Wikipedia:Article titles
 | This page documents an English Wikipedia consensus. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Article titles should be recognizable, concise, natural, precise, and consistent. |
A Wikipedia article title is the large heading displayed above the article's content, and the basis for the article's page name and URL.[a] The title indicates what the article is about and distinguishes it from other articles.[b]
The title may simply be the name (or a name) of the subject of the article, or, if the article topic has no name, it may be a description of the topic. Because no two articles can have the same title,
This page explains in detail the considerations, or naming conventions, on which choices of article titles are based. This page does not detail titling for pages in other namespaces, such as categories. It is supplemented by other more specific guidelines (see the box to the right), which should be interpreted in conjunction with other policies, particularly the three core content policies: Verifiability, No original research, and Neutral point of view.
If necessary, an article's title can be changed by a page move.[d] For information on page move procedures, see Wikipedia:Moving a page, and Wikipedia:Requested moves.
Deciding on an article title
Article titles are based on how reliable English-language sources refer to the article's subject. There is often more than one appropriate title for an article. In that case, editors choose the best title by consensus based on the considerations that this page explains. A good Wikipedia article title has the five following characteristics:
- Recognizability – The title is a name or description of the subject that someone familiar with, although not necessarily an expert in, the subject area will recognize.
- Naturalness – The title is one that readers are likely to look or search for and that editors would naturally use to link to the article from other articles. Such a title usually conveys what the subject is actually called in English.
- Precision – The title unambiguously identifies the article's subject and distinguishes it from other subjects.
- Concision – The title is not longer than necessary to identify the article's subject and distinguish it from other subjects.
- Consistency – The title is consistent with the pattern of similar articles' titles. Many of these patterns are listed (and linked) as topic-specific naming conventions on article titles, in the box above.
These should be seen as goals, not as rules. For most topics, there is a simple and obvious title that meets these goals satisfactorily. If so, use it as a straightforward choice. However, in some cases the choice is not so obvious. It may be necessary to favor one or more of these goals over the others. This is done by consensus. For instance, the recognizable, natural, and concise title
When titling articles in specific fields, or with respect to particular problems, there is often previous consensus that can be used as a precedent. Look to the guideline pages referenced. When no previous consensus exists, a new consensus is established through discussion, with the above questions in mind. The choice of article titles 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.
Use commonly recognizable names
In Wikipedia, an article title is a
For cases where usage differs among English-speaking countries, see also § National varieties of English, below.
Editors should also consider
Although official, scientific, birth, original, or trademarked names are often used for article titles, the term or name most typically used in reliable sources is generally preferred. Other encyclopedias are among the sources that may be helpful in deciding what titles are in an encyclopedic
The following are examples of the application of the concept of commonly used names in support of recognizability:
- Mahatma Gandhi (not: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)
- Mansa Musa (not: Musa I)
- Bill Clinton (not: William Jefferson Clinton)
- J. K. Rowling (not: Joanne Rowling)
- Bono (not: Paul Hewson)
- Mark Antony (not: Marcus Antonius)
- Shirley Temple (not: Shirley Temple Black)
- Germany (not: Deutschland)
- Great Pyramid of Giza (not: Pyramid of Khufu)
- North Korea (not: Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
- Westminster Abbey (not: Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster)
Scientific and technical topics
- Aspirin (not: acetylsalicylic acid)
- Diesel engine (not: compression-ignition engine)
- Guinea pig (not: Cavia porcellus)
- Polio (not: poliomyelitis)
- Spanish flu (not: 1918 influenza pandemic)
Product names and fictional characters
- Windows XP (not: Windows NT 5.1)
- Sailor Moon (character) (not: Usagi Tsukino)
- Darth Vader (not: Anakin Skywalker)
Other topics
- Cello (not: Violoncello)
- FIFA (not: Fédération Internationale de Football Association or International Federation of Association Football)
- Mueller report (not: Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election)
- Proxima Centauri (not: V645 Centauri or Alpha Centauri C)
In determining which of several alternative names is most frequently used, it is useful to observe the usage of major international organizations, major English-language media outlets, quality encyclopedias, geographic name servers, major scientific bodies, and notable scientific journals. A search engine may help to collect this data; when using a search engine, restrict the results to pages written in English, and exclude the word "Wikipedia".[g] When using Google, generally a search of Google Books and News Archive should be defaulted to before a web search, as they concentrate reliable sources (exclude works from Books, LLC when searching Google Books[h]). Search engine results are subject to certain biases and technical limitations; for detailed advice on the use of search engines and the interpretation of their results, see Wikipedia:Search engine test.
