Everything about Codename totally explained
A
code name or
cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for
military purposes, or in
espionage. They may also be used in
industry to protect secret projects and the like from business rivals.
Proliferation of code names in World War II
In the
Second World War, code names common to the
Allies referring to nations, cities, geographical features, military units, military operations, diplomatic meetings, places, and individual persons were agreed upon adapting pre-war naming procedures in use by the governments concerned. In the British case code names were administered and controlled by ISSB (The Inter-Services Security Board) staffed by the
War Office with the word list generated and randomised by
GC&CS (later
GCHQ). This procedure was coordinated with the USA when America entered the war. Random lists of code names were issued to users in alphabetical blocks of ten words and were selected as required. Code words became available for re-use after six months and unused allocations could be re-assigned at discretion and according to need. Judicious selection from the available allocation could result in clever meanings and result in an
aptronym or
backronym, although policy was to select words that had no obviously deducible connection with what they were supposed to be concealing. Those for the major
conference meetings had a partial naming sequence referring to devices or instruments which had an
ordinal number as part of their meaning, eg the third meeting was "TRIDENT." The ruler of the
Soviet Union, who had given himself the name "
Stalin", meaning "man of steel." was given the code name "GLYPTIC," meaning "an image carved out of stone."
» * Reference:
Glossary of Code Names
from
U. S. Army in
World War II - Washington Command Post: The Operations Division
*
WWII Allied Operations » *
Abbreviations, Acronyms, Codewords, Terms Appearing in WW II Histories and Documents
* Information from original files held at formerly
The Public Record Office which hold the publicly available records of central government for the
UK
German code names
Ewen Montagu, a British Naval intelligence officer, discloses in
Beyond Top Secret Ultra that during
World War II,
Nazi Germany habitually used ad hoc code names as
nicknames which frequently openly revealed or strongly hinted at their content or function.
List of German code names:
Conversely,
Operation Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the
Rhine) was deliberately named to suggest the opposite of its purpose - a defensive "watch" as opposed to a massive
blitzkrieg operation, just as was
Operation Weserübung (
Weser-exercise), which signified the plans to invade
Norway via
Denmark.
By comparison as a result of the German practice and relative ease of deciphering some element of its content in the post War period the British Ministry of Supply adopted the
Rainbow Codes system which randomly combined a color and a noun (from a list) to create the name for projects. Though memorable the names were unrelated to content.
Ironic code names of other powers
Britain and the United States developed the security policy of assigning code names intended to give no such clues to the uninitiated. For example, the British counter measures against the
V-2 was called
Operation Crossbow. The
atomic bomb project centered in
New Mexico was called the
Manhattan Project. The code name for the American
SR-71 spy plane project, producing the fastest, highest-flying aircraft in the world, was
Oxcart. The American group that planned that country's first
ICBM was called the Teapot Committee.
Although the word could stand for a menace to shipping (in this case, that of Japan) the American code name for the attack on the steamy jungle island of
Okinawa in WWII was
Operation Iceberg. And the Russian code name for the project to base missiles in Cuba was that named after their closest bomber base to the US (just across the Bering Strait from Nome, Alaska),
Operation Anadyr. The names of colors are generally avoided in British and American practice to avoid confusion with meteorological reporting practices.
Aircraft recognition reporting names
Although the names of the German and Italian aircraft were not given code names by their Allied opponents, in 1942, Captain Frank T. McCoy, an intelligence officer of the
USAAF, invented a system for the identification of Japanese military aircraft. Initially using short "
hillbilly" boy's names such as "
Pete", "
Jake" and "
Rufe", the system was later extended to include girl's names, names of trees and birds, and became widely used by the Allies throughout the Pacific theater of war. This type of naming scheme differs from the other use of code names in that it doesn't have to be kept secret, but is a means of identification where the official nomenclature is unknown or uncertain.
