Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name that is generally given by people. A common name is not the organism's scientific name. Common names are used by people to describe something. Some common names are not always used by some people. A common name are also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, trivial name, trivial epithet, country name, popular name, or farmer's name.
Sometimes common names are created by authorities. They do this so the general public would not have to remember or pronounce the Latin name of an animal.
Books
- Stearn, William T. 1959. "The Background of Linnaeus's Contributions to the Nomenclature and Methods of Systematic Biology". Systematic Zoology 8: 4–22.
Common Name Media
Common names (such as "red fox") are different across languages, whereas the scientific name does not change.
Other websites
- Plant names Archived 2008-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Multilingual, Multiscript Plant Name Database
- The use of common names Archived 2006-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
- Chemical Names of Common Substances Archived 2006-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Plantas medicinales / Medicinal plants (database) Archived 2010-08-22 at the Wayback Machine