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The game of the name: A fundamental analysis of the institution of names

Laurent Gauthier

Rationality and Society2025https://doi.org/10.1177/10434631251366145article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

The fact that we all have names makes naming an ubiquitous institution. We develop a game-theoretic model to explain the existence of single names (anthroponyms) and how they may be exchanged as a way to promote cooperation. In social interactions, names provide partial identification information that can help reduce the likelihood of cheating, which would be higher with alternative information structures. We then propose a definition of honor based on the probability of being cheated, and derive general patterns for optimal naming that may maximize honor.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10434631251366145

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@article{laurent2025,
  title        = {{The game of the name: A fundamental analysis of the institution of names}},
  author       = {Laurent Gauthier},
  journal      = {Rationality and Society},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/10434631251366145},
}

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The game of the name: A fundamental analysis of the institution of names

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.