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#REDIRECT [[Wikipedia:Article titles#Common names]] |
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{{subcat guideline|naming convention|common names|WP:UCN|WP:NC(CN)|WP:COMMONAME|WP:COMMONAMES}} |
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{{guideline in a nutshell|Except where other accepted [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions|Wikipedia naming conventions]] give a different indication, title an article using the most common name of the person or thing in question.}} |
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{{main|Wikipedia:Naming conventions}} |
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'''Convention:''' Title an article using the most common name of a person or thing that is the subject of the article, except where other specific conventions provide otherwise. Some important exceptions are described at [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)]]; others are discussed under "[[#Exceptions|Exceptions]]" below. |
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Determine the most common name<ref>This guideline uses "common name" to mean a commonly used name, the word "common" being used in the sense of "in general use; of frequent occurrence; usual, ordinary, prevalent, frequent." (Oxford English Dictionary, common:10a). In some scientific disciplines, however, a ''[[common name]]'' is any name that is not a ''[[scientific name]]''. In such disciplines, the most commonly used name may be the ''scientific name'' or one of many [[common name]]s.</ref> by seeing what [[WP:SOURCES|verifiable reliable sources]] in English call the subject. When choosing a name for a page, as a rule of thumb ask yourself: What word would the average user of Wikipedia put into the search engine? |
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Page names should be as simple as possible without being too general or ambiguous. Remember that a link is the page name, not necessarily the topic, of the linked page. For example, the article about jazz music has the page name [[Jazz]] rather than [[Jazz music]] (a redirect); the simple page name makes linking easier. In contrast, the article about country music has the page name [[Country music]] because "country" has too many meanings in addition to the music genre. If we ignore potential ambiguity, the ideal of simplicity can be at odds with the ideal of [[wikipedia:naming conventions (precision)|precision]]. |
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==Rationale== |
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Names of articles should be the most commonly used name for the following reasons: |
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* We want to maximize the likelihood of being listed in external search engines, thereby attracting more people to Wikipedia. For example, one pagename is [[Jimmy Carter]] and not "James Earl Carter, Jr."; the string "Jimmy Carter" in the page title makes it easier to find: search engines will often give greater weight to the contents of the title than to the body of the page. Since "Jimmy Carter" is the most common form of the name, it will be searched on more often, and having that exact string in our page title will often mean our page shows up higher in other search engines. |
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* We want to maximize the incidence that people who make a link guessing the article name, guess correctly; people guessing a different name may think there is no article yet, which may cause duplication. |
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* Using a full formal name requires people to know that name, ''and'' to type more. |
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* We respect our readers and name our articles as they do, just formulating their collective needs. |
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Redirects help, but give a slightly unattractive "redirected from" announcement at the top of the page. On the other hand, if someone reads or hears "[[Elizabeth II]]", and wonders who might be meant by that, the "(Redirected from Elizabeth II)" at the top of the page describing the monarch in question puts the reader at ease that this was the intended queen: the "redirect" message indicates that the system hasn't been playing tricks, and that this was the page to which you were supposed to be led. |
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==Examples== |
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Examples of common names that Wikipedia uses instead of a more elaborate, more formal or more scientifically precise version include (note that the latter is a redirect to the former): |
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*[[Bill Clinton]] (not [[William Jefferson Clinton]]) |
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*[[Bill Gates]] (not [[William Henry Gates III]]) |
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*[[Julius Caesar]] (not [[Imperator Gaius Iulius Caesar Divus]]) |
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*[[Pelé]] (not [[Edson Arantes do Nascimento]]) |
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*[[Occam's Razor]] (not [[Ockham's Razor]]) <!-- A contested example. I'd like to see it go unless we make a point of including other contested examples. --> |
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*[[Venus de Milo]] (not [[Aphrodite of Melos]]) |
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*[[Dog]] (not ''[[Canis lupus familiaris]]'') |
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*[[Guinea pig]] (not ''[[Cavia porcellus]]'') |
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*[[Sea cucumber]] (not [[Holothurian]]) <!-- This could go as far as I'm concerned though if we have three modern politicians we might as well have three animals too. --> |
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<!--*[[Burping]] (not <nowiki>[[eructation]]</nowiki>)> //I see no reason to remove this one - I do!--> |
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==Do not overdo it== |
