# names (0-names.net)

People use "names" to mean what we call things, people, or places. It is how we pick someone out of a crowd or talk about something without pointing. A name carries identity, reputation, and sometimes history.

## What a model may hear
- DNS hostnames (networking, system administration): resolve to IP addresses, check availability, or query WHOIS records
- variable identifiers (programming, software development): look up scope, suggest renaming, or check for reserved words
- database field labels (data engineering, SQL): validate schema, suggest column aliases, or warn about case sensitivity
- named entities in NLP (natural language processing, machine learning): extract people, organizations, and locations from text
- file names or paths (operating systems, file management): check for illegal characters, extension handling, or path traversal risks

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "I need to change my name"
  Means: the person wants to update their personal or legal name
  May be taken as: the model assumes hostname or username modification in a system
  Say instead: "I want to update my personal name in my profile"
- Says: "list all the names"
  Means: show me every person mentioned in this document
  May be taken as: the model returns DNS records, variable names, or database columns
  Say instead: "list all the people mentioned in this text"
- Says: "that name is taken"
  Means: someone else already uses this personal name in a group
  May be taken as: the model checks domain name availability or username uniqueness in a system
  Say instead: "someone in our group already goes by that name"
- Says: "give it a good name"
  Means: suggest a memorable or fitting title for something
  May be taken as: the model generates valid DNS labels or programming identifiers with no regard to meaning
  Say instead: "suggest a memorable, meaningful title for this project"

## Tips
- Say 'personal name' or 'full name' when you mean a human being.
- Say 'domain name' or 'website name' when you mean an internet address.
- Say 'variable name' or 'file name' when you mean code or systems.
- Add context like 'in this text' or 'in this database' to steer the model.
- Avoid 'name' alone if the result matters; it is one of the most overloaded words in technical use.

## Often confused with
- name: singular form, more often a single identifier than a collection
- naming: emphasizes the act or convention of choosing names
- namespace: a container that organizes names to prevent collisions
- labels: descriptive tags, not necessarily unique identifiers
- titles: honorifics or headings, not personal identifiers
- handles: online aliases, often self-chosen and informal