A
personal name or
full name refers to the set of names by which an individual is known and that can be recited as a
word-group, with the understanding that, taken together, they all relate to that one individual. In many cultures, the term is synonymous with the
birth and
legal names of the individual, see below. In many cultures, individuals possess a variety of names, in others they are known by a single name; when a plurality of names occur, some are specific to the individual, distinguishing them from related individuals (e.g.,
John Adams and
John Quincy Adams), while other names indicate the person's relationship to or membership in a family, clan, or other social structure (as for
Charles Philip Arthur George and one of his
namesakes), or even to unrelated others (e.g., as for
Leonardo Da Vinci and his
namesake).