48. Names and Source Identity: Twenty Construction Records

48.1 Keep a full source name before choosing a display name

Retain the source's complete displayed caption, author line, institutional name, or title in the research record. Then choose a reader-facing name that preserves the distinctive identity needed for retrieval. The full record and the shortened display serve different purposes. Do not discard the full caption because a concise citation looks cleaner.

For case names, our default retains one identifying party from each side, separated by “v.” when the source presents an adversarial caption. Omit generic procedural labels such as “petitioner” or “respondent” unless they are necessary to understand an unusual caption. Do not add an opposing party to an in-re matter or change a proceeding into an adversarial case merely to fit a familiar pattern.

Retain a person's surname and any additional name needed to avoid collision. Retain a business's distinctive words; a generic entity suffix may be omitted in the displayed case name when its removal does not change or obscure identity. Preserve suffixes when similarly named entities appear together or the organizational distinction matters. Do not remove a word that looks like a suffix if it is part of the distinctive name rather than merely a legal-form label.

For governments and public bodies, preserve the actual institution or jurisdiction named. A department, municipality, officer, and broader government are not automatically interchangeable parties. For a representative-capacity caption, retain the capacity when omitting it would confuse the estate, trust, organization, or individual involved. A naming choice does not decide who is legally the proper party.

48.2 Use the construction matrix as a set of decisions

The twenty records below are wholly fictional source packets. For records N01–N16, each packet supplies a slip opinion of the North Coast Training Tribunal dated May 11, 2026; the identifier is TRAIN-N followed by the displayed two digits. The relevant passage is slip page 7. This shared metadata is an exercise key, not a real tribunal or publication. Records N17–N20 supply other source types explicitly. The matrix separates source identity, chosen display, and the reason for that choice.

The matrix's case-name column is a completed name construction, not a complete case citation. Section 48.4 shows how to combine these names with the supplied identifiers, locators, and dates. Keep both layers: a well-chosen name without a retrievable source reference is incomplete, while a retrievable identifier does not excuse a misleading name.

