At 9:32 AM -0700 6/3/97, Peter Trei wrote:
With the old Norse system, still used in Iceland, there is a tremendous namespace-collision problem.
There is also a namespace collapse problem in China. They have a patrilineal family naming convention much like the one that is common in the USA. However the naming system has been stable for thousands of years. In that time, some names have died out (only girl babies). They somewhat avoid the associated namespace collision problem by being imaginative with given names. To avoid namespace collapse, you need to continually introduce new names. If Iceland didn't limit given names, the problem would go away. For example: I know a Catnip Echoridge Fredrick. I bet Catnipsson would expand the namespace. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | The Internet was designed | Periwinkle -- Consulting (408)356-8506 | to protect the free world | 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com | from hostile governments. | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA