just tried what jmodic has given on my database,

on my databases, one 8i and another 7.3 thru sql*plus

* in 8i i am getting the database name as "ABCD" thru the statement
select name from v$database
BUT when i give the statement
select * from global_name
i am getting the database name as "ORACLE"

* in 7.3 i am getting the database name as "XYZ" thru the statement
select name from v$database
BUT when i give the statement
select * from global_name
i am getting the database name as "XYZ.WORLD"

can u tell me how the global name gets generated, i.e. does the name come from the name in v$database table or from somewhere else.