Naming Conventions

Naming conventions are a matter of great cultural variation between the Castes of HubSpace.

All citizens inhabiting the Hubs are given a designation upon their birth and this serves as their official name when interacting with the systems and processes involved in the overall function of the Hubs. Nonetheless, owing to the lengthy form of these Designations, it is common for those of MidTier and LowTier to select names for themselves, or select names for their offspring for ease of informal communication.

Conversely, those in HighTier place more emphasis upon their names, and whilst those of Psi, Phi and ThetaCaste also have official Designations, those born into the OmegaCaste have limited use for such things, for emphasis is placed upon their family name instead.

Designation Nomenclature
The Designation serves as not only an identification but a descriptor of the individual, providing a wealth of information to those with understanding of each component.

Caste
The first component summarises the status of the individual in question, most typically through two characters. Exceptions do exist, such as those that serve in the internal governments of the Hubs, as they are granted additional stylings on this part of their Designation to reflect this.

Hub
The Hub to which an individual was born is then documented in the second part of the Designation. Administrative processes are often more lax with regard to those WorldBorn, and as such it is not uncommon for those visiting a Hub for the first time to be given a new official Designation to compensate for this - even if they have already lived many years of their life elsewhere. The format of this aspect is a simple integer matching the Hub in question, followed by either a b for those born upon it, and an i for those first arriving, visiting or immigrating into life upon a Hub.

Year of Birth
Detailing from Year Zero, the cataclysmic event that ultimately shaped society into the form it resides in to this day, this two-part section of the Designation details the number of years since the event that the individual is question was born. First is the number of centuries since (0, 1, 2, 3, 4), followed by a dash, and then the number of additional lustra detailed afterwards.

Number
The final aspect of the Designation is arguably the simplest, representing the number to individuals with thus far identical Designations at the point of assignment. For those Castes of smaller populace, this figure can as short as a few digits, but in those of ZetaCaste this may be routinely seven numbers or longer.

Example
Utilising this system, an individual born on Hub Seven Legacy three hundred and eighty-two years after Year Zero into the RhoCaste could have the Designation RO.7b.3-16.38001.