Phage Naming Rules:

1.	Must be a new name.  Check with NCBI and/or phagesdb.org.  We use the name of the phage to help generate the unique locus tag prefix.  You can check with NCBI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genomes/lltp.cgi  to determine if that prefix is available.  The site will also identify any name structure that is not allowed (example:  it doesn’t accept symbols).
2.	Must be 4 characters or longer. Gone are the days of L5, U2, and D29. 
3.	Must not start with a number. 
4.	Must not exceed 14 characters (i.e., be short enough to fit handwritten on a 1.5ml microcentrifuge tube). 
5.	Numbers and letters only.  Special characters or symbols ()#-@_%$&^*>?:”_ etc.  are not acceptable. 
6.	No spaces in the name.
7.	No trademarked names unless you get permission. (No “Spongebob” or “Darth Vader,” for example.)  If you’re unsure if a name is trademarked, it’s probably better to choose another.
8.	The words phage, pham, cluster, virus, or mycobacterium (or their derivatives) cannot be in the phage name.
9.	Phage names are case-sensitive, so be consistent with CAPS/lowercase letters.  If the phage is RedRock in one place, it should not be redrock or Redrock in another place.  All new phages must begin with a capital letter.
10.	Please refrain from naming it specifically after one person.  Example:  “GrahamHatfull” is not an acceptable name.  However, you could name your phage “Graham” or “Hatfull”.
11.	Dr. Hatfull has veto power over any proposed phage name.

Strong Suggestions (the following are not hard and fast rules):

Remember that your phage sequences will be submitted to GenBank and searchable in same. This means that ideally you will pick something unique but easy for everyone to remember and spell. For example:

Favorite types of names:
“Pixie,” “Fruitloop,” and “Corndog” are unlikely to return many search results other than mycobacteriophages, are easy to remember, and easy to spell.

Less favorite kinds of names:
“Human”, while easy to remember and spell, will return all kinds of human gene sequences in a GenBank search.
“Fruitloooop”, is unique, but no one will easily remember how many “o’s” you decided to spell it with.
 “XKsffwe5” is unique but nearly impossible to easily remember or spell. This makes it more likely for us to put typos in manuscripts in writing about your phage, which in turn, will make it even harder for other people to find your phage in GenBank.