From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For conventions governing Wikipedia article names, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions.

A naming convention is a collection of rules followed by a set of names. The intent is that users of these names will be able to deduce useful information, based on the names' character sequence and knowledge of the rules followed. For instance, in Manhattan, streets are numbered with East-West streets being called "Streets" and North-South streets called "Avenues".

Well chosen naming conventions aid the casual user in navigating larger structures. Several areas where naming conventions are commonly used include:

• In computer programming, identifier naming conventions
• In the sciences, systematic names for a variety of things
• In astronomy, planetary nomenclature
• In classics, Roman naming conventions
• In Industry, Product naming conventions

A naming convention may be followed when:

• Large corporate, university, or government campuses may name rooms within the buildings to help orient tenants and visitors.

• Children's names may be alphabetical by birth order. In some Asian cultures, it is common for the middle name to be common for immediate siblings. It many cultures it is common for the son to be named after the father[1]. In other cultures, the name may include the place of residence[2]. Roman naming convention denotes social rank[3].

• Products. Automobiles typically have a binomial name, a "make" (manufacturer) and a "model", in addition to a model year. Computers often have increasing numbers in their names to signify the next generation.

• School courses: an abbreviation for the subject area and then a number ordered by increasing level of difficulty.

• Virtually all organizations that assign names or numbers follow some convention in generating these identifiers (e.g. phone numbers, bank accounts, government IDs, credit cards, etc).

• American Name Society Promote onomastics, the study of names and naming practices, both in the United States and abroad.