Is it correct to say "What was your name?"? The reason I am asking this is, generally the name of the person will not change. One should say "What is your name?"
http://variationsonnormal.com/2010/05/26/sorry-what-was-your-name-again/
asked Sep 20, 2010 at 10:33
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Changes in name are not unusual, particularly as a result of marriage.– KramiiCommented Sep 22, 2010 at 14:51
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@Kramii: That only happens in some cultures. In others, you don't change your name just because you get married.– CesarGonCommented Oct 24, 2012 at 11:00
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6 Answers
The question is in the past tense because the person forgot the other person's name. Notice that he actually wrote "Sorry, what was your name again?". It means "You've already told me your name, but I can't remember what it is. Can you repeat?" and not that the name may have changed. If the person used the present tense (i.e. "What is your name?"), it would not have been clear that he knew that he had already asked that before.
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1so that mean it is correct to say "what was your name", and it will not be treated as "i know what your name is but what was your name last monday btw". Commented Sep 20, 2010 at 11:48
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1yes, you can use "sorry, what was your name again?" when you forget somebody's name. It will not be treated as if you thought that the name changed.– b.rothCommented Sep 20, 2010 at 12:11
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3I agree for the most part, but would like to point out that introducing that word "again" makes the present tense work just as well as the past tense. "Sorry, what is your name again?" and "Sorry, what's your name again?" are not exactly unheard of. Commented Sep 20, 2010 at 15:20
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5The past tense carries over from the more wordy "What did you say your name was?"– moiociCommented Sep 20, 2010 at 15:31
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1Thanks for the answer! I had been wondering the same thing. In Japanese, the construction parallel to “What was your name?” (お名前は何でしたか。) is a usual way to ask the name of a person again. The English expression “Sorry, what was your name again?” sounds natural to me, but I did not know whether it was because Japanese is my mother tongue. Commented Oct 31, 2010 at 12:44
Idiomatically, it's quite common for people to ask "What was your name?" even in contexts where both they and you know perfectly well that you haven't already given your name (and thus that they can't possibly have "forgotten" it).
Sometimes the past tense can be "explained" by saying the speaker isn't sure whether the name has already been given. Other times we might suppose if the speaker is looking for a record/document in a filing system, they're thinking in terms of your name when it was recorded (with no particular implication that it might have changed since).
But in practice the usage is sufficiently widespread, and those above possibilities so "precise", that it's unrealistic to suppose all native speakers consider carefully whether the past tense can be justified in any specific context. Some people use it, that's all.
I notice comments suggesting that because superficially the past tense may seem illogical, this somehow leads to the idea that it should be avoided in formal contexts. This I think is completely contrary to actual usage, wherein such use of the past tense is generally more formal.
My reason for saying that is that as a general principle, formal modes of address tend to use many techniques to "distance" the speaker from the current context (using one instead of I, conditional "What would you like?" rather than "What do you want?", etc.).
To my ear, "What was your name?" is in fact "formal" register. Consider a salesman saying...
"I see you're looking at our new range of [product], sir. Did you have anything particular in mind?"
"Did you want to pay by cash or by cheque?"
"Was that all, sir?"
"Will that be all, sir?"
Note particularly those last two. There aren't many contexts where it makes any difference whether the salesman uses past or future tense there - all that matters is that avoiding present tense has the effect of imposing "distance", so it's more associated with formal registers.
answered Jun 5, 2014 at 14:42
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Your first sentence is spot on, and in your last sentence, the part beginning all that matters has been helpful to understand why, as a fixed question, people caling a call center will often ask "And what was your name?" or "And your name again was?" even though no name has been mentioned. And I wondered why, and I found your statement about avoiding the present tense to impose distance. That's an interesting concept I'd like to learn more about, and if there are other such very common statements we make in our lives on a predictable basis in a specific context, Maybe I should ask as a q?– pazzoCommented Jul 16, 2014 at 1:57
It is correct to ask the question using the past tense if you know the person's name has changed and you want to know the previous name.
This can happen through marriage.
answered Apr 11, 2014 at 13:55
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1Well, strictly speaking that's true, but if that's what you wanted to ask you wouldn't do it that way.– CaseyCommented Jun 24, 2014 at 18:46
"What was your name?" should only be used when asking a person what a previous name of theirs is.
If you have not given your name to someone or they don't remember what you said the proper question to ask is "May I have your name please?".
Now I would not be bothered by someone with authority, say a teacher or police officer, asking "What is your name."
There is no reason to dumb down the English language especially when using it in public or business conversations.
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3The first sentence of this answer is wrong. The accepted answer provides a much better guide to the usage OP asked about. Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 18:41
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2Please, don't feed this nonsense to learners who might actually believe it.– CaseyCommented Jun 24, 2014 at 18:46
'What was your name?' has unfortunately crept in to common usage by receptionists and people taking inquiries in the UK. It is however both wrong and irritating. Anyone taking a person's name should say 'What is your name?'.
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3No, no, and no. This answer is complete and utter nonsense. There is nothing ‘wrong’ about using the past tense in this manner. It has been so used since the dawn of the English language, long before the existence of receptionists, people taking inquiries, or indeed the UK itself. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 9:33
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3If you are talking about the UK, surely you mean taking enquiries, not inquiries? Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 9:53
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@JanusBahsJacquet You are 100% right. In my view it isn't the past tense which is being used. It is something a bit like a subjunctive, which avoids the impression of too direct a question, and sounding too inquisitive.– WS2Commented Jul 21, 2015 at 15:28
No. It is not correct to ask "what was your name?" because the name has not changed within a few minutes. It is however, correct to ask "what is your name again, please?" The first example assumes the person knows you forgot it and therefore are asking again. Avoid confusion and and ask correctly. "What is your name?" not "what was your name?". There is no carrying over from anything nor should it be passed on to the person you are asking. Say it enough times and the obvious choice becomes well, obvious.
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As the accepted answer points out, "what was your name?" is not meant to mean "At a point in time in the past, what was the name you were using?", but rather means "I've forgotten your name, please repeat it to me." It may not appear logical, but to call it incorrect would be a stretch. It's what people say, and it's fully understood by most people. It just doesn't mean what it appears to mean on the surface. Lots of phrases are like that. Commented Jun 4, 2014 at 20:23
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Just because people know "what you mean" does not make it "correct" and this is why I say that is in fact INCORRECT grammar to ask what "was" your name because whether someone knows what you meant or not asking was implies it has changed. I stand firm with "what "is" your name again?" Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 18:46
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Your justification supports the idea that communication trumps correctness. "Don't no one want no killings here!" is an example of bad grammar yet it is understood that "killings are not condoned around these places". Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 19:19
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4I'm sorry to break it to you, but communication does trump correctness. "Don't no one want no killings here" is an example of perfectly fine grammar that is looked down upon by other people; that is, it's only "incorrect" because a bunch of people with higher social status prefer to look down on that grammar. It's not like that sentence doesn't have its own rules for how you can form negations or where you can put words. They're just different from the "Standard" rules. Anyway, lots of phrases that superficially don't appear to make sense are accepted and standard. Such as the OP's. Commented Jun 9, 2014 at 19:46
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1Everything about this answer—and the subsequent comments from its poster—is utterly incorrect. Commented Jun 18, 2015 at 9:36