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What is the full official name Doctor Noonien Soong gave to his android (known in ST: TNG as "Data")?

Is the entire name simply Data, or is it an acronym?

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3 Answers3

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In the second season episode "The Measure of a Man", Riker pulls up Data's schematics on a wall monitor. On the lower right of the display, we see "LT CDR NFN/NMI DATA" which should be read as "Lieutenant Commander No First Name No Middle Initial Data."

enter image description here

This was confirmed by illustrator Rick Sternbach during the "Next Generation Slide Show" panel at Baycon 1989.

Also from Measure Of A Man, this is Data's full name as shown by the Enterprise computer (to Cmdr. Riker): Lt. Cmdr. NFN NMI Data. Spelled out, this becomes: Lieutenant Commander "No First Name" "No Middle Initial" Data.

Kyle Jones
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    That notation assumes that FirstName MiddleInitial LastName is the normal pattern for personal names. That's not even valid for 20th- or 21st-century Earth humans; it's far less likely apply to most Starfleet personnel. So it's probably a bit unrealistic -- but it does get the idea across. – Keith Thompson Feb 06 '13 at 20:45
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    @KeithThompson: I guess the fact that their personnel DB still requires First/Middle/Last means that COBOL will be alive and well in the 24th century. :) – mricon Feb 17 '13 at 14:24
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    @mricon: That would explain why we haven't seen time travelers from the 101st century or later; civilization fell due to the Y10K problem. – Keith Thompson Feb 17 '13 at 19:28
  • Is there any canonical backup of that full form? – user931 Feb 22 '13 at 19:04
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    @Sachin The abbreviation are in use in the real world on forms and such. There's not likely to be any canon reference to something this minor. – Kyle Jones Feb 22 '13 at 21:36
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    @SachinShekhar and KyleJones: TNG 5x03, Ensign Ro. The new character, Ro Laren, gets a little peeved when she's called "Ensign Laren" instead of "Ensign Ro", as Bajoran surnames come first - implying that FirstName LastName is most common in the Federation. – Izkata Apr 01 '13 at 22:45
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    @Izkata The irony being that there are cultures here on Earth where FamilyName GivenName is the norm. – JAB Mar 05 '17 at 20:12
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    @JAB Oh, it goes far beyond that here on Earth. Also I regret using "first" and "last" in my earlier comment. – Izkata Mar 05 '17 at 23:51
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    In addition to NFN and NMI, there is a common modern-day initialism "MIO" for "Middle Initial Only". It is used in some official documents for people whose middle names consist only of an initial. This was the case with Harry S. (MIO) Truman". His middle name was not Simon, Simpson, Samuel, or Stephen, it was S. Literally. – Robert Columbia Aug 21 '17 at 12:02
  • @JAB: It's not about whether it occurs on Earth, it's about First-Middle-Last being the most common. Even if not the most common on Earth, it was at least the most common in the cultural region for the developers of the data system. Just because Earth uses two standards doesn't mean that every Earth system inherently uses both standards at the same time. – Flater Aug 22 '17 at 09:40
  • I'm not sure why you'd want to remove the direct quote and leave your own commentary. If anything, you'd want it the other way around since if the link dies, your own commentary is of a lower value. – Valorum Nov 02 '18 at 20:09
  • @Valorum Yeah, I screwed that up. Rolled back. – Kyle Jones Nov 02 '18 at 20:14
  • @KeithThompson NMI/NFI is common even in today's military as a designation, as well as on government forms that require full legal names. – JohnP Jul 17 '19 at 14:06
  • @Flater: "it's about First-Middle-Last being the most common. (...) Just because Earth uses two standards doesn't mean that every Earth system inherently uses both standards at the same time." - Earth doesn't use two standards, it rather uses a dozen or more. With that in mind, it seems like a good idea to not assume the presence of specific name components that only exist in one (or a few) of these standards. – O. R. Mapper Oct 04 '19 at 23:12
  • NMI could also mean "Non-Maskable Interrupt" ;-) – Shaun Bebbers Oct 09 '21 at 15:07
  • Terminology: aren't all 3-part names ‘first-middle-last’, by definition? AIUI, the issue is not whether the first name comes first and the last name last — they clearly do! — it's whether the first name is a given name and the last name a family name, or vice versa (or some other combination, such as all names being given names). – gidds Sep 18 '23 at 13:24
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According to StarTrek.com database his full name was simply Data.

I don't recall hearing or reading about the origin of the name but it always sounded right :)

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-1

Data was initially a nickname given to him by Starfleet personnel. Data did not recall his life prior to being metaphysically born again by being turned on after a memory wipe. Thus, to the OP's question, we don't know what Doctor Soong named him. We can presume he was given a first name, because Lore had a first name. It's a compelling thing to wonder if Data ever considered adopted the surname Soong in some fashion.

I appreciate the challenge below to back up my answer. It would seem I was partially correct; Data chose his own name.

EPISODE: Datalore S01E14

TASHA: You were just lying out there in the open? No identity record, no instructions?

DATA: Only a layer of dust.

RIKER: What's the first thing you remember, Data?

DATA: Opening my eyes. Looking into the eyes of the Tripoli landing party. They believed that the signal device sensed their presence and activated me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(Star_Trek)

In the prologue to the novel adaptation for Encounter at Farpoint by David Gerrold, Data chose his own name, due to his love for, and identification with, knowledge.

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