

Imperial names

For historical reasons, the Japanese emperor and his families do not have a surname and possess only a given name, such as Hirohito (裕仁). However, Japanese people prefer to say "the Emperor" or "the Crown Prince", rather than using the personal name out of respect and as a measure of politeness.

When children are born into the Imperial family, they receive a standard given name as well as a special title. For instance, the Emperor emeritus Akihito was born Tsugu-no-miya Akihito (継宮明仁). In this name, the title is "Prince Tsugu" (継宮), and he was referred to as "Prince Tsugu" during his childhood. This title is generally used until the individual becomes heir to the throne or inherits one of the historical princely family names (Hitachi-no-miya (常陸宮), Mikasa-no-miya (三笠宮), Akishino-no-miya (秋篠宮), etc.).

When a member of the Imperial family becomes a noble or a commoner, the emperor gives them a family name. In medieval era, the family name "Minamoto" was often used. In modern era, princely family names are used. For example, many members of the extended Imperial family became commoners after World War II and adopted their princely family names minus the honorific "Prince" (宮) as regular surnames. Conversely, if a commoner or a noble were to become a member of the Imperial family, such as through marriage, their family name is lost. An example is Empress Michiko, whose name was Michiko Shōda before she married Prince Akihito.

Historical names
The current structure (family name + given name) did not materialize until the 1870s, when the Japanese government created the new family registration system.

In feudal Japan, names reflected a person's social status, as well as their affiliation with Buddhist, Shintō, feudatory-military, Confucian-scholarly, mercantile, peasant, slave, and imperial orders.

Before feudal times, Japanese clan names figured prominently in history. Names with fall into this category. The Japanese particle can be translated as 'of', and is similar in usage to the German aristocratic von, although the association is in the opposite order in Japanese, and is not generally explicitly written in this style of name. Thus, Minamoto no Yoritomo (源 頼朝) was Yoritomo (頼朝) of the Minamoto (源) clan. Fujiwara no Kamatari (藤原 鎌足), Ki no Tsurayuki (紀 貫之), and Taira no Kiyomori (平 清盛) are additional examples. These family names were recorded in the. The Ryukyuan ruling class used names composed of Chinese characters, usually of one or two syllables and read in their own languages, like Korean and Chinese names.

Before the government formalized the naming system in 1868, Japanese personal names were fluid. Men changed their names for a variety of reasons: to signify that they had attained a higher social status, to demonstrate their allegiance to a house or clan, to show that they had succeeded to the headship of a family or company, to shed bad luck that was attached to an inauspicious name, or simply to avoid being mistaken for a neighbor with a similar name. Upper-class men often changed their names upon coming of age, leaving behind their childhood name (which often ended with ) and taking on an adult name. When nobles and samurai received promotions in rank, they received new names, which might contain a syllable or character from their lord's name as a mark of favor.

Changes in women's personal names were recorded less often, so they may not have changed their names as frequently as men did, but women who went into service as maids or entertainers frequently changed their names for the duration of their service. During their employment, their temporary names were treated as their legal names. For example, a maid who was involved in legal dealings in Kyoto in 1819–1831 signed legal documents as Sayo during one period of employment and as Mitsu during a later period of employment, but she signed as Iwa, presumably her birth name, when she was between jobs.

At least until the Kamakura Period, women's names were often descriptive in nature, while their personal names would rarely be used in public. This was especially proeminent in higher class and Imperial Court. An example is Murasaki Shikibu, whose name "Shikibu" is not the equivalent to a surname, but refers to Shikibu-shō, the Ministry of Ceremonials where Murasaki's father was employed. "Murasaki", an additional name possibly derived from the color violet associated with wisteria, the meaning of the word fuji (an element of her clan name), may have been bestowed on her at court in reference to the name she herself had given to the main female character in "Genji". Another example is Kenreimon-in, wife and empress to Emperor Takakura. Kenreimon-in, which was not her personal name, refers to her residence, located by the Kenreimon Gate in the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

A Japanese person could go by one of several names, depending on the occasion. For example, the 18th-century author, poet, and artist Iwase Samuru wrote under the name Santō Kyōden and worked as an illustrator under the name Kitao Masanobu. Artists and authors adopted a new name for each medium or form they worked in, whether or not they worked professionally. Some types of artistic names (gō (号)) were referred to by special terminology—for example, or  for a haiku poet, and  for a  poet. Scholars also gave themselves scholarly names, often using the Chinese reading of the characters of their Japanese name. People who entered religious orders adopted religious names.

