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    N.N. nomen nominandum

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    N.N. nomen nominandum

    Comment
    in German, the abbreviation N.N. (nomen nominandum) is used quite frequently when, for instance, an appointment is to be made with a certain interlocutor, but that person has not yet been named.
    I have to translate this and am wondering whether I can use N.N. in English. To me it seems that it is much less common than in German and would not be understood by many people.
    What do other BE or AE Leo's think?
    Does anyone know of a more common English equivalent?
    AuthorMouse21 Apr 07, 13:15
    Comment
    NN ('nomen nominandum' or 'nomem nescio') ist auh im Englischen nicht unbekannt. Ich finde aber auch tba (to be announced / to be assigned).
    #1AuthorB21 Apr 07, 13:38
    Comment
    Dear B,

    Thanks very much. I am not familiar with tba, but Google seems to like it better than NN, so I think I'll use it. I've already got tbc (to be confirmed).
    #2AuthorMouse21 Apr 07, 14:20
    Comment
    The only place I have ever seen N.N. used in AE is religious texts, specifically in Catholic prayer books where the name of the person being prayed for is to be inserted. I suspect a lot of people don't really know what it means. I wouldn't recommend using in non-religious texts.
    #3Author Sharper (238296) 22 Apr 07, 03:38
    Comment
    There is some ambiguity between the two meanings of n.n. as "nomen nescio" (more or less: "name unknown") and "nomen nominandum" ("still to be mentioned"), the former being still vastly used on official papers in some Countries to replace a father's name that cannot be specified - in Italy for instance "son of n.n." is a semi-polite alternative to "son of a bitch". Thus I side with B: "tba" is definitely safer.
    #4Authoralois23 Apr 07, 13:28
     
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