Abstract: Inventive embodiments are directed to a system and methods that manage file access in an MVS file management system, which allows for the same name to be allocated to different files. When multiple files share the same name, the name of each file is modified in order to render those files unrecognizable to an operating system. Thereafter, one file may be purposefully provided with the “shared” name. When a computer process requests access to a file and specifies the shared name, the operating system locates the first instance of the shared name in the MVS file management system. As the other files are unrecognizable, the operating system locates the only instance of the shared name and the corresponding file that was purposefully provided with the shared name. The operating system provides the computer process with access to that particular file. The name shared by the unrecognizable files may be subsequently restored.