releaseName

Release name is a label assigned to a specific software release to identify and communicate about its contents, scope, and delivery timing. It serves as an informal or supplementary identifier alongside the formal version number and build metadata. While version numbers convey compatibility and change magnitude, a release name is usually chosen for readability, branding, or internal tracking.

Naming and allocation: Release names may be generated automatically by a CI/CD system or selected by product teams, project managers, or marketing. Organizations often require uniqueness within a project and a stable reference across release notes, issue trackers, and deployment pipelines. Some teams maintain archived mappings between release names and their associated version numbers and change logs.

Usage: The release name appears in release notes, customer communications, deployment instructions, issue trackers, and dashboards. It helps distinguish between releases that share a version number but target different environments or feature flags.

Conventions: Common patterns include codenames (thematic or alphabetical), dates, or a combination (e.g., Aurora-2025.04). Internal names may differ from external names to avoid branding conflicts or localization issues. Governance typically involves a release-name policy and approval by a change advisory board or product leadership.

Relationship to versioning: A release name is not a replacement for version numbers; it complements them. Documentation should map each release-name to its corresponding version and release notes for clarity and traceability.

Examples: Aurora-2025.04, Hummingbird-2024.3, Release 15.1. These illustrate how release names can convey timing, branding, or project identity while remaining distinct from numerical versioning.