Record and supplied identity	Selected display and short form	Decision and limitation
N01 — individual. Mara Chen, petitioner, v. Lena Ortiz, respondent.	Chen v. Ortiz; short Chen.	Omit generic procedural roles and given names because this packet contains no name collision. Retain the full personal names in the source record.
N02 — shared surname. Mara Chen v. Daniel Chen.	Mara Chen v. Daniel Chen; short Mara Chen.	Given names distinguish the parties. Reducing both to Chen would conceal the distinction. The selected short name must also remain unique among other sources in the document.
N03 — generational suffix. Elias Rowan, Jr., v. Elias Rowan, Sr.	Elias Rowan, Jr. v. Elias Rowan, Sr.; short Rowan, Jr. with identifier.	Preserve the supplied generational suffixes because they distinguish the individuals. Do not treat these suffixes as dispensable business-form words.
N04 — business suffix. Alder Instruments, Incorporated, v. Vale Supply, Limited Liability Company.	Alder Instruments v. Vale Supply; short Alder Instruments.	Omit generic legal-form wording in this displayed case name because the supplied packet has no competing similarly named entity. The full source record retains both legal forms.
N05 — similar entities. Alder Tools LLC v. Alder Tools Inc.	Alder Tools LLC v. Alder Tools Inc.; short Alder Tools LLC with identifier.	Retain the entity suffixes because they distinguish the parties. An automatic suffix-removal rule would make the names identical.
N06 — trade name. Noor Hale, doing business as Paper Lantern Archive, v. Bell Design.	Hale v. Bell Design; short Hale.	The source identifies Hale as the party and supplies a trade name. Preserve the trade-name relationship in the record; mention it in prose when relevant rather than silently replacing the party with a different entity.
N07 — government. Commonwealth of Lexford v. Aster Workshop.	Commonwealth of Lexford v. Aster Workshop; short Aster Workshop with identifier.	Preserve the named government and distinctive opposing party. Do not substitute a different state-style title such as State merely for uniformity.
N08 — local government. City of Westhaven v. Vale Supply.	City of Westhaven v. Vale Supply; short Westhaven with identifier.	Preserve the supplied municipal identity. Do not expand it to a county or broader government based on geographical assumptions.
N09 — agency unit. Lexford Department of Archive Services v. Bell Design.	Lexford Department of Archive Services v. Bell Design; short Archive Services with identifier.	The named department is the party in the supplied caption. Do not silently substitute the Commonwealth or an unnamed parent agency.
N10 — official capacity. Mara Chen, in her capacity as Director of the Harbor Archive Office, v. Aster Workshop.	Chen, Director of the Harbor Archive Office, v. Aster Workshop; short Director Chen with identifier.	Retain the capacity needed to distinguish this proceeding from Chen's individual disputes. This display does not decide the legal consequences of that capacity.
N11 — estate. Estate of Lena Ortiz, by its representative Noor Hale, v. Vale Supply.	Estate of Ortiz v. Vale Supply; short Estate of Ortiz.	Preserve the estate identity. Do not rename the case as Hale's personal claim; retain the representative's full role in the source record.
N12 — trustee. Evan Park, trustee of the Rowan Archive Trust, v. Bell Design.	Park, Trustee of the Rowan Archive Trust, v. Bell Design; short Park, Trustee with identifier.	Preserve the supplied fiduciary role when it distinguishes the party. Do not collapse the trust and trustee into an assumed entity name.
N13 — in-re caption. In re Petition of Harbor Archive Cooperative for Reorganization.	In re Harbor Archive Cooperative; short Harbor Archive Cooperative with identifier.	Preserve the in-re form and distinctive subject. The record retains the petition description. Do not invent an opposing party.
N14 — property caption. In re Custody of Archive Box H-17.	In re Archive Box H-17; short Archive Box H-17.	Preserve the exact property identifier. Removing H-17 would make the reference generic and could point to a different object.
N15 — pseudonym. Applicant Q v. Harbor Archive Office.	Applicant Q v. Harbor Archive Office; short Applicant Q.	Preserve the source's pseudonym. Do not replace it with a guessed or externally discovered personal name merely to make the citation look fuller.
N16 — consolidated matters. Aster Workshop v. Vale Supply, consolidated with Bell Design v. Alder Instruments.	Aster Workshop v. Vale Supply with an explanatory consolidated-matters label when needed; short Aster Workshop, No. TRAIN-N16.	Use the lead caption supplied by the packet and preserve both matters in the record. Do not attribute a separate companion decision to the consolidated document without checking the actual writing.
N17 — institutional author. Title page: Harbor Archive Office; Research Unit; Intake Patterns 2026. Locator: table 4.	Harbor Archive Office, Intake Patterns 2026 tbl. 4 (2026); short Intake Patterns 2026.	The packet credits the office as author and the unit as its preparing unit. Preserve that distinction; do not promote a contact person into authorship.
N18 — chapter and editor. Noor Hale authored “Receipt Systems,” pages 21–48 in Practical Archive Methods, edited by Lena Ortiz, published 2026. Relevant page: 33.	Noor Hale, Receipt Systems, in Practical Archive Methods 21, 33 (Lena Ortiz ed., 2026); short Hale, Receipt Systems, at 33.	Attribute the chapter to its author and the collection to its editor. The first page identifies the chapter; the pinpoint locates the relied-on passage.
N19 — no stated author. Guide to Shelf Labels, third edition, 2026; title page states no author. Relevant page: 14.	Guide to Shelf Labels 14 (3d ed. 2026); short Guide to Shelf Labels, at 14.	Begin with the title. Do not invent “Anonymous” as an author unless the source actually uses that designation. Preserve the missing-author fact in the record.
N20 — changed institutional name. The 2022 report Receipt Survey credits Harbor Records Bureau; a supplied 2025 notice states the body's later name is Harbor Archive Office. Relevant report page: 9.	Harbor Records Bureau, Receipt Survey 9 (2022); short Receipt Survey, at 9.	Cite the credited author of the historical report. Explain the later name in prose if useful; do not silently rewrite the report's original authorship.