The policy of recognition reporting names was continued into the
Cold War for Soviet, other
Warsaw Pact, and Communist Chinese aircraft. Although this was started by the Air Standards Co-ordinating Committee (ASCC) formed by the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it was extended throughout
NATO as the
NATO reporting name for aircraft, rockets and missiles. These names were considered by the Soviets as being like a nickname given to one's unit by the opponents in a battle, such as the US Marines were called by the Germans in France "Devil Dogs," which they appreciated as a feather in their cap. The Soviets didn't like the
Sukhoi Su-25 getting the code name "
Frogfoot."
The sequence by which a code name was given is as follows: aerial or space reconnaissance would note a new aircraft at a Warsaw Pact airbase. The intelligence units would then assign it a code name consisting of the official abbreviation of the base, then a letter, for example, "Ram-A," signifying an aircraft sighted at
Ramenskoye Airport. Missiles were given designations like "TT-5", for the fifth rocket seen at
Tyura-Tam. When more information resulted in knowing a bit about what a missile was used for, it would be given a designation like "SS-6," for the sixth surface-to-surface missile design reported. Finally, when either an aircraft or a missile was able to be photographed "with a hand-held camera," instead of a reconnaissance aircraft, it was given a name like "
Flanker" or "
Scud" -- always an English word, as international pilots worldwide are required to learn English. The Soviet manufacturer or designation has nothing to do with it, and can even be mistaken by the Allies.
Jet-powered aircraft received two-syllable names (like
Foxbat), while propeller aircraft were designated with short names (like
Bull). Fighter names began with an 'F,' bombers with a 'B,' cargo aircraft with a 'C.' Training aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft were grouped under the word "miscellaneous," and received 'M.' The same convention applies to missiles, with air launched ground attack missiles beginning with the letter "K" and surface-to-surface missiles (ranging from
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles to
antitank rockets) with the letter "S," Air-to-Air Missiles "A," and Surface-to-Air Missiles "G."
Churchill on code names for military operations
In a minute on
August 8, 1943
Winston Churchill wrote to
General "Pug" Ismay, Military Secretary of the Defence Committee of the
British Cabinet:
"Operations in which large numbers of men may lose their lives ought not to be decided by code-words that imply a boastful and over-confident sentiment, such as "Triumphant," or conversely, which are calculated to invest the plan with an air of despondency, such as "Woebetide" and "Flimsy." They ought not to be names of a frivolous character, such as "Bunnyhug" and "Ballyhoo." They shouldn't be ordinary words often used in other connections, such as "Flood," "Sudden," and "Supreme." Names of living people (ministers or commanders) should be avoided. Intelligent thought will already supply an unlimited number of well-sounding names that don't suggest the character of the operation or disparage it in any way and don't enable some widow or mother to say that her son was killed in an operation called "Bunnyhug" or "Ballyhoo." Proper names are good in this field. The heroes of antiquity, figures from Greek and Roman mythology, the constellations and stars, famous racehorses, names of British and American war heroes, could be used, provided they fall within the rules above."
Military operations since Churchill
Throughout the Second World War, the British allocation practice favored one-word code names (
Jubilee,
Frankton). That of the Americans favored longer compound words, although the name
Overlord was personally chosen by
Winston Churchill himself. Many examples of both types can be cited, as can exceptions.
Presently, British forces tend to use one-word names, presumably in keeping with their post-World War 2 policy of reserving single words for operations and two-word names for exercises. Americans prefer two-word names. The Canadians and Australians use either. The French military currently prefer names drawn from nature (such as colors or the names of animals). The American CIA uses alphabetical prefixes to designate the part of the agency supporting an operation.
In many cases with US the first word of the name has to do with the intent of the program, programs with HAVE as the first word, such as HAVE BLUE for the stealth fighter development, are developmental programs, not meant to produce a production aircraft, while programs that start with Senior, such as Senior Trend for the F-117, are for aircraft in testing meant to enter production.
In the US, code names are commonly set entirely in upper case. This isn't done in other countries - though for the UK in British documents the code name is in upper case while operation is shortened to OP eg "Op. TELIC."
This presents an opportunity for a bit of public-relations (
Operation Just Cause), or for controversy over the naming choice (Operation Infinite Justice, renamed
Operation Enduring Freedom). Computers are now used to aid in the selection. And further, there's a distinction between the
secret names during former wars and the
published names of recent ones.