Death added to the number of a person's names. When a person died, their personal name was referred to as an imina (諱) and was no longer used. Instead, the person was referred to by their posthumous name (諡).

The personal names of Japanese emperors were also referred to as, even if the emperor was alive. Prior to Emperor Jomei, the of the emperors were very long and not used. The number of characters in each name diminished after Jomei's reign.

Azana (字), which is given at (元服), is used by others and one himself uses his real name to refer to him. are commonly named after places or houses; e.g., Bashō, as in the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉), is named after his house, Bashō-an (芭蕉庵).

In the late shogunate period, many anti-government activists used several false names to hide their activities from the shogunate. Examples are Saidani Umetarō (才谷 梅太郎) for Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬), Niibori Matsusuke (新堀 松輔) for Kido Takayoshi (木戸 孝允) and Tani Umenosuke (谷 梅之助) for Takasugi Shinsaku (高杉 晋作). The famous writer Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭 馬琴) is known to have had as many as 33 names.

Professional names
Actors and actresses in Western and Japanese dramatic forms, comedians, sumo wrestlers, Western-style professional wrestlers, and practitioners of traditional crafts often use professional names. Many stage names of television and film actors and actresses are unremarkable, being just like ordinary Japanese personal names, but a few are tongue-in-cheek. For example, Kamatari Fujiwara (藤原 釜足) chose the name of the aforementioned founder of the Fujiwara family, while the name of Hino Yōjin (日野 陽仁) sounds like "be careful with fire" (although written differently). Many stand-up comics like the duo Beat Takeshi and Beat Kiyoshi choose a Western name for the act and use their own (or stage) given names. Writers also tend to be clever about their names, for example Edogawa Ranpo which is designed to sound like "Edgar Allan Poe".

Sumo wrestlers take wrestling names called shikona (醜名) or 四股名. While a can be the wrestler's own surname, most upper-division  have a  different from their surname. A typical consists of two or three kanji, rarely just one or more than three. Often, part of the name comes from the wrestler's master, a place name (such as the name of a province, a river, or a sea), the name of a weapon, an item identified with Japanese tradition (like a or ), or a term indicating superiority. Often, indicates a wrestler whose father was also in sumo; in this case, the meaning is "junior".

Wrestlers can change their, as Takahanada did when he became Takanohana (貴ノ花) and then Takanohana (貴乃花). Another notable example is the wrestler Sentoryu, which means "fighting war dragon" but is also homophonous with St. Louis, his city of origin.

Geisha, and practitioners of traditional crafts and arts such as pottery, the tea ceremony, calligraphy,  (tattooing) and  (flower arranging) often take professional names, known as lit. 'art name'. In many cases, these come from the master under whom they studied. For geisha, these names often feature the first part of the name of their "older sister", and typically all the geisha registered to one share this aspect in their names (such as Ichiume, Ichigiku, Ichiteru, etc.).

Kabuki actors take one of the traditional surnames such as Nakamura (中村), Bandō or Onoe. Some names are inherited on succession, such as that of the famous kabuki actor Bandō Tamasaburō V (五代目 坂東 玉三郎) through a naming ceremony.

Women working in the red-light districts commonly took names as a form of anonymity. However, high-ranking courtesans could inherit a generational name (名跡) upon gaining promotion to a higher rank. These names, exclusively the property of the brothel owner, typically carried the prestige of the person who held it previously, and brothel owners commonly chose only those of similar countenance and reputation to inherit them. were written in kanji, and were typically more elaborate than the average woman's name of the time, holding meanings taken from poetry, literary history and nature. As they were property of the brothel owner, were rarely passed from one  directly down to their apprentice, as holders were chosen for their suitability to the name's reputation.

In English and other Western languages
In English, the names of living or recently deceased Japanese are generally given surname last and without macrons. Historical figures are given surname first and with macrons, if available.

, when using English and other Western languages, Japanese people usually give their names in an order reversed from the traditional Japanese naming order, with the family name after the given name, instead of the given name after the family name. Beginning in Meiji period Japan, in many English-language publications, the naming order of modern-day Japanese people was reversed into the family name last order. The adoption of a Western naming order by Japanese people when writing or speaking in European languages, and when attending Western style or international events such as balls, formed part of the wider Meiji period adoption of aspects of Western culture in efforts to present Japan as a country as developed and advanced as its global neighbours.

Japanese people often have nicknames that are shortened forms of their actual names, and sometimes use these names with foreigners for ease of understanding. For instance, a man named "Kazuyuki" may call himself "Kaz" in the presence of those for whom Japanese is not a first language. Some Japanese people living abroad also adopt nicknames that they use with friends who are not Japanese.

