Trivial Name

In chemistry, a trivial name is a common name or vernacular name; it is a non-systematic name or non-scientific name. That is, the name is not recognized according to the rules of any formal (e.g. IUPAC) system of nomenclature. A limited number of trivial chemical names, however, are retained names and are yet part of the nomenclature.

Many trivial names continue to be used because their sanctioned equivalents are considered too cumbersome for everyday use. For example, "tartaric acid", a compound found in wine, has a systematic name of 2,3-dihydroxybutanedioic acid.

Trivial names often arise in the common language; in chemistry they may come from historic usages in, for example, alchemy. Many trivial names pre-date the institution of formal naming conventions. Frequently, trivial names derive from some notable property of the thing being named, for instance, lecithin, the common name for phosphatidylcholine, was originally isolated from egg yolk. The word is coined from the Greek word for yolk.

Generally trivial names are not useful in describing the essential properties of the thing being named. Properties such as the molecular structure of a chemical compound, or the phylogenetic relationships of organisms, are not indicated. And, in some cases, trivial names can be ambiguous or will carry different meanings in different industries or in different geographic regions.

On the other hand, systematic names can be so convoluted and difficult to parse that their trivial names are preferred. For example, the most important structural feature of diazonamide is that it is a nonribosomal peptide, which is denoted by the suffix "amide".