# Is there a word for MidName capitalization? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919 "2003-01-21T01:59:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/1 "2003-01-21T01:59:41Z")
You’ve seen many examples of it, paricularly in brand names: BankAmerica NavStar And elsewhere: HouDope It’s a quite common style, but I’ve never heard a word for it; is there one (besides “rape of the language” or somesuch - calm down all you apostrophe-huggers 😉 )? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/2 "2003-01-21T02:04:38Z")
I’ve heard the term “camel case” (which you may want to spell CamelCase, I suppose) in software circles, and used it myself. So called because the capitalized letters in the middle suggest a camel’s hump. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/3 "2003-01-21T02:53:38Z")
Quite a few copyeditors call it intercapping or intercaps. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/4 "2003-01-21T03:15:29Z")
VisualBasic? Klingon? Putting on airs? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/5 "2003-01-21T03:23:27Z")
Actually, it’s got a defensible utility for the names of identifiers in programs, which may not contain spaces. I’ve seen the “camel case” term in company coding style rules which might say something like: Do not use underscores to separate words in identifiers, which makes them longer. Instead camel case them. Example: currentUserName or CurrentUserName not current\_user\_name ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/6 "2003-01-21T04:17:47Z")
camelCase ( 😉 ) is almost it - but that’s when the first letter is lower case. The term you’re looking for, at least in programming lingo, is **Pascal case**. [Cite.](http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpgenref/html/cpconnetframeworkdesignguidelines.asp) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/7 "2003-01-21T05:06:53Z")
InterCaps. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/8 "2003-01-21T05:12:03Z")
I’ll counter your cite with another. The Wiki guys distinguish UpperCamelCase and lowerCamelCase, as well as just plain CamelCase, and various other terms: [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CapitalizationRules](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CapitalizationRules) They do list Pascal case as a synonym for UpperCamelCase. Some people claim true “Camel Case” should only have one capital letter (the hump) in the middle of it. I think we might allow at least two as a Bactrian species of the convention. This could get very silly very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/9 "2003-01-21T05:18:12Z")
I’ll counter your cite with another. The Wiki guys distinguish UpperCamelCase and lowerCamelCase, as well as just plain CamelCase, and various other terms: [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CapitalizationRules](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CapitalizationRules) They do list Pascal case as a synonym for UpperCamelCase. Some people claim true “Camel Case” should only have one capital letter (the hump) in the middle of it. I think we might allow at least two as a Bactrian species of the convention. This could get very silly very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/10 "2003-01-21T05:24:47Z")
I have always heard this refered to as bicapitalization. [http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/BiCapitalization.html](http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/BiCapitalization.html) ---
**Author:** ![phlebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phlebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phlebert)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/11 "2003-01-21T06:41:29Z")
CamelText when I learned it. Was recommended for naming objects in MS Access. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/12 "2003-01-21T06:50:29Z")
[I usually call it studlycaps.](http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?studlycaps) BiCapitalisation is also correct, and more like what the OP is looking for, but I call it studlycaps. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/13 "2003-01-21T07:14:00Z")
Follow **BlackKnight** ’s link to the Jargon File, the source for programmer/hacker terminology. “BiCapitalization” is the generic term, and follow the links for “InterCaps” and “StudlyCaps”. Nice to see that someone else knows about that site. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-word-for-midname-capitalization/149919/14 "2003-01-21T07:15:45Z")
Y’know, this is phenomenon is not only in computer languages and trademarks. It’s been around for a long time in Irish and Scottish patronymics, such as: McDonald, MacNeill, etc.