Wikipedia:Naming conventions (definite and indefinite articles at beginning of name)

Main page: Wikipedia:Naming conventions

Convention:

• If the name of the article is not the title of a work, an official name, or another proper name, avoid the definite ("the") and indefinite ("a"/"an") articles at the beginning of a page name.
• If the name of the article is the title of a work, an official name, or another proper name, then "the", "a" or "an" may or may not be included, according to the rules below.

Apart from this general approach, specific uses are allowed under this convention:

• If a word without a definite article would have a general meaning, while the same word has a specific and identifiable meaning, understood by all, if adding the article, and if there is justification to have separate articles for both meanings, the specific meaning can be explained on a separate page, with a page title including the article. Example: "crown" means the headgear worn by a monarch, other high dignitaries, divinities etcetera; while "The Crown" is a term used to indicate the government authority and the property of that government in a monarchy.

Rule of thumb

If the definite or indefinite article would be capitalized in running text, then include it at the beginning of the page name. Otherwise, do not include it at the beginning of the page name.

(See rules and examples from the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual and rules from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English.)

For example, you would write:

The person read The Old Man and the Sea.

but

Two of the nations where English-speaking people live are the United Kingdom and the United States

Similarly:

• White House is preferred over The White House
• Middle East is preferred over The Middle East

When definite and indefinite articles should be used

Titles of works and publications

This applies to literary works as well as to non-fiction publications and to works in other media such as film and the visual arts. Examples:

• A Clockwork Orange (film)
• "The Lady, or the Tiger?" (short story)
• The New York Times (newspaper)
• The Old Man and the Sea (novella)

This only applies if the definite or indefinite article is actually a part of the title of the work. Thus, Mona Lisa is preferred to The Mona Lisa. There are particular usages for the titles of visual works of art - see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Visual_arts/Art_Manual_of_Style#Article_titles.

Whether an article is actually part of the title of the work can be a bit hard to distinguish when translation is involved, there is for example:

• The Rite of Spring - In Russian, the native language of its composer, the title is without definite article (and standard Russian has no definite article); in French, since the first public performance of the work it has always been Le Sacre du Printemps (using definite article);
• The Scream - Original Norwegian without article (Skrik).
• For most of Alexandre Dumas, père's works the article is used the same way in the original French and the English translations of these titles (for example: The Three Musketeers), except one: La Reine Margot, using a definite article, is usually translated as Queen Margot ("The Queen Margot" would rather sound like a ship's name).

Whether a definite or indefinite article is used in English also depends on differing sensibilities in different languages. There are several languages (like Latin) that do not have a definite article, giving no guidance whether an article would be part of a title. This often leads to alternate translations, where some translators use a definite article for the English version of the title while others do not.

The rule of thumb regarding these translated titles of works resumes to: If there is the least bit of ambiguity whether the article is always used in a translation of the title, it is preferred not to start the Wikipedia page name with an article:

• Histories (Tacitus) is preferred over The Histories (Tacitus)
• Journey to the West is preferred over The Journey to the West

For newspapers, the general rule is to follow the name of the publication as it actually appears on the masthead. For instance, Canada's two major national newspapers are titled The Globe and Mail (with the) and National Post (without the); a newspaper's article should never be titled with the if it is not present in the masthead. However, if the city's name is also present in the masthead title, then the word the may be included (The New York Times) or excluded (London Free Press) from the title based on user consensus as to which form is more commonly seen in everyday usage.

Names of bands, sports teams and other groups

Names of musical groups that use "the"; examples:

• The Bangles
• The Beatles
• The Corrs
• The Rolling Stones
• The The
• The Who

This only applies if the definite article is actually used by the band on their musical publications (CDs, audiotapes, records, etc.) or on their official website. Conversely, some bands — such as Eurythmics, Eagles, Pixies and Odds — do not in fact have the in their names, even though they may sometimes be referred to as The (Name) in everyday speech. In all cases, default to the form of the name that is actually used by the band themselves, and use "(band)" to disambiguate if necessary.

This also extends to some non-musical groups, and even beyond "official" naming, for example The Invincibles (which is the nickname of several sports teams).

General usage

When a proper name is almost always used with capitalized "The", especially if it is included by unofficial sources, we should include it. This includes the names of companies, where this has been widely discussed:

• The Hershey Company
• The New York Times Company
• The Travelers Companies
• The Washington Post Company

And other names:

• The Citadel
• The Hague
• The Nature Conservancy
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

When definite and indefinite articles should be avoided

Universities

When in doubt, do not use the definite article for universities. A definite article should be applied only if The is used in running text throughout university materials and if that usage has caught on elsewhere. This guideline is a weak version of the most-common-name rule.

Most universities do not have a definite article in their names. This includes institutions whose websites might suggest otherwise; for example:

• University of Arizona [1]
• University of Chicago [2]
• University of Oklahoma [3]
• University of New Mexico [4]
• University of Vermont [5]

The preceding websites include title phrases "The University of X", but in running text, they refer to themselves as "... the University of X...". According the rule of thumb, "The" is not considered to be a part of their name, so the Wikipedia article is named University of X.

On the other hand, some universities religiously refer to themselves as "... The University of X..." even in running text. If such usage is prevalent on university press releases and press kits, contact information, "about" pages, and internal department websites, and it is reasonably common in external sources (try a Google search), then it is more appropriate to name the Wikipedia article The University of X.

Finally, if common usage has overwhelmingly rejected the The, then it should be omitted regardless of university usage.

Other cases

Definite and indefinite articles should be avoided for all cases not mentioned above. Examples:

• apple, not an apple
• Cultural Revolution, not The Cultural Revolution
• dog, not a dog
• Earth, not The Earth
• Eiffel Tower, not The Eiffel Tower
• Joker (comics), not The Joker
• Middle East, not The Middle East
• Netherlands, not The Netherlands
• RMS Queen Elizabeth, HMS Queen Elizabeth, etc., not The Queen Elizabeth (see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships))
• Renaissance, not The Renaissance
• Roman Catholic Church, not The Roman Catholic Church
• United States, not The United States
• university, not a university
• White House, not The White House