This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Ceremonies, such as baptism, can be used to give names.

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 (although that term has a philosophical meaning also) and is a proper noun. Other nouns are sometimes, more loosely, called names; an older term for them, now obsolete, is "general names".

The use of personal names is not unique to humans. Dolphins also use symbolic names, as has been shown by recent research.^[1] Individual dolphins have distinctive whistles, to which they will respond even when there is no other information to clarify which dolphin is being referred to.

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. Finally, claims to preference or authority can be refuted: the British did not refer to Louis-Napoleon as Napoleon III during his rule.

Etymology[link]

The word "name" comes from Old English nama; akin to Old High German (OHG) and Sanskrit नामस् (naamas), Latin nomen, and Greek ὄνομα (onoma),^[2] possbly from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *nomn-.^[3]

In mythology[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

In Arthurian mythology, part of the code of honor and chivalry practiced by knights was that a knight who lost a duel must reveal his name to the victor. It was considered a breach of honor or decorum to reveal one's name before combat. A frequent topos in the legends is that a defeated knight would, after revealing his name, ask the victor what his name was: if the victor turned out to be a much stronger and more famous knight (e.g. one of Arthur's knights) the loser actually saved face, because he was beaten by a knight already held to be stronger than him, and thus there was no shame in defeat. However, if a strong and powerful knight was defeated, and the victor turned out to be a relatively unknown and not particularly strong knight, it was a grave humiliation.

As a result of this pattern, it was considered extremely odd within the rules of Arthurian society when a knight refused to take off his helmet or reveal his identity, even after he had won a duel. Sometimes this happened because the victorious knight simply did not know his own name, as was the case with Lancelot and Percival during their early careers. This inability to reveal their own names even in victory led many to assume incorrectly that they were trying to insult the vanquished.

A major exception to the rule was Sir Gawain: Gawain considered himself to be the greatest of his uncle Arthur's knights; he felt that his honor was so great that he did not need to hide his name before a duel. Thus at the opening of any duel Gawain would openly announce "I am Gawain", as he expected never to be defeated and so it would not diminish his honor to reveal his name.

In religious thought[link]

In the ancient world, particularly in the ancient near-east (Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia) names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity.^[4] 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[link]

In the Old Testament, the names of individuals are meaningful; for example, Adam is named after the "earth" (Adamah) from which he was created. (Genesis 2)

A change of name indicates a change of status. For example, the patriarch Abram and his wife Sarai are renamed "Abraham" and "Sarah" when they are told they will be the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:4, 17:15). Simon was renamed Peter when he was given the Keys of Heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 16).

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 warfare. Likewise, Joseph named his firstborn son Manasseh (Hebrew: "causing to forget") as a gesture of forgiveness to his brothers for selling him into slavery.

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. In a sense, they used their fathers' first names as their own last names, a practice done by most Muslims today. Similar to Jewish names, the "ben" is in place by "bin" or "ibn" for males, "binte", "binti" or "ibnu" for females to Muslims. Sometimes, names include "Al-", "Ali-", "-allah", "-lah/-llah" or "-ullah" as it means "a servant to God" or "God's servant". They would sometimes indicate the place they or their child live in.

Talmudic attitudes[link]

The Babylonian Talmud maintains that names exert a mystical influence over their bearers, and a change of name is one of four actions that can avert an evil heavenly decree, that would lead to punishment after one's death. Rabbinical commentators differ as to whether the name's influence is metaphysical, connecting a person to their soul, or bio-socio-psychological, where the connection affects his personality, appearance and social capacities. The Talmud also states that all those who descend to Gehenna will rise in the time of Messiah. However, there are three exceptions, one of which is he who calls another by a derisive nickname.

Technical names for names[link]

Naming convention[link]

For Wikipedia's own naming conventions see Wikipedia:Article titles

A naming convention is an attempt to systematize names in a field so they unambiguously convey similar information in a similar manner.

Several major naming conventions include:

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

Naming conventions are useful in many aspects of everyday life, enabling the casual user to understand larger structures.

