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Is "Gaussian" the term preferred over "normal" when speaking of the distribution to which these names have been attached? Are they both referring to the same thing?

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    These are equivalent. Both are correct.2011-09-21
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    My impression is that probabilists and statisticians say "normal" and the word "Guassian" is used only by other people.2011-09-21
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    My probability theory prof in grad school only used "Gaussian." He always said, "There's nothing 'normal' about the Gaussian distribution." Physicists tend to use "Gaussian," too.2011-09-21
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    Edwin Jaynes proposed calling it the central distribution.2011-09-21

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The terms 'Gaussian distribution' and 'normal distribution' are equally correct and refer to the same distribution - neither is particularly preferred over the other.