A Place For Every Name

“Your name is invalid”

That is the message Lucía sees on her screen as she tries to register for her citizenship ceremony. The form keeps rejecting it before she realises: the system does not accept the accents in her name.

His family has travelled far to witness Mohammed Amaan’s graduation ceremony. “I’m probably going to butcher this name,” says the announcer before calling out a distorted version. It is not the pride he will remember, but his family wincing in the audience.

On her first day at school, Ayaka excitedly writes her name neatly at the top of her worksheet. Her teacher abruptly stops her, demanding she use her middle name, Claire: “You need to use your English name here.”

Drawing on research collected through the international Say Our Names programme, this book brings readers inside the everyday moments where exclusion unfolds, helping them understand how the smallest of words - a name - can carry the greatest questions of identity.

It also responds to a common frustration: we recognise these problems but are unsure how to address them. Moving beyond critique, the book offers practical tools that anyone can use, starting today and with no special training, to create more inclusive environments - it can begin with something as simple as saying someone’s name.