Key:name
 name
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| Description |
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| The primary tag used for naming an element. |
| Group: Names |
| Used on these elements |
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| Documented values: 22 |
| Wikidata |
| Q147276 |
| Status: de facto |
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| Tools for this tag |
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- Main article: Names
The primary tag used for naming an element.
Note that OSM follows On the Ground Rule. Names recorded in name=* tag are ones that are locally used, especially ones typically signposted[1].
Values
See below for the main values.
| Key | Value | Element | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| name | User defined |   
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The common default name. (Note: For disputed areas, please use the name as displayed on, e.g., street signs for the name tag. Put all alternatives into either localized name tags (e.g., name:tr/name:el) or the variants (e.g., loc_name/old_name/alt_name). Thank you.) |
| name:<lg> | User defined |
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Name in different language; e.g., name:fr=Londres. Note that all key variants below can use a language suffix. See: Multilingual names. |
| name:left and name:right | User defined |
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Used when a way has different names for different sides (e.g., a street that's forming the boundary between two municipalities). |
| int_name | User defined |
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International name (note: consider using language specific names instead; e.g., name:en=... - see above – International does not (necessarily) mean English). |
| loc_name | User defined |
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Local name. |
| nat_name | User defined |
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National name. |
| official_name | User defined |
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It has been created for country names but we need a clarification for other cases between "name", "int_name", "loc_name" and "official_name". Example: official_name=Principat d'Andorra (where "name" is name=Andorra). |
| old_name | User defined |
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Historical/old name. |
| reg_name | User defined |
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Regional name. |
| short_name | User defined |
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should be a recognizable, commonly used short version of the name, not a nick name (use alt_name for that) and not an abbreviation (short_name issue), useful for searching (recognized by Nominatim). |
| sorting_name | User defined |
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name, used for correct sorting of names — This is only needed when sorting names cannot be based only on their orthography (using the Unicode Collation Algorithm with collation tables tailored by language and script, or when sorted lists of names are including names written in multiple languages and/or scripts) but requires ignoring some parts such as:
all of them being ignored at the primary sort level and not easily inferable by a preprocessing algorithm. |
| alt_name | User defined |
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Alternative name by which the feature is known. If there is a name that does not fit in any of the above keys, alt_name can be used, e.g., name=Field Fare Road and alt_name=Fieldfare Road, or name=University Centre and alt_name=Grad Pad. In rare cases, the key is used for multiple semicolon-separated names, e.g. alt_name=name1;name2;name3, but this usage is not preferred. |
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Do not use this tag, suffixed name tagging for multiple values is deprecated. |
This table is a wiki template with a default description in English. Editable here.
Key variants can be suffixed with date namespace suffix (such as "old_name:en:1921-1932").
Multiple names
If you have multiple names for a feature, first try to choose a rich semantic tag like any of the ones in the table (like short_name=*, old_name=*, etc.). If none of them works, choose the alt_name=* tag. If there are multiple names that do not fit, alt_name=* can be used with semicolons.
Road names
Road names, especially highway names, may memorialize individuals. Depending on the region and specific case, the road name may appear prominently at every junction, or it may appear only once or twice at either end of the road, or there may be some other arrangement. In many regions, a motorway may be named but only the route number is signposted. Use the name=* tag if the name is suitable for general usage (such as for navigation); otherwise, use the official_name=* or alt_name=* tag.
Additional data
- name=* tag is supposed to contain solely name, not to describe the type or location of the object or one of its other properties (such as height, elevation, operator, access restrictions, classification/certification/quality labels...).
See also
- Key:name:etymology
- Multilingual names
- Key:noname
- Key:unnamed
- Key:description to describe a feature.
- ↑ https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/d/d8/DisputedTerritoriesInformation.pdf - OSMF official statement summarizing the situation of mapping disputed boundaries, borders, names and descriptions
