Editing Mitsubishi A6M Zero (section)

===Name===
{{see also|World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft}}
The A6M is usually known as the "Zero" from its Japanese Navy [[Type (designation)#Japan|aircraft type designation]], Type 0 carrier fighter (''Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki'', {{nihongo2|零式艦上戦闘機}}), taken from the last digit of the [[Japanese calendar#Years|Imperial year]] 2600 (1940) when it entered service. In Japan, it was unofficially referred to as both ''Rei-sen'' and ''Zero-sen''; Japanese pilots most commonly called it ''Zero-sen,'' where ''sen'' is the first syllable of ''sentōki,'' Japanese for "fighter plane".{{#tag:ref|Note: In Japanese service carrier fighter units were referred to as ''Kanjō sentōkitai''. The Japanese "Zero" was one of the main aircraft(s)used in The attack on Pearl Harbor.|group=Note}}<ref>Parshall and Tully 2007, p. 79.</ref> In the official designation "A6M", the "A" signified a carrier-based fighter, "6" meant that it was the sixth such model built for the Imperial Navy, and "M" indicated Mitsubishi as the manufacturer.

The official Allied code name was "Zeke", in keeping with the practice of giving male names to Japanese fighters, female names to [[bombers]], bird names to [[Military glider|gliders]], and tree names to [[Trainer aircraft|trainers]]. "Zeke" was part of the first batch of "hillbilly" code names assigned by Captain Frank T. McCoy of Nashville, Tennessee (assigned to the Allied [[Technical Air Intelligence Unit]] at [[Eagle Farm Airport]] in Australia), who wanted quick, distinctive, easy-to-remember names. The [[World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft|Allied code for Japanese aircraft]] was introduced in 1942, and McCoy chose "Zeke" for the "Zero". Later, two variants of the fighter received their own code names. The [[Nakajima A6M2-N]] [[floatplane]] version of the Zero was called "Rufe", and the A6M3-32 variant was initially called "Hap". General [[Henry H. Arnold|"Hap" Arnold]], commander of the [[United States Army Air Forces]], objected to that name, however, so it was changed to "Hamp".