Name changes
Sometimes the subject of an article will undergo a change of name. When this occurs, we give extra weight to independent, reliable, English-language sources ("reliable sources" for short) written after the name change. If the reliable sources written after the change is announced routinely use the new name, Wikipedia should follow suit and change relevant titles to match. If, on the other hand, reliable sources written after the name change is announced continue to use the established name when discussing the article topic in the present day, Wikipedia should continue to do so as well, as described above at § Use commonly recognizable names.
Neutrality in article titles
Conflicts often arise over whether an article title complies with Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View policy. Resolving such debates depends on whether the article title is a name derived from reliable sources or a descriptive title created by Wikipedia editors.
Non-neutral but common names
When the subject of an article is referred to mainly by a single common name, as evidenced through usage in a significant majority of English-language sources, Wikipedia generally follows the sources and uses that name as its article title (subject to the other naming criteria). Sometimes that common name includes non-neutral words that Wikipedia normally avoids (e.g. Alexander the Great, or the Teapot Dome scandal). In such cases, the prevalence of the name, or the fact that a given description has effectively become a proper name (and that proper name has become the common name), generally overrides concern that Wikipedia might appear as endorsing one side of an issue. An article title with non-neutral terms cannot simply be a name commonly used in the past; it must be the common name in current use.
Notable circumstances under which Wikipedia often avoids a common name for lacking neutrality include the following:
- Trendy slogans and monikers that seem unlikely to be remembered or connected with a particular issue years later
- Colloquialisms where far more encyclopedic alternatives are obvious
Article titles and redirects should anticipate what readers will type as a first guess and balance that with what readers expect to be taken to. Thus, typing "
Non-judgmental descriptive titles
In some cases a descriptive phrase (such as Restoration of the Everglades) is best as the title. These are often invented specifically for articles, and should reflect a neutral point of view, rather than suggesting any editor's opinions. Avoid judgmental and non-neutral words; for example, allegation or alleged can either imply wrongdoing, or in a non-criminal context may imply a claim "made with little or no proof" and so should be avoided in a descriptive title. (Exception: articles where the topic is an actual accusation of illegality under law, discussed as such by reliable sources even if not yet proven in a court of law. These are appropriately described as "allegations".)
However, non-neutral but common names (see preceding subsection) may be used within a descriptive title. Even descriptive titles should be based on sources, and may therefore incorporate names and terms that are commonly used by sources. (Example: Because "Boston Massacre" is an acceptable title on its own, the descriptive title "Political impact of the Boston Massacre" would also be acceptable.)
Explicit conventions
Wikipedia has many naming conventions relating to specific subject domains (as listed in the box at the top of this page). In rare cases, these recommend the use of titles that are not strictly the common name (as in the case of the
Precision
Usually, titles should unambiguously define the topical scope of the article, but should be no more precise than that. For instance,
Exceptions to the precision criterion may sometimes result from the application of some other
- Bothell is already precise enough to be unambiguous, but we instead use Bothell, Washington (see Geographic names), seeking a more natural and recognizable title which is also consistent with most other articles on American cities.
- criteria).
- Leeds North West.
- M-185.
Disambiguation
It is not always possible to use the exact title that may be desired for an article, as that title may have other meanings, and therefore may have been already used for other articles. According to the
As a general rule, when a topic's preferred title can also refer to other topics covered in Wikipedia:
- If the article is about the primary topicto which the ambiguous name refers, then that name can be its title without modification, provided it follows all other applicable policies.
- If the article is not about the disambiguated.
When deciding on which disambiguation method(s) to use, all
Natural disambiguation
Using an alternative name that the subject is also commonly called in English
- Example: The word "French" commonly refers to either the people or the language. Because of the ambiguity, we use the alternative but still common titles, is the title of the article on the lifting device.
