Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Use Name

Name Precedents: Use Name

Laurel: Date: (year.month.date) Precedent:

François la Flamme 2003.06 This name change has previously been returned for conflict against the submitter's use name of Mari Alexander as her name was Mari Alexander [surname]. In the current submission, the submitter has provided evidence of a legal name change which removes Alexander from her name entirely. As Mari Alexander is no longer a use name for her, we are registering this name change. [Mari Alexander, 06/2003 LoAR, A-West]

François la Flamme 2003.06 Submitted as Jessica Clark, the submitter's legal name is Jessica Clark [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. As this is one of the submitter's possible common use names, this name conflicts with the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. (See Mari Alexander, West returns in the September 2002 LoAR, for a thorough discussion of this issue.)
As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed the byname Clark to the Clark in order to clear this conflict. As a lower standard of difference is required between a person's SCA name and their mundane name (whether legal name, use name, et cetera), the addition of the is enough to clear this conflict (Administrative Handbook III.A.9). A parallel example is given in section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook, which states that a person whose name is Alan Miller may register the name Alan the Miller. [Jessica the Clark, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Caid]

François la Flamme 2003.02 The submitter's legal name is Courtney Dallas Houghton. By modern standards, Courtney D. Houghton is a normal and expected use name. Section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook states:
Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller.

The level of difference between the submitted name Courtney de Houghton and the submitter's use name of Courtney D. Houghton is equivalent to the difference between David Kellahan and David Callahan addressed in the ruling:
Submitted as David Kellahan, this is too close to his legal name, David Callahan, which is a violation of III.A.9 Protected Names: Name Used by Submitter Outside of Society of the Administrative Handbook. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1997, p. 9)

Therefore, the submitted Courtney de Houghton conflicts with her use name Courtney D. Houghton, since there is insufficient difference in pronunciation. Since a small change in pronunciation is sufficient to clear a conflict between a Society name and a submitter's use name, this name would be registerable as Courtney of Houghton. As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change de to of in order to clear this conflict. [Courtney de Houghton, 02/2003 LoAR, R-Atlantia]

François la Flamme 2002.12 No documentation was presented and none was found that Dianna is a reasonable period variant of Diana, which is dated to 1580 in Withycombe (pp. 83-84 s.n. Diana). The LoI stated that "[t]he submitter's legal first name is Diann." However, no documentation was provided supporting Diann as the submitter's legal first name. Lacking such documentation, it is not registerable under the Legal Name Allowance. Further, the Legal Name Allowance only allows the exact form of the element from the submitter's legal name to be registered. Therefore, were documentation provided supporting Diann as the submitter's legal given name, only the form Diann would be registerable. The form Dianna would not be registerable under the Legal Name Allowance since it is not an element in the submitter's legal name.
For the rest of the name, the submitter provided a copy of her German birth certificate, which lists her birth name as Regina Oettel. From her mundane name listed on her submission form (which includes a middle name that is not Regina), it does not seem that Regina Oettel is retained as part of her current name. If that is indeed the case, then Diann Regina Oettel would not be one of her use names, and it would be registerable if documentation were provided to support Diann as her current legal given name.
As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change this name to Diana Regina Oettel in order to register the name. [Dianna Regina Oettel, 12/2002, R-Atenveldt]

François la Flamme 2002.01 The submitter's legal name is Mari Alexander [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. A similar submission was recently returned:
The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]
Therefore, just as Mari [surname] would be conflict with her legal name, so the submitted Mari Alexander conflicts with her with her legal name. [Mari Alexander, 01/02, R-West]

Elsbeth Anne Roth 2000.09 The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1992.03 [Patrick MacManus] "Conflict with Patrick F. McManus, a well-known modern writer of humor. His name is apparently too recent to appear yet in any of our standard sources, but he is clearly well known enough to warrant protection. (Even Lord Laurel who has read none of his works, is familiar with all the titles mentioned by the commenters.) [The] statement that 'there is no problem with conflict' because of the middle initial 'F' is in error. We do protect against legal use names. In this specific case a legal name for the author is indeed Patrick McManus: this is a conflict." (LoAR 3/92 p.14).

