Name
A
name is a word or term used for identification. Names can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. A personal name identifies a
specific unique and identifiable individual person, and may or may not include a middle name. The name of a specific entity is sometimes called a proper name and is a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes, more loosely, called names; an older term for them, now obsolete, is "
general names". A name can be given to a person, place, or thing; for example, parents can give their child a name or scientist can give an element a name. Caution must be exercised when translating, for there are ways that one language may prefer one type of name over another. A feudal naming habit is used sometimes in other languages: the French sometimes refer to Aristotle as "le Stagirite" from one spelling of his place of birth, and English speakers often refer to Shakespeare as "The Bard", recognizing him as a paragon writer of the language. Also, claims to preference or authority can be refuted: the British did not refer to Louis-Napoleon as Napoleon III during his rule.