Editing The Culture (section)

===Names===
Some humanoid or drone Culture citizens have long names, often with seven or more words. Some of these words specify the citizen's origin (place of birth or manufacture), some an occupation, and some may denote specific philosophical or political alignments (chosen later in life by the citizen themselves), or make other similarly personal statements. An example would be Diziet Sma, whose full name is Rasd-Coduresa Diziet Embless Sma da' Marenhide:
* ''Rasd-Coduresa'' is the [[planetary system]] of her birth, and the specific object ([[planet]], orbital, [[Dyson sphere]], etc.). The ''-sa'' suffix is roughly equivalent to ''-er'' in English. By this convention, Earth humans would all be named ''[[Sun]]-[[Earth]]sa'' (or ''Sun-Earther'').
* ''Diziet'' is her given name. This is chosen by a parent, usually the mother.
* ''Embless'' is her chosen name. Most Culture citizens choose this when they reach adulthood (according to ''The Player of Games'' this is known as "completing one's name"). As with all conventions in the Culture, it may be broken or ignored: some change their chosen name during their lives, some never take one.
* ''Sma'' is her surname, usually taken from one's mother.
* ''da' Marenhide'' is the house or estate she was raised within, the ''da{{'}}'' or ''dam'' being similar to ''von'' in German. (The usual formation is ''dam''; ''da{{'}}'' is used in Sma's name because the house name begins with an M, eliding an awkward phoneme repetition.)
Iain Banks gave his own Culture name as "Sun-Earther Iain El-Bonko Banks of [[North Queensferry]]".{{sfn|Banks|1994}}