Most foreign publications reverse the names of modern Japanese people, and most Japanese people reverse their own names for materials or publications intended for foreign consumption; for example, a Japanese business executive or official usually has two business cards, the first presenting their name in the Japanese order for Japanese people, and the second presenting their name in the Western order, intended for foreigners. In popular journalism publications, the Western order of naming is used. These practices stand in stark contrast to how English and generally Western names are treated in the Japanese language, where they are typically presented without reordering.

In Russian, Russian names may be written with family name first and given name second, as well as the other way round, and this applies to Japanese names presented in Russian as well.

In English, many historical figures are still referred to with the family name first. This is especially the case in scholarly works about Japan. Many scholarly works use the Japanese order with Japanese names in general, and a scholarly work is more likely to use Japanese order if the author specialises in subjects related to or about Japan. John Power wrote that "People who can speak and read Japanese have a strong resistance to switching Japanese names to the Western order." Books written by these authors often have notes stating that Japanese names are in the original order. Some books, however, do not have consistent naming order practices. Shizuka Saeki of Look Japan said, "This is not only a headache for writers and translators, it is also a source of confusion for readers." Lynne E. Riggs of the Society of Writers, Editors and Translators (SWET), a professional writing organization headquartered in Tokyo, wrote that "When you publish a book about Japan, you are publishing it for people who want to know about Japan. So they are interested in learning something new or something as it is supposed to be."

Edith Terry wrote that because Japanese people are "mastering" a "Western game", people have some pride and at the same time feel insecurity because the "game" is on "Western terms" rather than "Japanese terms." The standard presentation of Japanese names in English differs from the standard presentations of modern Chinese names and Korean names, which are usually not reversed to fit the Western order in English, except when the person is living or traveling abroad. Power wrote that the difference between the treatment of Japanese names and of Chinese and Korean names often results in confusion. Terry wrote, "it was one of the ironies of the late twentieth century that Japan remained stranded in the formal devices underlining its historical quest for equality with the West, while China set its own terms, in language as in big-power politics."

Saeki wrote in 2001 that most Japanese people writing in English use the Western naming order, but that some figures had begun to promote the use of Japanese order as Japan became a major economic power in the 20th century. The Japan Style Sheet, a 1998 guide for producing English language works about Japan written by SWET, advocates the use of the Japanese naming order as often as possible, in order to promote a consistency in naming order. In 1987, one publisher of English language textbooks in Japan used the Japanese order of naming, while in 2001 six of the eight publishers of English language textbooks in Japan used the Japanese order. In December 2000, the council on the National Language of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture recommended that English language productions begin using the Japanese naming order, as "it is in general desirable that personal names be presented and written in a way that preserves their unique forms, except for registries and other documents with specific standards." It recommended using capitalization (YAMADA Taro) or commas (Yamada, Taro) to clarify which part of the personal name is the family name and which part is the given name. In a January 2000 opinion poll from the Agency for Cultural Affairs on the preferred order of Japanese names in the English language, 34.9% had a preference for Japanese order, 30.6% had a preference for Western order, and 29.6% had no preference. In 1986, the Japan Foundation decided that it would use the Japanese naming order in all of its publications. A Japan Foundation publishing division spokesperson stated around 2001 that some SWET publications, including popular anglophone newspapers, continue to use the Western order. As of 2001, the agency's style sheet recommends using a different naming order style depending upon the context. For instance, it advocates using the Western order in publications for readers who are not familiar with Japan, such as international conference papers.

The Chicago Manual of Style recommends indexing Japanese names according to the way the original text treats the name. If the text uses the Western order, the Japanese name is reinverted and indexed by the family name with a comma. If the text uses Japanese order, the name is listed by the family name with no inversion and no comma.

On 21 May 2019, Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno expressed his hope that foreign media would refer to then-Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in the Japanese custom: family name first (as "Abe Shinzō"). He added that he was currently planning to issue an official request to the international media in that respect. Some others in the government support moving to retaining the original order of names, in line with Chinese and Korean practice, in time for the several major global events the country will be host to during 2020, while others seem not to.

On September 6, 2019, officials from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced that the ministry was to start using the traditional order for Japanese names in English in official documents. In 2020, The Economist announced plans to begin writing Japanese names in Japanese order based on a Japanese government decree that had been issued. NHK World-Japan began using Japanese names surname-first (with some exceptions) as early as March 29, 2020, but the new policy regarding name order was only announced early the next day. In Olympic events, starting with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japanese athletes have had their names rendered surname first.

