Nomen nescio
{{Short description|Name used to signify an anonymous person}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2009}}
Nomen nescio ({{IPA|la|ˈnoːmɛn ˈnɛskɪ.oː|pron}}), abbreviated to N.N., is used to signify an anonymous or unnamed person. From Latin {{Lang|la|nomen}} – "name", and {{Lang|la|nescio}} – "I do not know", it literally means "I do not know the name".{{citation | last1=Thode | first1=Ernest | year=1992 | title=German-English Genealogical Dictionary | publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com | isbn=978-0-8063-1342-9 | page=[https://archive.org/details/germanenglishgen00thod/page/179 179] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/germanenglishgen00thod/page/179 }} The generic name Numerius Negidius used in Roman times was chosen partly because it shared initials with this phrase.
Usage
One use for this name is to protect against retaliation when reporting a crime or company fraud. In the Netherlands, a police suspect who refuses to give his name is given an "N.N. number." In Germany and Belgium, N.N. is also frequently seen in university course lists, indicating that a course will take place but that the lecturer is not yet known; the abbreviation in this case means nomen nominandum – "the name is to be announced". Thus, the meaning is different from the above definition and is the same as TBD (to be decided).
N. N. is commonly used in the scoring of chess games,{{citation | last1=Hooper | first1=David | author1-link=David Vincent Hooper | last2=Whyld | first2=Kenneth | author2-link=Kenneth Whyld | year=1992 | title=The Oxford Companion to Chess | edition=2nd | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=0-19-280049-3 | page=274}} not only when one participant's name is genuinely unknown but when an untitled player faces a master, as in a simultaneous exhibition. Another reason is to protect a known player from the insult of a painful defeat.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
Genealogists often use the abbreviation to signify an unknown or partially unknown name (such as N.N. Jones).
It has increased in usage in online gaming as an insult to mean that someone is unknown within the community.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}
See also
{{Wiktionary|nomen nescio}}
{{Commons category|NN graves}}
References
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Category:Latin words and phrases
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