Facenames

The facename is the primary name used to uniquely identify someone, and doesn’t usually change over the course of one’s life. It is always positioned last amongst one’s names. Use of the facename alone is reserved for friends and intimate partners.

Facenames can either be assigned prescriptively by parents, be asserted by the child themselves, or emerge naturally from the child’s interactions with others.

Addressing Strangers

Leaving out someone’s facename when addressing them directly is normally considered rude, except for the following cases:

• in temporary interactions, where names are either not known or not necessary, such are talking to a vendor or customer. In these cases it is common to use two auxiliaries, for example “Jubilant Vendor”.

• mythical figures or deities, who usually only have one name.

• when mentioning unknown persons (who are present) in the third person, citizens may substitute a gendered pronoun along with at least one auxiliary, for example “Citizen Him” or “Vendor Dym”.

• For persons who are not present, or talking about theoretical people, eliding the facename is not an issue. For example “High Representative”, meaning ‘whoever is the representative of High Commons’, whoever that happens to be.