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1992.01 "Because this name differs only by adding an 'e' to the surname, this is technically in conflict with her legal use name, per the Administrative Handbook part I, Protected Items I, which states in pertinent part that 'no item will be registered to a submitter if it is identical with an item used by the submitter legally or in common use outside the Society.' It may not be the name she commonly uses, but it is legally available to her to be used at any time, and is therefore (one of her) legal name(s)." (LoAR 1/92 p.19).

Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure) 1991.09 [<name> of <place>] "The name is effectively identical to the submitter's use name outside the Society, <name> <place>." [The name was returned] (LoAR 9/91 p.17).

Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane 1988.11.27 [Registering Brian mac Cael] The name was submitted as Brian mac Cael ui Cenneidigh, appealing from a previous return for conflict with Brian mac Cennedigh (otherwise known as Brian Boru). The submittor argued that the submitted name indicated that the individual was the son of one Cael "of the descendents of" Cennedi while Brian Boru was the son of Cennedi of the clan Dalcais and therefore no confusion could occur. This argument met with some support in the College of Arms, while others felt that a majority of the members of the Society would not recognize the actual name of Brian Boru. Even if the latter argument were true, it would not necessarily remove the problem. As commentary has indicated, the concept of the use name is a valuable one, but one which it is sometimes difficult to apply. Many who would like to discard the idea of use names would be horrified if we registered Richard Jones Plantagenet or Finn Peterson MacCool. Given the fame of Brian mac Cennedigh in Irish history (he is arguably the most famous individual in period Ireland), the case seems similar to those. We have therefore dropped the final portion of the name, as the submittor allowed, in order to register the remainder of the name (LoAR 27 Nov 88, p. 2)

