Talk:Adele

Adele's Nationality

It is not incorrect to say that she is British but it would be more accurate to specify and say that she is English, since she is from the country of England. A British person can either be English (England), Scottish (Scotland), or Welsh (Wales). The United Kingdom is a sovereign state that consists of several countries. A person's nationality, here on Wikipedia, is determined by the country that they're from. Therefore, it is more accurate to say that Adele is English, since Great Britain and the United Kingdom are not actually countries. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Doubletoasted01 (talk • contribs) 19:33, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Our article on the United Kingdom describes it both as a sovereign state and a country, but generally with articles on UK nationals, we should stick with the default nationality unless there's a good reason to change it. For example, were Adele herself to say that she identified as English rather than British then we'd reflect that in her article. This is Paul (talk) 20:43, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Paul is correct. Doubletoasted, your ideas about Great Britain and the UK not being countries are pretty wide of the mark, and I can inform you that British people can obviously not simply be English, Welsh or Scottish. Quite apart from the Northern Ireland question, a person can be a mixture, as Adele clearly is. Where there is any doubt, we stick to sovereign nationality. Your nationality is stated on your passport, and Adele's will say British. Not only that, you can see on the article talk page a consensus for British. Bretonbanquet (talk) 14:04, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

A British person can simply be English, Welsh, or Scottish. It depends on where they are from, and in Adele's case, she is from England. Therefore, she is English. Nearly every British person is referred to as English, Welsh, or Scottish on Wikipedia. How is this any different for Adele? Even though her father is Welsh, she was born and raised in England. Therefore, she is English. A British person whose parents are not from Great Britain or the same British country does not change the fact that they are either English, Scottish, or Welsh, depending on where exactly they are from.

From my understanding, she is referred to as British and not English because her father is from Wales. Ethnically, she is a mixture (English from her mother and Welsh from her father). However, a person's nationality is supposed to be based on where they are from, not their ethnicity. She is from England. Therefore, she is English. Her father being from Wales does not make her not English and only British. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Perrie101 (talk • contribs) 16:47, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

@Perrie101: – Firstly, your understanding of English / Scottish / Welsh is not correct. There is no hard and fast rule to decide who is English or whatever, as there is no official nationality of English / Scottish / Welsh / Northern Irish. Because these are not sovereign states, it doesn't matter where someone was born, it's just a matter of self-identification. Birthplace is simply not strictly a defining factor. Tony Blair is a good example. I myself was technically born in England, but I am not ethnically nor in any other sense English, and there is no official paperwork or personal documentation which says I am. Adele is referred to as British because she announced that she's proud to be British and it's sourced. She may identify as much with Wales as England, as many, many people with mixed parentage do. If she came out with something like "I'm English" then it can be changed. But Wikipedia goes by reliable sources. You would need to be able to back up your idea about nationality and ethnicity with reliable sources too. Britishness is always 100% verifiable (therefore reliable), and Englishness / Scottishness etc rarely is. Where there is doubt, extra sources are needed. Secondly, it's better to have this out on the relevant talk page, not here. Cheers, Bretonbanquet (talk) 17:16, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Where are the sources that state that Adele identifies as British? And what explains that almost every British person is referred to as English, Scottish, or Welsh here on Wikipedia if that is incorrect to you? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Perrie101 (talk • contribs) 19:20, 5 April 2015 (UTC)