Systematic name

The existence of non-standard common names in different languages for entities studied by the scientific communities and the overloading of a single name to describe different entities from a same field of study makes scientific communication harder and causes unproductive name disputes. As a response, a number of systems of standardized and systematic names have been created.

These can be as simple as assigning a prefix and a number to each object (in which case they are a type of numbering scheme), or as complex as encoding the complete structure of the object in the name. Many systems combine some information about the named object with an extra sequence number to make it into a unique identifier.

There are standardized systematic or semi-systematic names for:

• chemical elements (following IUPAC guidelines)
• chemical compounds (following IUPAC guidelines)
• biological organisms, initiated by Carl Linnaeus
• astronomical objects and entities (administered by the International Astronomical Union)
• genes (following HGNC procedures)
• proteins
• minerals (administered by the IMA)

Systematic names often co-exist with earlier common names assigned before the creation of any systematic naming system. For example, many common chemicals are still referred to by their common names, even by chemists.

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See also

• Biological classification
• Chemical element
• Chemical compound
• International scientific vocabulary
• List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
• Name
• Namespace
• Naming scheme
• Numbering scheme

External links

• Naming organic compounds
• Selected pages from IUPAC rules for naming inorganic compounds
• The Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification