Prior to 1986, there was no clear convention for the names of mesons with authors suggesting names with initial observations. There were also mesons that had more than one name, and a number of confused states including the $E/\iota$ puzzle and the $\theta$ meson. In 1986, the Particle Data Group proposed a systematic naming scheme. This document describes that 1986 naming scheme, and provides a translation from the old names to the new ones. It also provides some historical information on the states.
