izena

Izena is a Basque noun meaning "name" or "designation." It refers to the word or phrase by which a person, place, or thing is known. In Basque, izena covers both personal names and the names of objects, brands, or places, and it appears in everyday expressions related to identity.

Common phrases include nire izena = "my name," zure izena = "your name," and bere izena = "his/her name." To ask for someone's name, speakers say Zein da zure izena? The form izena can pair with possessive determiners to indicate ownership or relation, and it can function as the head noun in noun phrases such as "zure izena" depending on context.

The word is a general noun rather than a proper name, and Basque lacks grammatical gender, so izena does not carry gender distinctions. When discussing multiple names, the plural is izenak = "names." In language-learning materials, izena is treated as a basic example of a common noun used in essential conversations about identity, introductions, and documentation.

Because izena denotes a general concept rather than a specific proper name, it is not ordinarily capitalized unless it starts a sentence or appears in a quoted example. See also Basque language, personal names, and naming conventions in Basque.