Is it “my name is” or “my names are”?

Answer: The correct phrase is “My name is.”

“My Name Is” is standard grammatically correct, signaling a self- or name-giving sentence, while “my name is” is a declarative sentence.

It follows the pattern of possessive pronoun + singular noun + singular verb “is.”

The possessive pronoun “my” is used to show that the owner possesses the noun which comes after the pronoun. “Name” is a singular noun that refers to the label or identity by which a person is known. “Is” is the form of the verb “to be,” helping in connecting the subject “my name” to its complement “[your name].

“My names are” is not in standard English and should be “My name is” to have complete grammatical sense. The word “names” is a plural form, translated to “name,” which should, when introducing oneself, normally be in a singular form—normally, people have one main name or identity. Using “are” as the verb indicates a plural subject, but in this context, the subject is singular “my name.”

Lets see some more examples to understand the concept better.

• Correct: “My name is John.” (Singular subject + singular verb)
• Incorrect: “My names are John and David.” (Plural subject + plural verb)
• Correct: “Our names are John and David.” (Plural subject + plural verb)