In Chinese
In Chinese-speaking communities, Japanese names are pronounced according to the Chinese pronunciations of the characters. For example, in Standard Mandarin, Yamada Tarō (山田 太郎) becomes Shāntián Tàiláng, while Hatoyama Yukio (鳩山 由紀夫) becomes Jiūshān Yóujìfū. As a result, a Japanese person without adequate knowledge of Chinese would not understand their name when it is spoken in Chinese languages. Simply porting the kanji into Chinese and reading them as if they were Chinese is also different from the usual Chinese practice of approximating foreign names with similar-sounding Chinese characters.

Sometimes, a Japanese name includes. These kanji resemble Chinese characters but originate in Japan and do not have widely known Chinese pronunciations. For example, the word komu (込), read as in Chinese) is rarely used in modern Chinese reading. When words like this are encountered, usually the rule of "有邊讀邊，沒邊讀中間" ("read the side if any, read the middle part if there is no side") applies. Therefore, "込" is read as  which is derived from 入.

Heng Ji wrote that because Japanese names have "flexible" lengths, it may be difficult for someone to identify a Japanese name when reading a Chinese text. When consulting English texts a Chinese reader may have difficulty identifying a Japanese name; an example was when Chinese media mistook Obama's pet turkey Abe taken from Abe Lincoln (monosyllabic) for Shinzo Abe (disyllabic).

One place where Japanese names may be transliterated into Chinese languages phonetically is in Japanese video games, anime and manga series. In May 2016, Nintendo sparked anger among fans in Hong Kong by announcing that its new Pokémon games, Sun and Moon, would use translations based upon Mandarin across all parts of China and Taiwan. As the variety of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong, Cantonese, has many phonological differences from Mandarin, this results in names of well-known characters such as Pikachu being rendered and pronounced much different from the original Japanese.

title: Japanese name


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Name

A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal name identifies, not necessarily uniquely, a specific individual human. The name of a specific entity is sometimes called a proper name (although that term has a philosophical meaning as well) and is, when consisting of only one word, a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes called "common names" or (obsolete) "general names". A name can be given to a person, place, or thing; for example, parents can give their child a name or a scientist can give an element a name.

Etymology
The word name comes from Old English nama; cognate with Old High German (OHG) namo, Sanskrit नामन् (nāman), Latin nomen, Greek ὄνομα (onoma), and Persian نام (nâm), from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *h₁nómn̥. Outside Indo-European, it can be connected to Proto-Uralic *nime.

Naming conventions
A naming convention is a set of agreed, stipulated, or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms, or criteria for naming things.

Parents may follow a naming convention when selecting names for their children. Some have chosen alphabetical names by birth order. In some East Asian cultures it is common for one syllable in a two-syllable given name to be a generation name which is the same for immediate siblings. In many cultures it is common for the son to be named after the father or a grandfather. In certain African cultures, such as in Cameroon, the eldest son gets the family name for his given name. In other cultures, the name may include the place of residence, or the place of birth.

Major naming conventions include:
 * In astronomy, astronomical naming conventions
 * In biology, binomial nomenclature
 * In chemistry, chemical nomenclature
 * In classics, Roman naming conventions
 * In computer programming, identifier naming conventions
 * In computer networking, computer naming schemes
 * In planetary science, planetary nomenclature
 * In sciences generally, systematic names for a variety of things

Products may follow a naming convention. Automobiles typically have a binomial name, a "make" (manufacturer) and a "model", in addition to a model year, such as a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette. Sometimes there is a name for the car's "decoration level" or "trim line" as well: e.g., Cadillac Escalade EXT Platinum, after the precious metal. Computers often have increasing numbers in their names to signify the next generation.

Courses at schools typically follow a naming convention: an abbreviation for the subject area and then a number ordered by increasing level of difficulty.

Many numbers (e.g., bank accounts, government IDs, credit cards, etc.) are not random but have an internal structure and convention. Virtually all organizations that assign names or numbers will follow some convention in generating these identifiers. Airline flight numbers, Space Shuttle flight numbers, even phone numbers all have an internal convention.

Personal name
A personal name is an identifying word or words by which an individual is intimately known or designated. In many countries, it is traditional for individuals to have a personal name (also called a given name or first name) and a surname (also called a last name or family name because it is shared by members of the same family). Some people have two surnames, one inherited from each parent. In most of Europe and the Americas, the given name typically comes before the surname, whereas in parts of Asia and Hungary the surname comes before the given name. In some cultures it is traditional for a woman to take her husband's surname when she gets married.

