Wikipedia:Article titles

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This naming conventions page sets out Wikipedia's policy on how to name articles. It is supplemented by guidelines that advise on how to apply the principles set out here and on managing conflicts between them. Most detailed naming advice appears in guidelines relating to articles in specific topic areas – a list of these can be found in the box to the right.

For information on the procedure for renaming an article, see Help:Moving a page and Wikipedia:Requested moves.

Deciding an article name

Every Wikipedia article must have a unique title. Ideally, these titles should be:

• Recognizable – Use names and terms most commonly used, and so most likely to be recognized, for the topic of the article.
• Easy to find – Use terms that readers are most likely to look for in order to find the article (and to which editors will most naturally link from other articles).
• Precise – Be precise, but only as precise as is necessary to identify the topic of the article unambiguously.
• Concise – A good article title is brief and to the point. (Even when disambiguation is necessary, keep that part brief.)
• Consistent – Prefer titles that follow the same pattern as those of other similar articles.

Most articles will have a simple and obvious name that satisfies most or all of these criteria. If so, use it, as a straightforward choice. However, it may be necessary to trade off two or more of the criteria against one another; in such situations, article names are determined by consensus, usually guided by the usage in reliable sources. Consensus on naming articles in specific fields, or with respect to particular problems, is stated and explained on the guideline pages referenced. When no consensus exists, it is established through discussion, always with the above principles in mind. The choice of article names should put the interests of readers before those of editors, and those of a general audience before those of specialists.

Redirects should be created to articles that may reasonably be searched for or linked to under two or more names (such as different spellings or former names). Conversely, a name that could refer to several different articles may require disambiguation.

Common names

Articles are normally titled using the most common English-language name of the person or thing that is the subject of the article. In determining what this name is, we follow the usage of reliable sources, such as those used as references for the article. This means that the name chosen for an article, while in common use, should be neither vulgar nor pedantic.

The following are examples of common names that Wikipedia uses as article titles instead of a more elaborate, formal or scientifically precise alternative:

• Bill Clinton (not "William Jefferson Clinton")
• Pelé (not "Edson Arantes do Nascimento")
• Venus de Milo (not "Aphrodite of Melos")
• Guinea pig (not Cavia porcellus)

Search engine testing sometimes helps decide which of alternative names is more common. When searching, restrict the results to pages written in English, and exclude the word "Wikipedia". It may also be useful to observe the usage of major international organizations, major English-language media outlets, quality encyclopedias, geographic name servers, major scientific bodies and scientific journals. For detailed advice, see Wikipedia:Search engine test.

Wikipedia is not a crystal ball. We do not know what terms will be used in the future, but only what is and has been in use, and will therefore be familiar to our readers. However common sense can be applied – if an organization changes its name, it is often reasonable to assume that sources will be switching to the new name. It is not necessary to give weight to sources which are known to be out of date.

When there is no common English name, use the official name (as defined in a legal context, for example, such as a national constitution), or the name that the subject uses to describe itself or themselves. (For foreign terms, see the next section.)

Foreign terms and anglicization

The choice between anglicized and local spellings should follow English usage, e.g., Besançon, Søren Kierkegaard and Göttingen, but Nuremberg, delicatessen, Florence and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

If there are too few English sources to constitute an established usage, follow the conventions of the language appropriate to the subject (German for German politicians, Portuguese for Brazilian towns, and so on). For ideas on how to deal with situations where there are several competing foreign terms, see "Multiple local names" and "Use modern names" in the geographical naming guideline.

Names not originally in a Latin alphabet, such as Greek, Chinese or Russian names, must be transliterated. Established systematic transliterations, such as Hanyu Pinyin, are preferred. However if there is a common English form of the name, then use it, even if it is unsystematic (as with Tchaikovsky and Chiang Kai-shek). For a list of transliteration conventions by language, see Wikipedia:Romanization.

Wikipedia generally uses the characters œ and æ to represent Anglo-Saxon ligatures. For Latin or Greek-derived words, use e or ae/oe, depending on modern usage and the national variety of English used in the article.

In deciding whether and how to translate a foreign name into English, follow English usage. If there is no established English treatment for a name, translate it if this can be done without loss of accuracy and with greater understanding for the English-speaking reader.

National varieties of English

Further information: Wikipedia:Manual of Style, National varieties of English

All national varieties of English spelling are acceptable in article names; Wikipedia does not prefer any national variety over any other. American spellings should not be respelled to British standards, and vice versa, unless there is some other advantage to the encyclopedia; for example, both color and colour are acceptable and both spellings are found in article titles (such as color gel and colour state). However, an article title on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation should use the variety of English appropriate for that nation. Other exceptions are contained in the Manual of Style; for example the National varieties of English section in that guideline leads to fixed-wing aircraft being used instead of aeroplane or airplane, in order not to give precedence to either British or American spelling.