Comma-separated disambiguation
With place names, if the disambiguating term is a higher-level administrative division it is often separated using a comma instead of parentheses, as in Windsor, Berkshire (see Geographic names). Comma-separated titles are also used in other contexts (e.g. Diana, Princess of Wales uses a substantive title as part of the usual conventions for names of royalty and nobility, not as a disambiguating term). However, titles such as Tony Blair and Battle of Waterloo are preferred over alternatives such as "Blair, Anthony Charles Lynton" and "Waterloo, Battle of", in which a comma is used to change the natural ordering of the words.
Parenthetical disambiguation
Adding a disambiguating term in parentheses after the ambiguous name is Wikipedia's standard disambiguation technique when none of the other solutions lead to an optimal article title.
- Example: The word "mercury" has distinct meanings that do not have sufficiently common alternative names, so instead we use parenthetical disambiguation: Mercury (element), Mercury (planet), and Mercury (mythology).
Descriptive title
Where there is no acceptable set name for a topic, such that a title of our own conception is necessary, more latitude is allowed to form descriptive and unique titles.
- Examples: WP:NCP § Descriptive titles)
Combinations of the above
These are exceptional, in most cases to be avoided as per
- Example: "comma-separated" + "parenthetical": Wiegenlied, D 498 (Schubert) (see Talk:Wiegenlied, D 498 (Schubert) § Requested moves)
Commas and parentheses (round brackets) are the only
When a spelling variant indicates a distinct topic
Ambiguity may arise when typographically near-identical expressions have distinct meanings, e.g.
However, when renaming to a less ambiguous page name can be done without wandering from
- Renaming "Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem" to "Passio (Pärt)" for the ambiguity of the first expression with Passio Domini Nostri Iesu Christi secundum Ioannem.
And a well-known concept may still be the primary topic for a variant or incorrect spelling, even if a much less well-known subject uses that spelling:
- Cold war redirects to Cold War, with the broad concept discussed at Cold war (term)
- Gray Poupon redirects to Grey Poupon; an album of that name is at Gray Poupon (album)
In certain instances, plural forms may also be used to naturally distinguish articles; see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (plurals) § Primary topic for details.
Concision
The goal of concision is to balance brevity with sufficient information to identify the topic to a person familiar with the general subject area.
For example:
- The official name of State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Both titles are precise and unambiguous, but Rhode Islandwas the most concise title to fully identify the subject.
- The full name of Fiona Apple's 1999 album is 90 words and 444 characters long, but it is abbreviated in sources (and in its Wikipedia title) to WP:SUBTITLES).
Exceptions exist for biographical articles. For example, given names and family names are usually not omitted or abbreviated for the purposes of concision. Thus
Consistency
To the extent that it is practical, titles should be consistent among articles covering similar topics. However, there has been a history of consensus among editors regarding several areas where consistency does not control titling:
- Disambiguation: for example, the use of a parenthetical disambiguator in Guadalajara City instead of Guadalajara.
- Spellings that differ between varieties of English: Orange (colour) and Lime (color) peaceably coexist, as do motorcycle tyre and snow tire.
- It is not considered important for article titles on the English Wikipedia to be consistent with the titles of corresponding articles on Wikipedia in other languages.
English-language titles
On the English Wikipedia, article titles are written using the English language. However, it must be remembered that the English language contains many loan words and phrases taken from other languages. If a word or phrase (originally taken from some other language) is commonly used by English-language sources, it can be considered to be an English-language word or phrase (example: coup d'état).
The English-language names of some topics may differ according to how names are anglicized from other languages, or according to different varieties of English (e.g. American English, British English, Australian English, etc.).
Foreign names and anglicization
The choice between anglicized and local spellings should follow English-language usage, e.g. the non-anglicized titles Besançon, Søren Kierkegaard, and Göttingen are used because they predominate in English-language reliable sources, whereas for the same reason the anglicized title forms Nuremberg, delicatessen, and Florence are used (as opposed to Nürnberg, Delikatessen, and Firenze, respectively).
