Wikipedia:Ambiguous subjects

This is an explanatory essay about the article titles policy, broad-concept article guideline, and disambiguation guideline. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

Shortcuts WP:AMBIGUOUSSUBJECT WP:AMBIGUOUSTOPIC WP:AMBIGUOUSNAME

This page in a nutshell: When writing an article about a subject, be careful when reliable sources are inconsistent in how they refer to it. Look for sources that can clarify whether they are referring to two subjects by the same name, or one subject by multiple names, and organize the relevant article(s) accordingly.

An article is meant to cover a single topic with

. However, there are instances where the same name can refer to multiple different subjects, and those different subjects should be covered as different articles. There are also instances where a single subject is referred to by several different names, which should still be covered as a single article. Avoid conflating an article's topic with its name; be careful that you haven't lost track of a subject due to inconsistent terminology.

Deciding the scope of an article's subject matter is guided by several Wikipedia guidelines and policies. The

and independent secondary sources, including the heading for the subject itself.

A single word or phrase might refer to different subjects. The

.

The disambiguation guideline uses the example of Mercury (element), Mercury (planet) and Mercury (mythology). Even though all three topics are named after the Roman god, they are clearly different subjects, with their own significant coverage in reliable sources. The relationship between their names can be described in each separate article, usually an etymology section.

There are many subjects that are referred to using multiple names, whether their nickname, their name in another language, or an official name change. The policy on Wikipedia:Article titles tells us that we should strive to use a common name for the subject, which isn't always the official name, or even the most common name.

The policy on article titles gives the example of the

to the primary subject, or if there is no clear primary subject, a disambiguation page.

When an article appears to be talking about multiple subjects, this is a sign that the topic area is not organized into specific articles. To determine the best way to organize those subjects, refer to

, which would justify splitting those subjects into their own separate articles. If the sources reveal that there are two separate subjects, it may become clear that one or both subjects may be further organized, perhaps by renaming it to a clearer title, or even combining it with another article that is largely about the same subject.

• Wikipedia:Official names (essay)
• Wikipedia:Article titles (policy)
• Wikipedia:Verifiability (policy)
• Wikipedia:Disambiguation (guideline)
• Wikipedia:Notability (guideline)
• Wikipedia:Ambiguous words (essay)