"The Rule of Names" is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in the April 1964 issue of Fantastic, and reprinted in collections such as The Wind's Twelve Quarters. This story and The Word of Unbinding convey Le Guin's initial concepts for the Earthsea realm, most importantly its places and physical manifestation, but not the characters appearing in the novels. Both stories also help explain the underpinnings of the Earthsea realm, in particular the importance of true names to magic.