The standard name for an object is the official or most commonly recognized text identifier for that object at a given time. Normally this name is assigned by the controller of the object, such as its owner or government. When no name is assigned, the most reasonable identifier should be chosen automatically according to local and worldwide customs associated with that object type: for example, a building without a name may use its address as a name.

For purposes of presentation, unwieldy names may be simplified for listing as the standard name. In this case, the unabridged name should be listed as the object's full name. (This would happen, for instance, when a country's full constitutional name is rarely used or recognized by the public, and its shorter name is in common currency.)

The name of an object is time-sensitive, and may be applicable within fixed dates on a timeline. Therefore former names and future names should also be listed as standard names, with start and end dates to indicate the period of validity. The effective start and end dates of an object's name bind the dates of the successive names; if two names overlap in time, then the one with the better documented source is listed as valid for the overlapping time period.

Names may or may not be language-sensitive. When a name varies between languages, it may be translated separately into the languages where it varies. Otherwise, when entered in one language, it is automatically copied or transliterated into all other languages where no translation is defined. Preference in such cases is given to a name entered in its native language; thus, if a name is entered first in a foreign language and then in the native language, the native version will automatically overwrite all automatically filled language versions.