Street names within a city may follow a naming convention; some examples include:

• In Manhattan, roads that cross the island from east to west are called "Streets". Those that run the length of the island (North-South) are called "Avenues". Manhattan streets and avenues are numbered, with "1st Street" being near the southern end of the island, and "219th Street" being near the northern end, while "1st Avenue" is near the eastern edge of the island and "12th Avenue" near the western edge.
• In Ontario, numbered concession roads are East-West whereas "lines" are North-South routes.
• In San Francisco at least three series of parallel streets are alphabetically named, e.g. Irving, Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona.
• The same tendency is seen in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, where Arlington Street is followed by roads to the west running parallel to it and named Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford.
• In Washington, DC, East Capitol Street runs east-west through the Capitol. East-west streets moving away from Capitol Street toward both the south (toward the Potomac River) and the north are lettered A, B, C,..., omitting J to avoid confusion on street signs and addresses, but after these are exhausted to the north, the streets are named with simple words in alphabetical order, omitting a few letters such as "x". The first cycle of names consists all of one-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of two-syllable words; then followed by a cycle of three-syllable words, and before these are exhausted, Maryland is reached. (Washington has north-south streets that are numbered, increasing to either side of North Capitol which likewise runs through the Capitol.) Suffixes (NE, SW, etc.) are used to distinguish between (up to four) duplicate addresses. For example 140 D Street SW, to indicate the 140 D Street location southwest of the Capitol
• In Montgomery, Alabama, the old major avenues are named for the Presidents of the United States, in their order of entering office, omitting John Quincy Adams. Hence, these streets are Washington Ave., Adams Ave., Jefferson Ave., Madison Ave., Monroe Ave., Jackson Ave., but not much farther than that. This was just the old plan from a long time ago, and it was eventually dropped. For example, there is not a Buchanan Ave., a Lincoln Ave., or a Johnson Ave.
• In Brampton, Ontario, different sections of town all have streets starting with the same letter and the alphabetical order reflects chronology.
• In Phoenix, Arizona, roads east of Central Avenue are termed streets while those west are avenues. A similar system applies in Nashville, Tennessee, but only to the numbered avenues and streets, west and east of the Cumberland River respectively, all of which run roughly north-south.

Large corporate, university, or government campuses may follow a naming convention for rooms within the buildings to help orient tenants and visitors. Otherwise, rooms may be numbered in some kind of a rational scheme.

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, also, giving names such as "Thomas Thomas" (but the names are not European names like this one).

In other cultures, the name may include the place of residence, or the place of birth. The Roman naming convention denotes social rank.

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.

Brand names[link]

The process of 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.

Literary names[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

In fiction, proper names of people or places are often unique to the work in which they appear. Although, within the work of fiction proper, the name may nonetheless be said to have a certain ethnic origin, the name itself may not actually exist. For example, the character of Ororo Munroe (Storm of the X-Men franchise) is of African descent.^{[citation needed]} Her first name, however is not an authentic African name. Names may also be created to either represent ethnic neutrality or corruption of a name with the passage of time. This is a common technique used by science fiction and fantasy writers who may also employ alternate spellings of existing names. Also, many science fiction operates on the premise that racial and ethnic boundaries will cease to exist in the future thus producing names that appear to be mixes of different ethnic sources.^{[original research?]} Yoshiyuki Tomino (creator of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam) is notable for creating character names that are unusual, exotic, and sometimes silly sounding. Examples include Char Aznable (which is actually based on a real person), Bright Noa, Quess Paraya, and Marvel Frozen. The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov has also created names which may or may not be variants or corruptions of existing or ancient names. Examples include Dors Venabili, R. Daneel Olivaw, and Giskard Reventlov. The Star Wars and Dune franchises contains many character names that juggle existing names with created ones; Leia Organa, Ben Kenobi, Paul Atreides, Vladimir Harkonnen.^{[citation needed][original research?]}

.name domains[link]

This section appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (May 2012)

According to Verisign,^[5] the .name top-level domain name (TLD) is designed for individuals to create a presence and make online communications easy and accessible. Not exclusive to registrars, social networking and community sites may also offer .name registration to their members and customers as a value-added service to help establish an individual identity online.^[6]

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• "Names" by Sam Cumming, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), a philosophical dissertation on the syntax and semantics of names
• Matthews, Elaine; Hornblower, Simon; Fraser, Peter Marshall, Greek Personal Names: Their Value as Evidence, Proceedings of The British Academy (104), Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-726216-3
• Name and Form - from Sacred Texts Buddhism

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Name

• Kate Monk's Onomastikon (Dictionary of Names) or Kate Monk's Onomastikon Names over the world throughout the history
• The etymology of first names
• Meaning of Names The etymology of first names
• What is a Name?

Trey Songz
Background information
Birth name	Tremaine Aldon Neverson
Born	(1984-11-28) November 28, 1984 (age 27) Petersburg, Virginia, United States
Genres	R&B, hip hop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, sampler
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Atlantic, Songbook
Associated acts	Drake, Troy Taylor, Twista, Juvenile, Bun B, Rick Ross, Plies
Website	www.treysongz.com

Tremaine "Trey" Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), better known by his stage name Trey Songz, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. His debut album, I Gotta Make It, was released in 2005, while his second album, Trey Day, was released in 2007. His third album, Ready, was released in 2009 while his fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.

Life and career[link]

1984–2004: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Songz was born Tremaine Aldon Neverson on November 28, 1984, in Petersburg, Virginia.^[1] Raised as a military brat, Songz did not have aspirations to have a musical career as a child due to his shyness, saying "Singing wasn't a reality for me, until other people started noticing I sounded good."^[2] He recognized his vocal abilities at the age of 14.^[2] Reluctant to sing, he began performing with encouragement by friends and family in high school. Record producer Troy Taylor discovered Songz during a talent show in 2000, which led him to signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 2002.^[2] After graduating from high school in 2002, Songz moved to New Jersey to begin recording his debut album, though recording didn't actually begin until 2003.^[1]

[edit] 2004–2008I Gotta Make It and Trey Day

While recording his debut album in 2004, Songz released multiple mixtapes under the alias Prince of Virginia.^[1] One of the mixtapes featured an "answer track" to R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet", entitled "Open the Closet". The song gave Trey some notoriety.^[3] His debut album, I Gotta Make It was released on July 26, 2005.^[4] It debuted at #20 on the Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week of sales.^[5] It has sold 300,000 records in the US, but was never certified by the RIAA. Songz's debut single, Gotta Make It, featuring Twista, was released in March 2005 and reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It garnered success in the R&B/urban community but failed to make a mark in mainstream music. The album's second and final single, Gotta Go, was released in July 2005 and reached #67 on the Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming even more successful than his debut single in the R&B/urban community and in the mainstream community. After promotion for his debut concluded, he was featured on the lead single from Twista's fifth album, The Day After. The single, "Girl Tonite", reached #14 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a huge hit.

Trey Songz performing in 2007.

In mid-2006, Songz began work on a follow-up album to his debut with longtime collaborator Troy Taylor and also employed hitmakers Bryan-Michael Cox, Danja, Stargate (production team) and R. Kelly to help create the album. Trey aimed for the album to be more mainstream-oriented than his debut album. His second studio album, Trey Day, was released on October 2, 2007. The album reached #11 on the Billboard 200,^[6] selling 73,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold 400,000 records in the US, becoming his second album not to be certified by the RIAA. The album was going to be released on May 8, 2007, but was continually delayed in order for a successful single to precede the album, as the lead single failed to impact charts.

His second album was preceded by the lead single, "Wonder Woman", which was released in February 2007. It reached #54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but failed to impact the Hot 100. Because of the single's failure, his second album was delayed from May 2007 to October 2007. The album's second single, "Can't Help but Wait", was released in August 2007 and was released to promote his second album and the film Step Up 2 the Streets soundtrack as a single for it. The single reached #14 on the Hot 100, and #2 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It became Songz's first Top 20 hit on the Hot 100, and helped to boost his second album's sales. The single was also nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 50th Grammy Awards. The third single from the album, "Last Time", was released in January 2008 and reached #69 on the Hot 100, and #9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The fourth and final single from the album, "Missin' You", was released in May 2008, but failed to chart completely. In mid-2008, Songz was nominated for a BET Award for Best Male R&B Artist but did not win the award.^[7]

[edit] 2009–2011: Ready and Passion, Pain & Pleasure

In late 2008, Trey began work on his third studio album with Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Stargate and Troy Taylor and aimed for the record to be more mature than his first two. Before releasing his third album, Songz released a mixtape titled Anticipation in June 2009 through his blog, which featured songs from his third album.^[8] Another mixtape from Trey was released in the summer of 2009, called Genesis. Genesis was a collection of Trey Songz's first recordings when he was fifteen years old and was released to show his fans the dedication that he had to making a record when he was young.^[9] Trey released his third studio album, Ready, on August 31, 2009. The album reached #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 131,000 copies in its first week.^[10] These are his best first week sales to date and the album was his first to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold over 800,000 records in the US, earning a Gold certification from the RIAA in February 2010, becoming his first album to be certified by the RIAA.

Trey Songz performing at Summer Jam on June 5, 2010.

The lead single from the album, "I Need a Girl", was released in April 2009 and reached #5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and #59 on the Hot 100, becoming an R&B/urban hit but not a mainstream hit. A promotional single, "Successful", featuring rapper Drake, was released in June 2009 and reached #17 on the Hot 100, becoming Songz's third Top 20 hit. The single also served as the second and final single from Drake's EP, So Far Gone. The second official single from his third album, "LOL Smiley Face", featuring Soulja Boy Tell 'Em and Gucci Mane, was released in August 2009 and reached #51 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third single from the album, "I Invented Sex", featuring Drake, was released in October 2009 and reached #42 on the Hot 100 but #1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first single to top that chart. Like the first two singles from the album, it achieved success in the R&B/urban community but only some mainstream success. charted within the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart. The fourth single from the album, "Say Aah", featuring rapper Fabolous, was released in January 2010 and reached #9 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The single has become Trey's highest charting single on the Hot 100 and one of his most successful singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