Standard English and trademarks

Further information: Wikipedia:Manual of Style (trademarks)

Article titles follow standard English text formatting in the case of trademarks, unless the trademarked spelling is demonstrably most common usage in sources independent of the owner of the trademark. Items in full or partial uppercase (such as Invader ZIM) should have standard capitalization (Invader Zim); however, if the name is ambiguous, and one meaning is usually capitalized, this is one possible method of disambiguation.

Exceptions include article titles with the first letter lowercase and the second letter uppercase, such as iPod and eBay. For these, see the technical restrictions guideline.

Precision

Articles titles usually merely indicate the name of the topic. When additional precision is necessary to distinguish an article from other uses of the topic name, over-precision should be avoided. For example, it would be inappropriate to name an article "United States Apollo program (1961–1975)" or "Nirvana (Aberdeen, Washington rock band)". Remember that concise titles are generally preferred.

Disambiguation

Becuase pages cannot share the same title, it is not always possible to use the exact title that may be desired for an article, as that title may have another meaning. As a general rule:

• If the topic of the article is the primary topic (or only topic) for a desired title, then the article can take that title without modification.
• Otherwise that title cannot be used for the article without disambiguation. This is most commonly done by adding a disambiguating tag in parentheses (or sometimes after a comma); however in certain cases it may be done by choosing a different form of the title in order to achieve uniqueness. For example, two drummers called Roger Taylor have their articles titled Roger Andrew Taylor and Roger Meddows-Taylor.

Full information can be found at Wikipedia:Disambiguation. That page also contains advice on how to name disambiguation pages when they need to be created.

Sometimes titles of separate articles have different forms, but with only minor differences (Canon/Cañon; Vitória/Vitoria; WASP/Wasp; Red Meat/Red meat; Saint-Louis/Saint Louis). In these cases, remember that a reader who enters one term might in fact be looking for the other, so use appropriate disambiguation techniques (hatnotes, disambiguation pages) to ensure that readers can find all possible target articles. In case of very minor differences, a parenthethical tag should be added as if the name forms were identical, as in Streets of London (song) and Streets Of London (computer game).

Descriptive names

Where articles have descriptive names, they are neutrally worded. A descriptive article title should describe the subject without passing judgment, implicitly or explicitly, on the subject. Titles which are considered inaccurate descriptions of the article subject, as implied by reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be the most common name. For example, Tsunami is preferred over the less accurate Tidal wave.

For instance, a political controversy in the United States was nicknamed "Attorneygate" by critics of the government, but the article title is the more neutrally worded Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy. Another example is that the term allegation should be avoided in a title unless the article concerns charges in a legal case or accusations of illegality under civil, criminal or international law which have not yet been proven in a court of law. See Wikipedia:Words to avoid for further advice on potentially controversial terminology.

Explicit conventions

Wikipedia has many naming conventions relating to specific subject domains (as listed in the box at the top of this page). Occasionally, these may require the use of titles that are not strictly the common name (as in the case of the conventions for flora and medicine). This practice is often controversial, and should not be adopted unless it produces clear benefits outweighing the use of uncommon names; when it is, the article titles adopted should follow a neutral and common convention specific to that subject domain, and otherwise adhere to the general principles for naming articles on Wikipedia.

Considering name changes

In discussing the appropriate name of an article, remember that the choice of title is not dependent on whether a name is "right" in a moral or political sense. Nor does the use of one name for one article require that all related articles use the same name; there is often some reason, such as anachronism, for inconsistencies in common usage. For example, Wikipedia has articles on both Volgograd and the Battle of Stalingrad.

Editing for the sole purpose of changing one controversial name to another is strongly discouraged. If an article name has been stable for a long time, and there is no good reason to change it, it should not be changed. If it has never been stable for a long time, and no consensus can be reached on what the name should be, default to the name used by the first major contributor after the article ceased to be a stub.

Any potentially controversial proposal to change a name should be advertised at Requested Moves, and consensus reached before any change is made. Debating controversial names is often unproductive, and there are many other ways to help improve Wikipedia.

Do not invent names as a means of compromising between opposing points of view. Wikipedia describes current usage but cannot prescribe a particular usage or invent new names.

Treatment of alternative names

An article can only have one name; however significant alternative names for the topic should be mentioned in the article, usually in the first sentence or paragraph (see Lead section). These may include alternative spellings, longer or shorter forms, historical names, significant names in other languages, etc. There is also no reason why alternative names cannot be used in article text in contexts where they are more appropriate than the name used as the title of the article. For example, the city now called Gdańsk is referred to as Danzig in historical contexts where that name is more suited (e.g. when it was part of Germany or a Free City).

All significant alternative names or forms of names that apply to a specific article should be made to redirect to that article. If they are ambiguous, it should be ensured that the article can at least be reached from a disambiguation page for the alternative term. Note that the exact capitalization of the article's title does not affect Wikipedia search, so it is not necessary to create redirects from alternative capitalizations unless these are likely to be used in links; see Naming conventions (capitalization).

