Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility)

Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)

As royalty often use titles rather than surnames, and often change titles, using a clear and agreed nomenclature can sometimes be difficult.

The following are a set of conventions that emerged from a detailed discussion on Wikipedia. For the discussions, see the corresponding talk page and, earlier, Wikipedia talk:History standards. If there are wikipedians out there who know more about this subject, please add to the discussion.

Some additional rules for article content are on Wikipedia:History standards.

Most general rule overall: use the most common form of the name used in English if none of the rules below cover a specific problem.

Monarchical titles

1. Pre-emptively disambiguate the names of monarchs, of modern countries in the format "{Monarch's first name and ordinal} of {Country}". Examples: Edward I of England; Alfonso XII of Spain; Henry I of France; Cleopatra VII of Egypt.
2. Where there has only been one holder of a specific monarchical name in a state, the ordinal is used only when the ordinal was in official use. For example, Victoria of the United Kingdom, not Victoria I of the United Kingdom; Juan Carlos I of Spain, not Juan Carlos of Spain.
3. Take care to use the correct name of the state at the time when a monarch reigned. So it is
   1. with the British: monarchs of England only up to 1707 (eg., Henry VIII of England), Great Britain from 1707-1800 (eg. Anne of Great Britain), the United Kingdom since 1801 (eg. Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom). England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom were all different states covering different geographic areas, and so they do need to be clarified.
   2. with German monarchs: Holy Roman Empire until 1806 (e.g. Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor), Germany from 1871 (e.g. Wilhelm II of Germany), Austria after then, etc. Germany is especially complex; when in doubt, refer to List of German Kings and Emperors.
   3. But if an obscure official name of a state exists alongside a clearly understood one, it is fine to use the more widely known version. For example, Kings of Greece rather than the technically correct Kings of the Hellenes.
4. Where a monarch has reigned over a number of states, use the most commonly associated ones. For example, Charles II of England, not Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland; Wilhelm II of Germany, not Wilhelm II of Prussia, although there should be redirects from these locations
5. European monarchs whose rank was below that of King (e.g. Grand Dukes, Electors, Dukes, Princes), should be at the location "{Monarch's first name and ordinal}, {Title} of {Country}". Examples: Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
6. Do not apply an ordinal in an article title to a pretender, i.e., someone who has not reigned. For example, use Louis-Alphonse, Duc d'Anjou, not Louis XX when referring to the legitimist pretender to the French throne. A person may however be referred to if they have a title, for example, Victor Emmanuel, Prince of Naples for the last Italian Crown Prince. But he should not be referred to as Victor Emmanuel IV even though Italian royalists call him so. Where someone has a disputed title, for example, "Henry V" – whom French Legimists believed became the real king of France in 1830 after Charles X's abdication – could be referred to as such in the article. Alternatively a disambulation page could be created, redirecting enquiries about "Henry V" to the page where his biography exists, that is, Henri, comte de Chambord.
7. Former or deposed monarchs should be referred to by their previous monarchical title with the exception of those who are still alive and are most commonly referred to by a non-monarchial title; all former or deposed monarchs should revert to their previous monarchical title upon death; for example, Constantine II of Greece not ex-King Constantine II or Constantine Gluckberg, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom not the Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, but Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha not Simeon II of Bulgaria.
8. No family or middle names, except where English speakers normally use them. No cognomens (nicknames) in article titles – they go in the first line of the article.
9. Make redirects from other plausible names that people might search for or link to, even if strictly incorrect. For example, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom should have redirects from Elizabeth II of England, Elizabeth II of Great Britain, Elizabeth Windsor, Queen Elizabeth II etc.

