# Long and Short Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Tags:** fun\ **Created:** [July 16, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596 "2022-07-16T14:14:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/1 "2022-07-16T14:14:23Z")
I like short and simple names, so when learning new taxons, I remember the simpler of the two of common name vs. scientific name. When I need to refer to the other name, I check [iNat Taxa Info](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa). Examples: - [Kale (_Brassica oleracea_ ssp. _sabellica_)](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/739454-Brassica-oleracea-sabellica) - 1 syllable common name! - [California Poppy (_Eschscholzia californica_)](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48225-Eschscholzia-californica) - poppy, always forget ‘lzia’ or ‘liza’ at the end - [Stork’s Bill (_Erodium_)](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47688-Erodium) - _Erodium_, less punctuation and one word. Do you remember similarly? What are some of yours? Any favorites? Related Topics: - [Funny, long, or just plain weird animal names](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/funny-long-or-just-plain-weird-animal-names/3220) - [Scrabble fans: highest scoring organism name?](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scrabble-fans-highest-scoring-organism-name/33147) - [Scientific v. Common Name](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/scientific-v-common-name/32453) ---
**Author:** ![DianaStuder](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/dianastuder/32/43358_2.png) [@DianaStuder](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/DianaStuder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/2 "2022-07-16T17:18:21Z")
No wonder that is impossible to spell! > German botanist [Adelbert von Chamisso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelbert_von_Chamisso) after the Baltic German botanist [Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_von_Eschscholtz), his friend and colleague on [Otto von Kotzebue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Kotzebue)’s scientific expedition to California and the greater [Pacific](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_coast) circa 1810 aboard the Russian ship \*[Rurik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurik) ---
**Author:** ![jasonhernandez74](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jasonhernandez74/32/33615_2.png) [@jasonhernandez74](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jasonhernandez74)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 4:56am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/3 "2022-07-17T04:56:16Z")
I’m better at remembering names that I find esthetically pleasing. Hence, the beautiful junior synonym _Chrysalidocarpus_ is easier for me to remember than the ugly accepted name _Dypsis_. Likewise, the same tree’s common names: to me, it will always be Butterfly Palm (which brings to mind the image of a butterfly), not iNaturalist’s default Areca Palm (which brings to mind someone spitting betel nut juice), even though both those names have the same number of syllables. ---
**Author:** ![saturnring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@saturnring](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/saturnring)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/4 "2022-07-17T22:36:24Z")
I like simple common names, especially two-syllable names, such as this selection: Scaled Quail White Stork Rock Wren Wood Duck Pied Stilt Horned Lark Monarch Blue Jay Black Swan Merlin Kelp Gull Redhead Snow Goose Killdeer Red Fir Chamise Pale Flax Milkmaids Fivespot Toyon Stinkbells Fireweed Blue Oak Gray Pine Fringe Cups Snowplant Preferably without names of people or places in them, and descriptive of the organism. ---
**Author:** ![psweet](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/psweet/32/3156_2.png) [@psweet](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/psweet)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/5 "2022-07-18T01:13:14Z")
As a hawkwatcher who is privileged to see a bunch of them, I have to say that Merlin shouldn’t have a two-syllable name. You’ve barely got time for one syllable before they’re past you! ---
**Author:** ![afid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/afid/32/490_2.png) [@afid](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/afid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/6 "2022-07-18T11:51:47Z")
_Epidendrum platypleuromegaloclinium_ will always be a favorite of mine. ---
**Author:** ![greenshade](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/greenshade/32/9031_2.png) [@greenshade](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/greenshade)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/7 "2022-07-18T13:43:53Z")
My favorite botanical name is _Michauxia tchihatcheffii_. I don’t know if I’m pronouncing it correctly, but I love the texture of the sounds. ---
**Author:** ![vreinkymov](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/vreinkymov/32/58876_2.png) [@vreinkymov](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/vreinkymov)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/8 "2022-07-18T15:18:28Z")
Hope it gets observed in iNat someday, found a photo [here](http://www.orchidspecies.com/epiplatypleuromegaloclinium.htm). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/long-and-short-names/33596/9 "2022-09-16T15:18:58Z")
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