48.3 Handle omitted parties and aliases without losing the record

When a caption names many parties, select the first distinctive party on each side for the displayed name unless the receiving requirements or the issue call for another form. Retain all named parties in the source record. Use a descriptive phrase in prose when the particular additional party matters to the analysis. A short case name is an identifier, not a complete statement of every participant.

An alias, former name, trade name, or representative capacity may be important to retrieval or to distinguishing cases. Keep it when necessary and omit it only as a deliberate display choice. Do not infer that two differently named parties are the same person or organization from similar names alone. The record must supply the connection.

For a changed caption during a proceeding, identify the caption and date of the particular decision cited. A later substitution of an official or entity name does not require silently renaming an earlier opinion. Record the relationship in the source packet so that later readers can follow the matter's history without confusing the cited document's actual identity.

48.4 Turn the selected names into complete references

Apply the source-specific form after selecting the name. For record N02, the complete fictional reference is: “Mara Chen v. Daniel Chen, No. TRAIN-N02, slip op. at 7 (North Coast Training Tribunal May 11, 2026).” Its later form can be “Mara Chen, No. TRAIN-N02, slip op. at 9” when the packet supplies a relevant passage on page 9. The given name prevents the surname collision; the identifier preserves the particular proceeding.

For N05, use: “Alder Tools LLC v. Alder Tools Inc., No. TRAIN-N05, slip op. at 7 (North Coast Training Tribunal May 11, 2026).” Omitting both entity suffixes would produce an unhelpful “Alder Tools v. Alder Tools.” The record-specific distinction takes precedence over a general preference for shorter names.

For N13, use: “In re Harbor Archive Cooperative, No. TRAIN-N13, slip op. at 7 (North Coast Training Tribunal May 11, 2026).” For N14, use: “In re Archive Box H-17, No. TRAIN-N14, slip op. at 7 (North Coast Training Tribunal May 11, 2026).” Neither reference needs an invented opposing party. The different subjects remain identifiable within the same procedural phrase.

For N16, a complete reference may read: “Aster Workshop v. Vale Supply, No. TRAIN-N16, slip op. at 7 (North Coast Training Tribunal May 11, 2026) (consolidated training matters).” If the argument concerns the companion matter, explain that connection in the sentence and inspect the passage's application rather than assuming every statement covers every consolidated claim.

The publication records N17–N20 already show complete forms. Their differences illustrate why one generic “author, title, year” template is insufficient: institutional credit, chapter authorship, missing authorship, and historical institutional identity require different choices.

48.5 Preserve names across scripts, punctuation, and access contexts

Retain diacritics and meaningful name punctuation when the production system supports them. Do not anglicize a person's name or translate an institutional name merely to fit an English-language sentence. When a source provides a transliteration or official English form, preserve the supplied relationship. If the author creates a transliteration or translation, label that choice and retain the original form in the source record.

For a pseudonymous or restricted-access source, the citation should identify the source at the level appropriate to the document and available record. Do not expose an unrelated personal identity in a public citation merely because it was discovered during research. A stable descriptive identity and an access explanation may be more accurate and useful than a speculative expansion.

Distinguish an account name from a verified personal author, an uploader from a creator, and a repository from the institution that issued a document. The same name appearing on a hosting page does not establish all those roles. The source metadata should record what is actually known about each role.

48.6 Test the selected name for loss and collision

Compare the displayed name with the full source record. List what was removed and why. Confirm that the remaining words still distinguish the source from every similarly named item in the document. Then search or navigate using the displayed name and retained identifier as a reader would. If the route fails because the name is too generic, restore a distinctive word or additional identifier.

Do not force uniform abbreviation across unlike sources. N04 permits removing generic entity-form words; N05 requires retaining them. N01 permits surnames; N02 requires given names. N19 begins with a title because no author is stated; N20 retains a historical author even though the institution later changed its name. These are reasoned construction choices, not exceptions to be erased by a global cleanup.

The resulting reference should preserve identity, support retrieval, and remain readable. Maintain the full metadata so a different receiving style can later change presentation without requiring the research to begin again.