Why ‘the innominate’?

The innominate bone in the pelvis is formed by the fusion of three smaller bones; the ilium, the ischium and the pubis. In the adult skeleton, the joins between these three become invisible and the innominate becomes one.

When early anatomists came to name the bones of the pelvis, they were foxed by how to name this new bone. It was impossible to see where the pubis joined the ischium and how the ilium met the others. This bone defined and bound the dimensions of the pelvis and its curves and hollows seemed more as anchors for muscle and action than simple scaffolding. It was as much about making space and supporting the unseen as it was in strength and solidity. It defied classification and became the innominate, the nameless.