Exceptions:

1. These conventions do not apply to non-european civilizations. See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style (China-related articles), Wikipedia:Manual of Style (Japan-related articles).
2. If a person is best known by a cognomen, or by a name that doesn't exactly fit the guidelines above, revert to the base rule: use the most common English name. Examples: Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, Henry the Lion.
3. Asian monarchs are listed with their full title. Examples: Qianlong Emperor, Meiji Emperor, etc. Also included are sovereigns of other nations, such as Queen Lili‘uokalani of Hawai‘i, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King Rama V, etc.
4. Roman Emperors don't need the "of the Roman Empire" nor would Pericles be "of Athens" – their names already indicate where they're from. The first line of the article can say when (and which empire) they ruled. Otherwise, we get stuck with Roman Emperor, Western R. E., Eastern R. E., Byzantine E., and (under the Carolingians) Roman Emperor (again).
5. With Germanic peoples (and any other leaders of a people, rather than a country or nation), if any description at all is used (and this is something the early medievalists should work on), it should be "of the Goths", etc. Again, this is something that has not been much discussed, so please contribute to a discussion of how to do it before randomly creating pages!

Other royals

For royalty other than monarchs:

1. If they hold a substantive princely title, use "{first name}, {title}". Examples: Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Felipe, Prince of Asturias.
2. If they hold a substantive title that is not princely (a peerage, for instance), use "Prince/ss {first name}, {title}". Examples: Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Numerals are not used. Example: Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, not "Prince Richard, 2nd Duke of Gloucester".
3. Use "Prince/ss {first name} of ..." where they have a territorial suffix by virtue of their parent's title, eg, Prince William of Wales, Princess Beatrice of York. Prince Arthur of Connaught, etc.
4. Where they have no title, use the form "Prince/ss {name} of {country}," eg. Princess Irene of Greece. Only former royal consorts should not have a title mentioned, eg Anne of Denmark. Using royal titles for more junior royals will enable users to distinguish between royal consorts and others.
   
   
5. When dealing with a Crown Prince/ss of a state, use the form "{name}, Crown Prince/ss of {state}" unless there is a clear formal title awarded to a prince which defines their status as crown prince (eg, 'Charles, Prince of Wales', 'Felipe, Prince of Asturias', etc)
6. Do not use styles as part of a title of an article; eg, Princess Irene of Greece not HRH Princess Irene of Greece.
7. Do not use 'surnames' in article names. Most royal families don't have surnames. Many that do have different personal surnames to the name of their Royal House. For example, different members of the Royal House of Windsor have a range of surnames; Windsor, Mountbatten-Windsor, Linley, Chatto, etc. Charles, Prince of Wales, for example, is not Charles Windsor but Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, as are his siblings and all their children. But many of his cousins are Windsor or other names. Similarly, the House of Habsburg is different to the surnames of some members of the Habsburg/Hapsburg family.
8. Incorporate surnames if they are known in the opening line of an article, eg, Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor. But don't automatically presume that a name of a Royal Family is the personal surname of its members. In many cases it isn't. For visual clarity, an article should begin with the form "{honorific} {royal title} {name} {ordinal if appropriate} (full name (+ surname if known, but not for monarchs)" with the honorific and full name unformatted and the rest in bold (3 's). In practice, this means for example an article on Britain's Queen Elizabeth should begin "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary)". Using this format displays the most important information clearly without an unattractive excess of formatting. Other information on royal titles should be listed where appropriate in chronological order.
9. Past Royal Consorts are referred to by their pre-marital name or pre-marital title, not by their consort name, as without an ordinal (which they lack) it is difficult to distinguish various consorts; eg, as there have been many queen consorts called Catherine, use Catherine of Aragon not Queen Catherine. However, there has been one notable exeption. From Wikipedia: "Shortly after King George VI died of lung cancer, on February 6, 1952, Elizabeth began to be styled "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother." This style was adopted because the normal style for the widow of a King, "Queen Elizabeth," would have been too similar to the style of her elder daughter, now Queen Elizabeth II. The alternative style "The Queen Dowager" could not be used because a senior widowed Queen, Queen Mary, the widow of King George V, was still alive."
10. Existing Royal Consorts are referred to by their consort name, eg. Queen Sofia of Spain. But when her husband dies, she will revert to her pre-marital title, ie, [Sofia of Greece] with the new Queen of Spain being referred to by the consort designation. The same rule applies to male royal consorts.
11. Use the most senior title received by a royal personage. For example, George V of the United Kingdom is referred to as such, not George, Duke of York or George, Prince of Wales, his earlier titles.

