So how does one create a common name for a species?? I have some ideas for a few species IE Rudiloria mohicana. Mohican Millipede

see https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-common-name-to-polyommatus-celina/4012

Are these names that are in use, or that you are coming up with? Names on iNat should have documented use elsewhere before being added here.

atm coming up with but i’m interested in the process for making common names “official” or as official as they can get at least.

Well “official” is a bit subjective (lots of other forum posts on that), but generally it’s helpful to have something published that documents use.

If you’re interested in reading previous discussions about this, see these threads: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/common-names-invented-on-inat/27452 https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/inventing-common-names-redux/40451 Long story short: iNaturalist is not a place to invent new names for species. …

Go find anybody working on the organism in question and persuade them to use the name in a publication. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a good publication. Doesn’t matter if it’s a good name.

Woo hoo, back to this subject again. Here’s the very brief summary: Only add common names already in documented use. Do not add your own made-up common names no matter how good or appropriate you think they are.

You can always use your journal feature. I created a bunch of names for this group of taxa just for fun as part of a key that I made https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/matthewvosper/68277-key-to-the-eriozona-leucozona-and-flavizona-of-the-world You could always make an article more specifically a…

Seconded. It causes major problems for systematists.

There are enough problems on iNaturalist with people creating common names with no actual common usage by translating scientific names, please do not add to the issue. As explicitly stated by iNaturalist staff, this site is not the avenue for creating new common names, and such behavior is explicit…

How to add common names?

General

Topic		Replies	Views
What does it take to assign a species a common name? Nature Talk question , taxonomy	20	1858	May 22, 2022
Curator guidelines about made-up names Curators common-names	80	2243	September 24, 2024
Common names invented on iNat General common-names	192	12697	March 29, 2023
Common Name Creation General question	5	418	July 17, 2025
Interpretation of rule against invented common names General	85	1877	September 12, 2025

How to add common names?

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