How to ask for a person's name?

by Pramith Naidu
(India)

Which of the following questions is correct? "May I please have your name in order to address you?" OR "May I please know your name in order to address you?"

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Hi Pramith. Your questions sound very polite but they aren't very natural. When you first meet someone you want to know their name and here are some different options for you.

In that case you would say, "Hi my name is Pramith, what's your name?" (informal).

"Hello, my name is Pramith. A pleasure to meet you" (here it is more formal and assumed that the person will respond by providing their name).

If you want to know their name and you have been speaking with them for a bit of time, you could explain that you missed their name or forgot it.

"I'm sorry. What was your name again?" or "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."