Introduction
Drugs often have several names. When a drug is first discovered, it is given a chemical name, which describes the atomic or molecular structure of the drug. The chemical name is thus usually too complex and cumbersome for general use. Next, a shorthand version of the chemical name or a code name (such as RU 486) is developed for easy reference among researchers.
When a drug is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA--the government agency responsible for ensuring that drugs marketed in the United States are safe and effective), it is given a generic (official) name and a trade (proprietary or brand) name. The trade name identifies it as the exclusive property of a particular company. For example, phenytoin is the generic name and Dilantin is the trade name for the same drug.
In the United States, an official body--the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council assigns the generic name. The company that manufactures the drug chooses the trade name. Generic and trade names must be unique to prevent one drug from being mistaken for another when drugs are prescribed and prescriptions are filled. To prevent this possible confusion, the FDA must agree to every proposed trade name.
Government officials, doctors, researchers, and others who write about the new compound use the drug's generic name because it refers to the drug itself, not to a particular company's brand of the drug or a specific product. However, doctors usually use the trade name on prescriptions, because it is easier to remember and doctors usually learn about new drugs by the trade name.
Generic names are usually more complicated and harder to remember than trade names. Many generic names are a shorthand for the drug's chemical name, structure, or formula. In contrast, trade names are usually catchy, often related to their intended use, and relatively easy to remember, so that doctors will prescribe the drug and consumers will look for it by name. Trade names often suggest a characteristic of the drug. For example, Lopressor lowers blood pressure, Vivactil is an antidepressant that might make a person more vivacious, Glucotrol lowers high blood sugar (glucose) levels, and Skelaxin relaxes skeletal muscles. Sometimes, the trade name is simply a shortened version of the drug's generic name--for example, Minocin for minocycline.
The term generic, when applied to such items as foods and household products, is used to describe a less expensive, sometimes less effective or lower-quality copycat version of a brand-name product. However, most generic drugs, although usually less expensive, are generally as effective and of the same quality as the brand-name drug.
 See the table What's in a Name?
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