website/content/en/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/names.md

---
reviewers:
- mikedanese
- thockin
title: Names
content_template: templates/concept
weight: 20
---

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All objects in the Kubernetes REST API are unambiguously identified by a Name and a UID.

For non-unique user-provided attributes, Kubernetes provides [labels](/docs/user-guide/labels) and [annotations](/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/annotations/).

See the [identifiers design doc](https://git.k8s.io/community/contributors/design-proposals/architecture/identifiers.md) for the precise syntax rules for Names and UIDs.

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## Names

{{< glossary_definition term_id="name" length="all" >}}

By convention, the names of Kubernetes resources should be up to maximum length of 253 characters and consist of lower case alphanumeric characters, `-`, and `.`, but certain resources have more specific restrictions.

## UIDs

{{< glossary_definition term_id="uid" length="all" >}}

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