Clerical names

While most names are clear, unambiguous and known, some names associated with clergymen and clergywomen of some faiths make this difficult. In those religions which have hierarchies, the higher the level within that hierarchy the greater the likelihood that the person's first name may have ceased to be used publicly, being replaced by a title. Others replace their own name completely with a new one. As with royals, this requires a different set of guidelines, not least in so far as it may be difficult to discover what their first name actually was, particularly when dealing with ancient historical church clergy at the higher level. The following are the agreed conventions for two levels of senior clergymen:

1. For popes, whether Roman Catholic, Coptic, or otherwise, use the format "Pope {papal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Popes of Rome should not be linked with their episcopal sees; Rome is understood. Also, do not use a pope's personal name. For example, use Pope John Paul I, not Albino Luciani or Pope John Paul I of Rome.
2. For patriarchs, whether the Ecumenical Patriarch, Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, or otherwise, use the format "Patriarch {papal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Do not use a patriarch's personal name; e.g., use Patriarch Nikon, not Nikita Minov. However, if a there is already a well established name in English for a particular patriarch, use that format instead. For example, use John Chrysostom as the main title of article, with Patriarch John I of Constantinople and John I of Constantinople as redirects. This last convention, regarding well-established names for patriarchs, is still under discussion on the talk page archive.'
3. For cardinals, use "{name if known} Cardinal {surname}]]". For example, Giuseppe Cardinal Siri not Cardinal Giuseppe Siri This format avoids problems associated with historical cardinals whose first names have long since been forgotten; they can be entered as "Cardinal {surname}" and adapted later if and when their first name has been unearthed. Another theory suggests that cardinals insert "Cardinal" in the middle of their name because Pope Urban VIII (1644) felt the honor of being appointed cardinal was so great that the title should become part of the person's name itself rather than merely a prefix. The practice also has the benefit of keeping the cardinal surname together for search purposes. This is the format officially used by the Roman Catholic Church to refer to its cardinals. Since Vatican II, an alternative version, placing the word 'Cardinal' before the first name has grown in popularity. However as the great majority of cardinals predate this change, that format would require a complete change in all cardinal titles before 1965 and is impractical.
4. Saints go by their most common English name, minus the "Saint", unless they are only recognisable by its inclusion. For example, Paul of Tarsus, Ulrich of Augsburg but Saint Patrick, Saint Columba. (See also List of saints.) Make redirects from forms with "St.", "St", and "Saint". Popes who are also saints are given their papal name, with a redirect from the forms with "Saint". For example, Pope Pius X, with redirects from Pope Saint Pius X and other forms.
5. Cathedral and church names, unless they individually use something different, are written as St. not Saint. Hence St. Paul's Cathedral not Saint Paul's Cathedral, St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral not Saint Mary's Pro-Cathedral, etc.

The issue of other clerical names across various religions is still under discussion on the talk page.