Laurel:	Date: (year.month.date)	Precedent:
François la Flamme	2003.06	This name change has previously been returned for conflict against the submitter's use name of Mari Alexander as her name was Mari Alexander [surname]. In the current submission, the submitter has provided evidence of a legal name change which removes Alexander from her name entirely. As Mari Alexander is no longer a use name for her, we are registering this name change. [Mari Alexander, 06/2003 LoAR, A-West]
François la Flamme	2003.06	Submitted as Jessica Clark, the submitter's legal name is Jessica Clark [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. As this is one of the submitter's possible common use names, this name conflicts with the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. (See Mari Alexander, West returns in the September 2002 LoAR, for a thorough discussion of this issue.) As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed the byname Clark to the Clark in order to clear this conflict. As a lower standard of difference is required between a person's SCA name and their mundane name (whether legal name, use name, et cetera), the addition of the is enough to clear this conflict (Administrative Handbook III.A.9). A parallel example is given in section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook, which states that a person whose name is Alan Miller may register the name Alan the Miller. [Jessica the Clark, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Caid]
François la Flamme	2003.02	The submitter's legal name is Courtney Dallas Houghton. By modern standards, Courtney D. Houghton is a normal and expected use name. Section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook states: Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller. The level of difference between the submitted name Courtney de Houghton and the submitter's use name of Courtney D. Houghton is equivalent to the difference between David Kellahan and David Callahan addressed in the ruling: Submitted as David Kellahan, this is too close to his legal name, David Callahan, which is a violation of III.A.9 Protected Names: Name Used by Submitter Outside of Society of the Administrative Handbook. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1997, p. 9) Therefore, the submitted Courtney de Houghton conflicts with her use name Courtney D. Houghton, since there is insufficient difference in pronunciation. Since a small change in pronunciation is sufficient to clear a conflict between a Society name and a submitter's use name, this name would be registerable as Courtney of Houghton. As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change de to of in order to clear this conflict. [Courtney de Houghton, 02/2003 LoAR, R-Atlantia]
François la Flamme	2002.12	No documentation was presented and none was found that Dianna is a reasonable period variant of Diana, which is dated to 1580 in Withycombe (pp. 83-84 s.n. Diana). The LoI stated that "[t]he submitter's legal first name is Diann." However, no documentation was provided supporting Diann as the submitter's legal first name. Lacking such documentation, it is not registerable under the Legal Name Allowance. Further, the Legal Name Allowance only allows the exact form of the element from the submitter's legal name to be registered. Therefore, were documentation provided supporting Diann as the submitter's legal given name, only the form Diann would be registerable. The form Dianna would not be registerable under the Legal Name Allowance since it is not an element in the submitter's legal name. For the rest of the name, the submitter provided a copy of her German birth certificate, which lists her birth name as Regina Oettel. From her mundane name listed on her submission form (which includes a middle name that is not Regina), it does not seem that Regina Oettel is retained as part of her current name. If that is indeed the case, then Diann Regina Oettel would not be one of her use names, and it would be registerable if documentation were provided to support Diann as her current legal given name. As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change this name to Diana Regina Oettel in order to register the name. [Dianna Regina Oettel, 12/2002, R-Atenveldt]
François la Flamme	2002.01	The submitter's legal name is Mari Alexander [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. A similar submission was recently returned: The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia] Therefore, just as Mari [surname] would be conflict with her legal name, so the submitted Mari Alexander conflicts with her with her legal name. [Mari Alexander, 01/02, R-West]
Elsbeth Anne Roth	2000.09	The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure)	1992.03	[Patrick MacManus] "Conflict with Patrick F. McManus, a well-known modern writer of humor. His name is apparently too recent to appear yet in any of our standard sources, but he is clearly well known enough to warrant protection. (Even Lord Laurel who has read none of his works, is familiar with all the titles mentioned by the commenters.) [The] statement that 'there is no problem with conflict' because of the middle initial 'F' is in error. We do protect against legal use names. In this specific case a legal name for the author is indeed Patrick McManus: this is a conflict." (LoAR 3/92 p.14).
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure)	1992.01	"Because this name differs only by adding an 'e' to the surname, this is technically in conflict with her legal use name, per the Administrative Handbook part I, Protected Items I, which states in pertinent part that 'no item will be registered to a submitter if it is identical with an item used by the submitter legally or in common use outside the Society.' It may not be the name she commonly uses, but it is legally available to her to be used at any time, and is therefore (one of her) legal name(s)." (LoAR 1/92 p.19).
Da'ud ibn Auda (2nd year, 1st tenure)	1991.09	[<name> of <place>] "The name is effectively identical to the submitter's use name outside the Society, <name> <place>." [The name was returned] (LoAR 9/91 p.17).
Alisoun MacCoul of Elphane	1988.11.27	[Registering Brian mac Cael] The name was submitted as Brian mac Cael ui Cenneidigh, appealing from a previous return for conflict with Brian mac Cennedigh (otherwise known as Brian Boru). The submittor argued that the submitted name indicated that the individual was the son of one Cael "of the descendents of" Cennedi while Brian Boru was the son of Cennedi of the clan Dalcais and therefore no confusion could occur. This argument met with some support in the College of Arms, while others felt that a majority of the members of the Society would not recognize the actual name of Brian Boru. Even if the latter argument were true, it would not necessarily remove the problem. As commentary has indicated, the concept of the use name is a valuable one, but one which it is sometimes difficult to apply. Many who would like to discard the idea of use names would be horrified if we registered Richard Jones Plantagenet or Finn Peterson MacCool. Given the fame of Brian mac Cennedigh in Irish history (he is arguably the most famous individual in period Ireland), the case seems similar to those. We have therefore dropped the final portion of the name, as the submittor allowed, in order to register the remainder of the name (LoAR 27 Nov 88, p. 2)