The fifth and final single from the album, "Neighbors Know My Name", was released in February 2010 and reached #43 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A sixth single, "Yo Side of the Bed", was going to be released in June 2010, but its release was canceled due to unknown reasons. A music video, featuring singer Keri Hilson, was filmed and released, however. Songz was also the opening act for Jay-Z on his Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards in 2010, but lost to Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce. On April 1, 2010, he recorded an episode of MTV Unplugged, which aired on April 26, 2010.^[11] A documentary-series about Trey, Trey Songz: My Moment, began in June 2010 to positive reviews and high ratings. The 10-part series will end in August 2010 and follows Trey during his time as opening act on Jay-Z's Jay-Z Fall Tour in late 2009.

Songz's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, was released on September 14, 2010.^[12] Trey began work on the album in early 2010 with Sean Garrett, Troy Taylor and Stargate and has stated that the album will be his most personal to date. The album was completed in July 2010. The album's lead single, "Bottoms Up", featuring female rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on July 27, 2010 and has reached number twenty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was shared enough on Facebook to appear as a trending video on ItsTrending. Its video was filmed on July 31, 2010 and is pending release.^[13] Trey also filmed the video for the album's second single, "Can't Be Friends", on August 1, 2010.^[13] "Can't Be Friends" was released as the album's second single in August 2010.^[13] Songz embarked on the Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour on August 6, 2010 with singer Monica. The tour is his first headlining tour to date and consists of shows in venues that seat 3,000 to 5,000 people. Songz also contributed the song "Already Taken" to the Step Up 3D soundtrack, which was released on July 27, 2010. He filmed a video for the song, which was released in July 2010. The leading lady in the video is former girlfriend and professional dancer Helen Gedlu. Songz appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[14] Songz performed at BET Awards 2011 which broadcasted on June 26, 2011.^[15]

In July 2011, he was cast in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D as Ryan, the male lead role.^[16]

[edit] 2011–present: Inevitable and Chapter 5

On August 18, 2011, it was announced Songz will be working on his fifth studio titled Chapter 5.^[17] In an interview Trey said the album, which will act as the follow-up to Passion, Pain & Pleasure, is said to be nearing completion. He also carried on to say "It’s my sixth year in the game so I’ve been here for a while now. You can expect the best me you’ve ever heard. I don’t have any release dates in mind right now but I’m just making music and enjoying myself in the studio and having fun. When I get to a place where I feel comfortable saying a date or all of that, people will definitely know. I have a few dream collaborations on that album that I want, but they say if you blow out your candle and make a wish you can’t tell people what you ask for or it won’t come true."^[18]

On November 28, 2011, on his birthday, Songz released his Inevitable EP to prepare for the release of his album. In February 2012, Songz will embark on his Anticipation 2our to promote his mixtape Anticipation 2 and to raise awareness of his new album.

Discography[link]

• I Gotta Make It (2005)
• Trey Day (2007)
• Ready (2009)
• Passion, Pain & Pleasure (2010)
• Chapter V (2012)

Tours[link]

• Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour (headliner) (2010)
• OMG Tour (opening for Usher) (2010)
• Anticipation 2our (headliner) (2012)

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trey Songz

• Official website
• Trey Songz at the Internet Movie Database

Chris Cornell (born Christopher John Boyle; July 20, 1964) is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1991. He is known for his wide vocal range, spanning B1-G5 in full-voice, and up to E6 in falsetto,^[1][2] as well as his powerful vocal belting technique. He was the founder and frontman for Temple of the Dog, the one-off tribute band dedicated to his former roommate, Andrew Wood. He has released three solo studio albums, Euphoria Morning (1999), Carry On (2007), and Scream (2009). Cornell was ranked 4th in the list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists" by Hit Parader.^[3] He performed the theme song to the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006), "You Know My Name." Chris Cornell also released his first live solo album entitled "Songbook" in November, 2011.

Childhood and early life[link]

Cornell was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and attended Christ the King, Catholic elementary school^[4] and Shorewood High School. His parents are Ed Boyle (a pharmacist from an Irish Catholic background) and Karen Cornell (an accountant from a Jewish background).^[5][6] He has five siblings: older brothers Peter and Patrick, and younger sisters Katy, Suzy, and Maggie. Peter, Katy and Suzy all performed in the band Inflatable Soule in the 1990s. Peter is currently the frontman for the New York-based rock band Black Market Radio. Katy performs as lead vocalist for the Seattle band Happy Hour Hero.