Operation Desert Shield was what the build-up in Saudi Arabia was blatantly referred to in the press, before war was declared. During this time, "Desert Storm" was secret. When the war broke out, the name
Operation Desert Storm -- but not the tactical details -- was also broken to the press.
Another reason for the use of code names in the military is that they transmit with lower entropy over a walkie-talkie or radio link than actual names.
Famous military and espionage code names
Operation Anthropoid - assassination of top Nazi Reinhard Heydrich in Prague
Operation Barbarossa - German invasion of Soviet Union
Operation Overlord - Allied invasion of Normandy
Manhattan Project (with Trinity, Little Boy, and Fat Man) - Early US nuclear weapons program during World War II
MKULTRA - CIA project (an attempt at "mind control")
Tube Alloys - British nuclear program
Operation Sealion - planned invasion of Britain by Adolf Hitler which was never carried out.
Commercial code names in the computer industry
A project code name is a code name (usually a single word, short phrase or acronym) which is given to a project being developed by industry, academia, government, and other concerns.
Reasons for a project code name
Project code names are typically used for several reasons:
To uniquely identify the project within the organization. Code names are frequently chosen to be outside the normal business/domain jargon that the organization uses, in order to not conflict with established terminology.
To assist with maintaining secrecy of the project against rival concerns. Some corporations routinely change project names in order to further confuse competitors.
When the goal of the project is to develop one or more commercial products, use of a code name allows the eventual choice of product nomenclature (the name the product(s) are marketed and sold under) to be decoupled from the development effort. This is especially important when one project generates multiple products, or multiple projects are needed to produce a single product. This allows for subprojects to be given a separate identity from the main project.
As a political tool by management, to decouple an early phase of a development effort (which may have failed) from a subsequent phase (which may be given a "fresh start").
To prevent casual observers from concluding that a pre-release version is a new release of the product, thus helping reduce confusion.
Different organizations have different policies regarding the use and publication of project code names. Some companies take great pains to never discuss or disclose project code names outside of the company (other than with outside entities who have a need to know, and typically are bound with a non-disclosure agreement). Other companies never use them in official or formal communications, but widely disseminate project code names through informal channels (often in an attempt to create a marketing "buzz" for the project). Still others (such as Microsoft) discuss code names publicly, and routinely use project code names on beta releases and such, but remove them from final product(s). At the other end of the spectrum, Apple Computer has recently been including the project code names for Mac OS X as part of the official product name.
Well-known computer project code names
Microsoft often names projects (in particular, versions of the Microsoft Windows operating systems) after place names. Examples include Chicago (Windows 95), Daytona (Windows NT 3.5), Memphis (Windows 98), Whistler (Windows XP), Longhorn (Windows Vista), and Cairo (originally thought to be Windows NT 4.0, though many observers now believe that Cairo never turned into a project). See Microsoft codenames.
Intel often names CPU projects after rivers in the American West, particularly in the state of Oregon (where most of Intel's CPU projects are designed). Examples include Willamette, Deschutes, Yamhill, Tualatin, and Clackamas. See List of Intel codenames.
AMD have also been naming their 90 nm and 65 nm CPUs under the K8 micro-architecture after the name of cities around the world. For the CPUs under the Phenom brand, name of stars will be used as code names. Examples such as:-
Apple Computer has named the various major releases of Mac OS X after big cats, such as Jaguar, Tiger, Panther and Leopard. Previously, Apple had used music-related codenames for operating system projects, such as Copland, after composer Aaron Copland and Gershwin, after George Gershwin.
Nintendo often uses code names for new consoles. The best-known is that of Wii, which was code-named Revolution for over a year. Others include the GameCube's code name of Dolphin, the Game Boy Advance's code name of Atlantis, the Nintendo 64 as Project Reality, the DS code name Project Nitro, and the Game Boy Micro code name Oxy.
Mozilla code-named Mozilla Firefox 2.0, "Bon Echo," and 3.0 "Gran Paradiso."Further Information
Get more info on 'Codename'.
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