Common name

In biology, the common name of a species is the name by which it is "commonly" known, as opposed to its scientific name.

Many common names are ambiguous; names like sardine are often used to refer to dozens of different species. However, for some groups, such as birds, there has been an effort to choose an official common name for each species.

Scientific names sometimes become the common names through extensive daily use by nonscientists, for instance in gardening. Familiar names like begonia, dahlia, gladiolus, and rhododendron are actually the names of genera.