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In cases where the common name of a subject is misleading, then it is sometimes reasonable to fall back on a well-accepted alternative. For example a "common" name for a [[tsunami]] is "tidal wave" (this term being less often used for the tides-related [[tidal bore]]). For this reason, the [[Tidal wave]] page is a [[wikipedia:disambiguation|disambiguation page]], with links to the two other pages, and not a page giving details about either tsunami or tidal bore. |
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Also, some terms are in common usage but are regarded as offensive (Mormon Church, for example). In those cases use widely known alternatives ([[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]). When in doubt, check a mainstream reference work. A term can only be considered offensive if a verifiable, authoritative source can be quoted as citing it as such. |
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This does not mean that we should avoid using widely known pseudonyms like [[Mark Twain]], [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Billy the Kid]], or widely known common names of [[animal]]s and other things. But it does mean that we need to temper common usage when the commonly used term is unreasonably misleading or commonly regarded as offensive to one or more groups of people. |
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===Not sure if you are overdoing it?=== |
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If there is no agreement over whether a page title is "overdoing it", apply the guidelines at [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (precision)]]. |
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==Exceptions== |
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''Many Wikipedia naming conventions guidelines contain implicit or explicit exceptions to the "common names" principle.'' Some of these exceptions are due to technical limitations, for example "[[C Sharp (programming language)]]", as "C#" is technically not possible as a page name. |
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Some of these exceptions follow from guidelines that give recommendations for enhanced [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (precision)|precision]], cleaner [[wikipedia:disambiguation|disambiguation]] and/or solution of [[Wikipedia:Naming conflict|naming conflict]]s, which might lead to article names that are rather "the most obvious" than strictly spoken "the most used". For example: [[Roger Andrew Taylor]] and [[Roger Meddows-Taylor]] while [[Roger Taylor (drummer)]] could indicate either of these two [[Roger Taylor]]s. |
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Other exceptions are contained in the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]]; for example the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English|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. |
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Some questions about the use of diacritics in article titles are discussed at [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English)#Modified letters]]. |
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Several guidelines try to systematise certain ''types of article titles'', for example article titles using abbreviations: |
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*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (acronyms)|Acronyms]]: [[NASA]] (not [[N.A.S.A.]] or [[N. A. S. A.]]) |
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*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)#Middle names and abbreviated names|Abbreviating names of people]]: [[H. G. Wells]] (not [[H.G. Wells]] or [[HG Wells]]) |
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Other guidelines rather systematise titles of articles grouped ''by topic'', for example [[MS Herald of Free Enterprise]] and not [[Herald of Free Enterprise]], according to [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships)]]. |
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For articles on people some minor practical exceptions are contained in [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)]] - these are however hardly sufficient to cover the complexities for naming royals and other nobility: hence [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (names and titles)]], and several other nobility-related Naming Conventions guidelines, contain many detailed exceptions. |
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Where common names might conflict with other uses, the [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation]] guideline is useful in determining a name to use. |
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==See also== |
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Apart from the main [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions]] page and the [[:Category:Wikipedia naming conventions|Wikipedia naming conventions category]] there are also: |
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* [[:Category:Naming conventions]] - The '''non-guideline''' category of articles about naming conventions; |
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* [[Wikipedia:Search engine test]] - Search engine testing might in some cases assist in discerning which of two alternative versions of a name is ''more common''. |
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* [[Wikipedia:Naming policy poll]] - Poll (2004) regarding the applicability of the ''common names'' principle to geographical entries. |
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* [[Exonym]]s |
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* [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English)]] |
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* [[Wikipedia:Manual of style (trademarks)]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[de:Wikipedia:Namenskonventionen#Personen]] |
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[[nl:Wikipedia:Het benoemen van een pagina]] |
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[[ru:Википедия:Именование статей/Общепринятые названия]] |
Latest revision as of 00:27, 19 May 2022
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