Names are a linguistic universal. All known languages make use of names—most commonly, but not exclusively, to identify individual people and places. This volume provides an up-to-date account of the state of the art in different areas of name studies, otherwise known as ‘onomastics’. The main focus throughout is on general principles and methodologies, and although all contributions are written in English, they encompass a wide range of languages and cultures across the world. The volume is divided into seven parts, dealing with the main branches of name studies in roughly chronological order of emergence. Part I discusses the role of names in language (name theory), a key focus of investigation since Ancient Greece. Part II deals with place-names, with an opening chapter on methodology followed by chapters on different types of referents. Part III addresses personal names, with an overview of naming systems in different parts of the world followed by chapters on individual components of those systems. Part IV discusses the study of names in literature, with case studies from different languages and time periods. Part V introduces the field of socio-onomastics, with chapters relating to the names of people, places, and commercial products. Part VI outlines ways in which other disciplines draw on, and contribute to, name studies. Finally, Part VII presents a selection of animate and inanimate referents, and explores the naming strategies adopted for them.