A common practice in many countries is patronym which means that a component of a personal name is based on the given name of one's father. A less common practice in countries is matronym which means that a component of a personal name is based on the given name of one's mother. In some East Asian cultures, it is traditional for given names to include a generation name, a syllable shared between siblings and cousins of the same generation.

Middle names are also used by many people as a third identifier, and can be chosen for personal reasons including signifying relationships, preserving pre-marital/maiden names (a popular practice in the United States), and to perpetuate family names. The practice of using middle names dates back to ancient Rome, where it was common for members of the elite to have a praenomen (a personal name), a nomen (a family name, not exactly used the way middle names are used today), and a cognomen (a name representing an individual attribute or the specific branch of a person's family). Middle names eventually fell out of use, but regained popularity in Europe during the nineteenth century.

Besides first, middle, and last names, individuals may also have nicknames, aliases, or titles. Nicknames are informal names used by friends or family to refer to a person ("Chris" may be used as a short form of the personal name "Christopher"). A person may choose to use an alias, or a fake name, instead of their real name, possibly to protect or obscure their identity. People may also have titles designating their role in an institution or profession (members of royal families may use various terms such as king, Queen, duke, or duchess to signify their positions of authority or their relation to the throne).

Names of names
In onomastic terminology, personal names of men are called andronyms (from Ancient Greek ἀνήρ / man, and ὄνομα / name), while personal names of women are called gynonyms (from Ancient Greek γυνή / woman, and ὄνομα / name).

Brand names
Developing a name for a brand or product is heavily influenced by marketing research and strategy to be appealing and marketable. The brand name is often a neologism or pseudoword, such as Kodak or Sony.

Religious names
In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names were thought to be extremely powerful and act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity. This viewpoint is responsible both for the reluctance to use the proper name of God in Hebrew writing or speech, as well as the common understanding in ancient magic that magical rituals had to be carried out "in [someone's] name". By invoking a god or spirit by name, one was thought to be able to summon that spirit's power for some kind of miracle or magic (see Luke 9:49, in which the disciples claim to have seen a man driving out demons using the name of Jesus). This understanding passed into later religious tradition, for example the stipulation in Catholic exorcism that the demon cannot be expelled until the exorcist has forced it to give up its name, at which point the name may be used in a stern command which will drive the demon away.

Biblical names
In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful, and a change of name indicates a change of status. For example, the patriarch Abram and his wife Sarai were renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" at the institution of the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). Simon was renamed Peter when he was given the Keys to Heaven. This is recounted in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16, which according to Roman Catholic teaching was when Jesus promised to Saint Peter the power to take binding actions. Proper names are "saturated with meaning".

Throughout the Bible, characters are given names at birth that reflect something of significance or describe the course of their lives. For example: Solomon meant peace, and the king with that name was the first whose reign was without war. Likewise, Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget")(Genesis 41:51); when Joseph also said, "God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father's family." Biblical Jewish people did not have surnames which were passed from generation to generation. However, they were typically known as the child of their father. For example: דוד בן ישי (David ben Yishay) meaning, David, son of Jesse (1 Samuel 17:12,58). Today, this style of name is still used in Jewish religious rites.

Indian name
Indian names are based on a variety of systems and naming conventions, which vary from region to region. Names are also influenced by religion and caste and may come from epics. India's population speaks a wide variety of languages and nearly every major religion in the world has a following in India. This variety makes for subtle, often confusing, differences in names and naming styles. Due to historical Indian cultural influences, several names across South and Southeast Asia are influenced by or adapted from Indian names or words.

For some Indians, their birth name is different from their official name; the birth name starts with a randomly selected name from the person's horoscope (based on the nakshatra or lunar mansion corresponding to the person's birth).

Many children are given three names, sometimes as a part of religious teaching.

Quranic names (Arabic names)
We can see many Arabic names in the Quran and in Muslim people, such as Allah, Muhammad, Khwaja, Ismail, Mehboob, Suhelahmed, Shoheb Ameena, Aaisha, Sameena, Rumana, Swaleha, etc.

The names Mohammed and Ahmed are the same, for example Suhel Ahmad or Mohammad Suhel are the same. There are many similar names in Islam and Christianity, such as Yosef (Islamic)/Joseph (Christian), Adam/Adam, Dawood/David, Rumana/Romana, Maryam/Mary, Nuh/Noah, etc.

Name use by animals and plants
The use of personal names is not unique to humans. Dolphins and green-rumped parrotlets also use symbolic names to address contact calls to specific individuals. Individual dolphins have distinctive signature whistles, to which they will respond even when there is no other information to clarify which dolphin is being referred to.

title: Name