Agent identity · the complete guide
Every AI agent needs a name. Almost no one clears it first.
Since ERC-8004 went to mainnet, tens of thousands of agents have registered on-chain identities — with free-text names and no clearance step. Here is how agent naming works, and the five checks a name should pass before you mint it.
Short answer
An AI agent’s name is its public identity across registries, name services, and the trademarks it may brush against. Naming an agent well means clearing it on five axes before registration — Resolvable, Lawful, Speakable, Cultural, and Distinct — so it isn’t a duplicate on-chain and doesn’t collide with a live US trademark.
Context
A new identity layer, with no clearance step
ERC-8004 gives agents portable, on-chain identities — reputation and discovery that travel across platforms. Adoption has been fast and the naming has been unmanaged: agent cards carry free-text names, minted first-come, with nothing checking whether a name already exists on another registry or maps onto someone’s trademark. The result is predictable — collisions, impersonation risk, and names that can’t be defended.
The fix isn’t a new registry. It’s a clearance step before the mint — the same discipline a founder applies to a company name, applied to an agent.
The standard
Five checks before you mint
The agent version of the five axes. Each is a plain question with a plain answer — the same model Pentonym applies to brand names, restated for agents.
01
Resolvablegating · can barunique across registries & name services
Is the name already registered on another ERC-8004 registry or agent name service? A duplicated identity is the one failure that should stop a mint.
02
Lawfulgating · can barclear of live US trademarks
Does the name collide with a registered US trademark in a relevant class? An agent that trades under an infringing name inherits the infringement.
03
Speakablevoice-invocation disambiguation
Agents are increasingly called by voice. A name that’s ambiguous when spoken invites the wrong agent being invoked.
04
Culturaloffensive-term screen · 20 markets
Does the name read as an offensive term in a market the agent will operate in? Exact-match screening across the 20-market panel.
05
Distinctphonetic distance from the field
How close is the name to the tens of thousands already registered? Distance is what keeps an agent findable and un-confusable.
The data
How many agents already share a name?
The Agent Name Census
- Every named agent on Ethereum, Base and BNB
- How many names collide, exactly and by sound
- How many map onto a live US trademark
Why it matters
- A shared name can’t be defended or reliably invoked
- A trademark collision is a takedown waiting to happen
- Clearance is cheapest before the mint, not after
FAQ
Common questions
What is ERC-8004?
ERC-8004 is a standard for giving AI agents portable, on-chain identities — carrying reputation and discovery across platforms. It went to mainnet in early 2026. It does not include a name-clearance step, which is the gap Pentonym fills.
Can an AI agent name infringe a trademark?
If an agent operates commercially under a name that’s confusingly similar to a registered US mark in a related field, the same trademark risk applies as for any other product name. Clearing the name first avoids inheriting that risk.
Does Pentonym check names outside the US?
Trademark clearance covers the US (full analysis) and the EU (a live EUIPO exact-wordmark knockout). The registry-collision and cultural checks aren’t jurisdiction-specific. It isn’t worldwide.