Piped links are often used in article text to allow a subject with a lengthy article title to be referred to using a more concise term where this does not produce ambiguity.

Article title format

For further information, see the naming guidelines on capitalization, plurals, abbreviations, and definite and indefinite articles.

• Use lower case, except for proper names: The initial letter of a title is almost always capitalized; subsequent words in a title are not, unless they are part of a proper name, and so would be capitalized in running text: Liberal arts college but Northwestern University. For initial lower case letters, as in eBay, see the technical restrictions page. See also the special rules on capitalization in bird naming.
• Use the singular form: Article titles are generally in singular in form, e.g. Horse not Horses. Exceptions include nouns that are always in a plural form in English (e.g. scissors or trousers) and the names of classes of objects (e.g. Arabic numerals or Bantu languages).
• Avoid abbreviations: Abbreviations and acronyms are generally avoided unless the subject is almost exclusively known by its abbreviation (e.g. NATO and Laser). The abbreviation UK, for United Kingdom, is acceptable for use in disambiguation.
• Avoid definite and indefinite articles: Do not place definite or indefinite articles (the, a and an) at the beginning of titles unless they are part of a proper name (e.g. The Old Man and the Sea) or otherwise change the meaning (e.g. The Crown).
• Use nouns: Titles should be nouns or noun phrases. Adjective and verb forms (e.g. democratic, integrate) should redirect to articles titled with the corresponding noun (Democracy, Integration), although sometimes they will be disambiguation pages, as at Organic. Sometimes the noun corresponding to a verb will be the gerund (-ing form), as in Swimming.
• Do not enclose titles in quotes: Article names which are quotes (or song titles, etc.) are not enclosed in quotation marks (e.g. To be, or not to be is the article while "To be, or not to be" is a redirect to that article).
• Do not use titles suggesting that one article forms part of another. Even if an article is considered subsidiary to another (as where summary style is used), it should be named independently. For example, an article on transportation in Azerbaijan should not be given a name like "Azerbaijan/Transport" or "Azerbaijan (transport)" – use Transport in Azerbaijan. (This does not always apply in non-article namespaces: see Help:Subpage.)

Special characters and formatting

Further information: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (technical restrictions)

There are technical restrictions on the use of certain characters in page titles. The characters #, <, >, [, ], |, {, and } cannot be used at all and there are certain restrictions on titles containing colons, periods and some other characters. Technically all other Unicode characters can be used in page titles. However the following should be noted:

• Provide redirects to non-keyboard characters: If use of diacritics (accent marks) is in accordance with the English-language name, or other characters not present on standard keyboards are used, such as dashes, provide a redirect from the equivalent title using standard English-language keyboard characters.
• Avoid accent-/quote-like characters: Accent-like and/or quote-like characters (e.g. ʻ, ʾ, ʿ, ᾿, ῾, ‘, “, ’, ”, ^c, combining diacritical marks combined with a "space" character) should be avoided in page names. A common exception is the curly apostrophe ' (e.g. Anthony d'Offay), which should, however, be used sparingly (e.g. Shia instead of Shi'a).
• Do not use non-language characters: Non-language characters such as "♥", as sometimes found in advertisements or logos, should never be used in titles.
• Consider browser support: If there is a reasonable alternative, avoid symbols which are so rare that many browsers will not render them. For example, the article on Weierstrass p carries that title rather than the symbol itself, which many readers would see as just a square box.
• Do not apply formatting: Formatting, such as italics or bolding, is technically achievable in page titles, but is used only in special cases. An example of such an exception is to produce italics for taxonomic names of genera and species. (See italics and formatting restrictions.)

Titles containing "and"

Sometimes two or more closely related or complementary concepts are most sensibly covered by a single article. Where possible, use a single name covering all cases: for example, Endianness covers the concepts "big-endian" and "little-endian". Where no reasonable overarching name is available, construct an article title using "and", as in Acronym and initialism; Pioneer 6, 7, 8, and 9; Promotion and relegation. (The individual terms – such as Acronym – should redirect to the combined page, or be linked there via a disambiguation page or hatnote if they have other meanings.)

If there is no obvious ordering, place the more commonly encountered concept first, or if that is not applicable, use alphabetical order. Alternative names using reverse ordering (such as Initialism and acronym) should be redirects.

Avoid use of "and" in ways that appear biased. For example, use Islamic terrorism, not "Islam and terrorism".

Proposed naming conventions and guidelines

Main page: Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines

Proposals for new naming conventions and guidelines should be advertised on this page's talk page, at requests for comment, the Village Pump and any related pages. If a strong consensus has formed, the proposal is adopted and should be listed on this page.

New naming conventions for specific categories of articles often arise from WikiProjects. For a list of current and former proposals, see Proposed naming conventions and guidelines.

See also

• Wikipedia:Name mush by culture (essay)
• Wikipedia:Non-unique personal name