Naming Conventions
The full procedure for selecting a name in the modern world is laid out in the Laws_of_Alpha_Complex_ed._39/B.3.9, sections 7.2, 7.5, 7.8.2, 7.9-13, and most of 7.88-1374. As such, the procedure is far too long to be detailed in a report such as this, but can be summed up as follows.
All Alpha Complex names consist of four sections:
A Personal Name: Generally one word. Multiple word personal names, or personal names with internal capitals, are frowned upon but accepted. (They're more prevalent in some sectors than others, due to regional variances.) Some are normal words, others are drawn from 'name databases,' and still others are just made up out of whole synthecloth, so to speak. In some sectors, the Computer applies them automatically, while in others, the staff of the Cloning Creche assigns them at their discretion. (A few sectors have more exotic methods, such as MAD_Sector's 'R&D Lottery.' Examples: Ging, Billy, Sue, Ken, Rasp
A Security Clearance Abbreviation: The first letter of the citizen's security clearance. INFRAREDS omit this section, to avoid confusion with INDIGOS. Examples: Ging-I, Billy (INFRARED), Sue-R, Ken-U, Rasp-U
A Sector Designation: The three-letter name of the sector where the clone was decanted. Note that this is not always the same sector that the clone is assigned to in later life -- there's always a certain amount of migration through the complex as reassignments, redistricting, and sector-wide disasters dictate. The process has only accelerated with the creation of the Group_Assignment_Services_Exchange_Scheme_(GASES). Examples: Ging-I-VTS, Billy-BOB, Sue-R-RAT, Ken-U-RON, Rasp-U-TIN
A Clone Number: All clones begin as a family of six, and are assigned numbers accordingly. A clone who has proven his or her worth to Friend Computer and the complex as a whole may be permitted to purchase or requisition extra clones, on a case-by-case basis, though the higher-numbered clones are often subject to a sort of 'degradation' based on overuse of the same genetic stock. This can sometimes be countered by appropriate (and expensive) refurbishing procedures. Examples: Ging-I-VTS-5, Billy-BOB-3, Sue-R-RAT-1, Ken-U-RON-6, Rasp-U-TIN-1
Numerous studies have been made into the relationship of names to a clone's future career. The latest CPU reports claim that there is a 62.87656% correlation betwen a grown clone's occupation and any associations that can be drawn from some form of their name. Explanations of this vary wildly. Some claim that a clone is subconsciously influenced by their name, and pursues interests (and develops strengths) inspired by it. Others claim Friend Computer, in its omniscient wisdom, can accurately predict a clone's future by its mere genetic code. (This leaves ambiguous the status of clones named by Clone Creche technicians, though, and is even suggestive of widespread illegal precognitive mutations in the industry.) Research continues.
But most relevantly for our purposes: for reasons as yet unknown, for a full weekcycle after the Toothpaste_Disaster, the Clone Creches in COL, LAH, MAD and RON sectors turned out Junior Citizens with defective names. Infants with names like John-Paul-George-Ringo, Tra-LAH-LAH-LAH, Wont-2-B-U-R-Lava-2, and 24-17-33-Hike have all been taken into custody pending CPU determining just what procedures are necessary to rename them; hopefully, this will be accomplished before they reach the age of majority.
COL, LAH, MAD and RON use very different Clone Creche systems and methods of naming, so investigators are, as yet, baffled as to what common cause there might be (an inescapable conclusion, given the simultaniety of it all).
-- Ken-U-RON-6
Referenced by: