Legislation passed by the House of Commons has both a short and a long title. It is the short title which is popularly used. For example- Concessionary Bus Travel Act 2007 (short title) has a 'long title' - "An Act to make provision about travel concessions; and for connected purposes." It may also be refered to by its Year and Chapter - "2007 CHAPTER 13" - which means it was the 13th bill to be given Royal Assent in 2007.
The bill can be viewed at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/pdf/ukpga_20070013_en.pdf
In the United States the final result of legislative action is a Public Law - these are numbered by the number of the Congress which passed the bill - and by order of enactment. The PATRIOT Act, passed in 2001 is "PUBLIC LAW 107–56" (56th bill enacted by the 107th Congress).
Many laws have their title worded in such a way as to provide a 'popular' name - hence "Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism"