Other non-royal names

1. Members of the hereditary Peerage (people who inherit their title), such as a marquess, viscount, count, duke, earl, etc., as with royals have two names. For example Henry John Temple was also the 3rd Viscount Palmerston, hence typically referred to as "Lord Palmerston". Rule here is, "So-and-so, ordinal (if appropriate) title (of) place", and place redirects as you see fit. The sequence number is included since personal names are often duplicated (see Earl of Aberdeen.) Examples: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, or Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, with redirect Lord Palmerston, which allows both of his names to be included. EXCEPTIONS: When individuals received hereditary peerages after retiring from the post of Prime Minister (unless they are better known for their later career under an additional/alternative title), or for any other reason are known exclusively by their personal names, do not include the peerage dignity. Examples: Anthony Eden (not "Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon"), Bertrand Russell (not "Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell") (but Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth not "Henry Addington"). When individuals held more than one peerage and are best known by a title other than their highest one, use the interim one. Examples: Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich (not "Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon"), William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (not "William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne"). When individuals inherited or were created peers but are best known to history by a courtesy title use that. Examples: Frederick North, Lord North (not "Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford"), Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (not "Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry"). When a peer holds one or more other peerages of the same rank as his most senior peerage, use only the most senior peerage in the title. Example: Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, not "Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and 1st Duke of Lennox" or "Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond and Lennox". Single peerages with multiple parts should be used in full. Example: Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, not "Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore".
2. Life peers (ie, people who have peerages awarded exclusively for their lifetime but who neither inherit it nor pass it on to anyone else)¹ use the same standard as for hereditary peers: use the dignity in the title, unless the individual is exclusively referred to by personal name. For example: Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (not "Quintin McGarel Hogg"), but Margaret Thatcher (not "Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher.")
3. An honorific such as Lord Normanby may refer to any of the holders of the associated title, so can redirect to a page about the title itself.
4. Titles of Knighthood such as Sir and Dame should not be included in the article title: use personal name instead, e.g., Arthur Conan Doyle not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (But make a redirect from the form with the title if it is well known, thus Sir Walter Raleigh redirects to Walter Raleigh.) The article itself should clarify details such as the full title, etc. "Sir" may be used in article titles as a disambiguator. Honorary titles should not be used at all, but the appropriate post-nominal letters or explanation should be in the article. This Bob Geldof is not "Sir Bob Geldof" in the title and is "Bob Geldof KBE (hon.)" in the text. Post-nominals should not be used for non-Commonwealth or former British Empire citizens as their use outside a Commonwealth context are extremely rare.
5. Baronets, as they hold hereditary titles, often for a large part of their lives, follow the same practice as hereditary peers (that is, the title should be used unless it the person concerned is exclusively known without it). The format is Sir John Smith, 17th Baronet.
6. Courtesy titles (also referred to as an honorific prefix)² such as Lord or Lady differ from full titles because unlike full titles they are included as part of the personal name, often from birth. As such, they should be included in the article title if a person if universally recognised with it and their name is unrecognisable without it. For example, the late nineteenth century British politician Lord Frederick Cavendish was always known by that form of name, never simply Frederick Cavendish. Using the latter form would produce a name that would be unrecognisable to anyone searching for a page on Cavendish. Similarly, Lady Gregory, the Irish playwright, is more recognisable to readers than Augusta Gregory.
7. In general, use the most commonly recognized English-language form of the name. Create redirections or disambiguations for other plausible links.
8. Other names and titles, if any, should appear in the first paragraph of the article so they can be searched for.
9. In East Asian names, look at common English usage to decide whether the western first-name last-name or the eastern last-name first-name order should be used. As a rule of thumb, Japanese names should usually be given in the western, Chinese names in the eastern order. A redirect from whatever order is not used, is almost always a good idea. Again, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (China-related articles), Wikipedia:Manual of Style (Japan-related articles).
10. People in the Hispanic world often have a double surname (see Spanish names). The first one is received from the father, the second from the mother. However, in practice often only the paternal name is used, and one should thus add them to Wikipedia under this name (e.g., Fidel Castro). In the first mentioning of the name in the article, use the full name. If the most common name is not the paternal form (e.g., Gabriel García Márquez), use the most common form for the article.

Footnotes:

¹ Life peers receive the title of Baron. As a rule of thumb when deciding if someone has a life peerage or hereditary peerage, if the title is marquess, viscount, duke, earl or anything but baron the peerage can only be hereditary. However, not all barons are life peers; hereditary baronies also exist.

² A Courtesy title is an honorific prefix applied to the sons and daughters of hereditary peers. For example, Lady Diana Spencer's courtesy title came via her father's earldom. Lord John Russell was the second son of the Duke of Bedford. In many cases the holder of a courtesy title is known exclusively by its inclusion (which they may have had from birth) and unrecognisable without it, with the title treated as though it was in effect part of their name. That contrasts to full titles, which are not attached to the personal name, but exist separately.

Non-European and non-Western (names and titles)

Apply Most general rule overall: use the most common form of the name used in English if none of the rules cover a specific problem. For China-related articles, please refer to Wikipedia:History standards for China-related articles.