Naming Conventions in The City

Citizens in The City are generally named according to this scheme:

[Given name]-[clearance initial]-[home sector]-[clone number]

Given name: Some are drawn from databases and memories of old names; others are newly invented. This is generally a single word; multiple-word personal names or names with internal capitals are discouraged but accepted. In some sectors IAM selects names randomly; in others the teacherbots or human staff in the creche assign names. Examples: Billy, Sue, Ken.

Clearance initial: The first letter of your ROYGBIV security clearance. INFRAREDs use no initial, to avoid confusion with INDIGOs. High Programmers use U for ULTRAVIOLET. Examples: Billy-B, Sue-G, Ken-U.

In many cases, Home Sector designation may be replaced by a Cryptonym. The meaning and designation of Cryptonyms are classified. Examples of Cryptonyms are unlimited. Examples: Billy-B-Cupcake, Sue-G-Spot, Ken-U-See.

Clone number: The number of your current clone incarnation. You start the game with the original You, colloquially called ‘the Prime’ and numbered 1. Each time you die, increase the clone number by 1. Examples: Billy-BCN-1, Sue-G-XTU-4, Ken-U-RON-6.

Note: There is no zero (0) designation. Infrareds do not have a clone series and often do not use this numerical designation. Additionally, those newly assigned a clone series may prefer not use the numerical designation of 1.

Malformed Names: Sabotage or software failure sometimes produces citizens with defective or malformed names. Examples: John-Paul-George-Ringo, Tra-LAH-LAH-LAH, Juan-2-B-U-LVA, and 24-17-33-Hike. CPU procedures for renaming these citizens are intricate and lengthy; some citizens reach adulthood before gaining a correct name.

Notes

• Derived from Paranoia XP: Service Pack 1, published by Mongoose Games, Copyright 2004 by Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan. PARANOIA is a trademark of Eric Goldberg and Greg Costikyan.