In zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

, an available name is a scientific name for a taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 of animals that has been published conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the ICZN Code

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals...

 for the establishment of a zoological name.

For a name to be "available", there are a number of general requirements: where it is published, and when, it has to use the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, etc. In some specialized cases it is possible that a name which does not meet these requirements nevertheless is available.

An available name is not necessarily a valid name

Valid name (zoology)

In zoological nomenclature, the valid name of a taxon is the zoological name that is to be used for that taxon following the rules in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature . In other words: a valid name is the correct zoological name of a taxon.In contrast, an invalid name is a name...

, because an available name may be in synonymy

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

. However, a valid name must always be an available one.