Michael Perhaps you've already noticed that the American President is named "Bill" Clinton. "Bill" is the abbreviation for "William." So, in his passport, the man is listed as "William Clinton," but the whole world calls him "Bill." The same goes for Bill Gates. The founder of Netscape, Jim Clark, is actually named "James." Or take the CEO of AOL, Steve Case--his real name is "Stephen." Or the second-in-command, Bob Pittman, whose real name is "Robert." My colleague is called "Chris," but on his driver's license, it says "Christopher." That's how it is in America. Every name is shortened: Catherine becomes "Cathy," Donald becomes "Don," Joseph becomes "Joe," Samantha becomes "Sam," Pamela becomes "Pam," and Lawrence becomes "Larry." Unlike in Germany, where you might be called by a nickname in a casual setting, it goes much further here: there's a distinction between the name and the "legal" name. The "legal" name is the birth name, which only appears on official documents. Everyone else knows only the abbreviation. From "Michael" (pronounced "My-kel" in English), you can become "Mike," "Mick," "Mikey," or "Mickey"--whatever you prefer. So, for fun, I called myself "Mike" at Netscape--and that's how people address me now. The sign on my cubicle reads "Mike Schilli," just like the entry in the phone book. Even my business card (see illustration) only knows "Mike," not "Michael." Only pretentious people (like Robert Redford, not "Bob Redford") or the British (like David Bowie, not "Dave Bowie") use their full first names.

Here are a few facts about naming conventions here in America: Anyone can give their children any first name they choose. This is different from Germany, where there is a book from which you have to pick a name. I vaguely remember a case in Germany where parents were not allowed to name their child "Pumuckl"--perhaps to the child's advantage, but that's beside the point here. Unthinkable in America. Here, there are unfortunately no such restrictions. This results in a variety of names that are unusual by German standards--it is not uncommon for someone to introduce themselves with a first name that you can't quite imagine: I know people named "Rexxon." "Zack" is also quite popular. Or "Guy." I know someone named "Ransom." Some people have first names that are the last names of famous writers (e.g., Bronte in the movie "Greencard"). There are children who are simply named "Q." There are famous basketball players with the first name "Jesus." In Angelika's kindergarten, there is a child named "Rain."

If someone is not satisfied with their own name, they can change it at any time without needing a significant justification. In the 1960s, there was once a olympic horse jockey in Germany named "Oberblödel," who he was allowed to change to "Oberröter" -- a major action and a rare exception. For American citizens, this process is less complicated: I know of a case where a follower of Bhagwan changed his entire name to "Kantra" -- even his credit cards no longer showed his first and last name, but only "Kantra."

Anyone who has a name that is difficult to pronounce in American often adopts an American one--many Asians do this, and they officially go by "Bill" or "Paul," even though their birth name was, for example, "Yunjji." I am now called "Mike." Let's see how long I like it.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	The History of California
  	Santa Barbara
  	Minimum wage and sweatshops
  	WebVan -- the grocery delivery service
  	Volkszählung
  	Hairdressers in the USA
  	Speaking American with the Pros
  	Visa for the USA