If there are too few reliable English-language 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 lesser known geographical objects or structures with few reliable English sources, follow the translation convention, if any, used for well known objects or structures of the same type e.g. because Rheintal and Moseltal are translated
Names not originally in a
Wikipedia generally uses the character
In deciding whether and how to translate a foreign name into English, follow English-language usage. If there is no established English-language 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
If a topic has strong
Otherwise, all national varieties of English are acceptable in article titles; Wikipedia does not prefer one in particular. American English spelling should not be respelled to British English spelling, and vice versa; for example, both color and colour are acceptable and used in article titles (such as color gel and colour state). Very occasionally, a less common but non-nation-specific term is selected to avoid having to choose between national varieties: for example, soft drink was selected to avoid the choice between the British fizzy drink, American soda, American and Canadian pop, and a slew of other nation- and region-specific names.
Treatment of alternative names
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By the design of Wikipedia's software, an article can only have one title. When this title is a name, significant alternative names for the topic should be mentioned in the article, usually in the first sentence or paragraph. If there are three or more alternative names – including alternative spellings, longer or shorter forms, historic names, and significant names in other languages – or there is something notable about the names themselves, a separate name section is recommended. Alternative names may be used in article text when context dictates that they are more appropriate than the name used as the title of the article. For example, the city now called
All significant alternative titles, names, or forms of names that apply to a specific article should usually 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).
Article title format
The following points are used in deciding on questions not covered by the five principles; consistency on these helps avoid duplicate articles:
Use sentence case
Titles are written in
Use singular form
Article titles are generally singular in form, e.g.
Avoid ambiguous abbreviations
Abbreviations and acronyms are often ambiguous and thus should be avoided unless the subject is known primarily by its abbreviation and that abbreviation is primarily associated with the subject (e.g. PBS, NATO, Laser). It is also unnecessary to include an acronym in addition to the name in a title. Acronyms may be used for parenthetical disambiguation (e.g. Conservative Party (UK), Georgia (U.S. state)). For more details, see WP:Manual of Style/Abbreviations § Acronyms in page titles.
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). They needlessly lengthen article titles, and interfere with sorting and searching. For more guidance, see WP:Naming conventions (definite or indefinite article at beginning of name).
Use nouns
Do not enclose titles in quotes
Article titles that are quotes (or song titles, etc.) are not enclosed in quotation marks (e.g.
Do not create subsidiary articles
Do not use titles suggesting that one article forms part of another: even if an article is considered subsidiary to another (as where
Follow reliable sources for names of persons
When deciding whether to use middle names, or initials, follow the guidelines at
Special characters
There are technical restrictions on the use of certain characters in page titles, due to how MediaWiki stores and matches the titles. The following characters cannot be used at all: # < > [ ] | { } _
There are restrictions on titles containing colons, periods, and some other characters, which may be addressed through Template:Correct title. Technically, all other Unicode characters can be used in page titles. However, some characters should still be avoided or require special treatment:
- Characters not on a standard keyboard (use redirects): Sometimes the most appropriate title contains diacritics (accent marks), dashes, or other letters and characters not found on most English-language keyboards. This can make it difficult to navigate to the article directly. In such cases, provide redirects from versions of the title that use only standard keyboard characters. (Similarly, in cases where it is determined that the most appropriate title is one that omits diacritics, dashes, and other letters not found on most English-language keyboards, provide redirects from versions of the title that contain them.) However, avoid combining diacritical marks, which are difficult to type and interfere with adjacent characters.
- Quotation marks (avoid them): Double ("...") and single quotation marks ('...'), as well as variations such as typographic (curly) quotation marks (“...”), "low-high" quotation marks („...“), guillemets («...»), and angled quotation marks or backticks (`...´) should be avoided in titles. Exceptions can be made when they are part of the proper title (e.g. "A" Is for Alibi) or required by orthography (e.g. "Weird Al" Yankovic, Fargesia 'Rufa').
- Similarly, various 'Elisiva Fusipala Tauki'onetuku redirects to ʻElisiva Fusipala Taukiʻonetuku).
- See also MOS:APOSTROPHE.
- Symbols (avoid them): Symbols such as "♥", as sometimes found in advertisements or logos, should never be used in titles. This includes non-Latin punctuation such as the characters in Unicode's CJK Symbols and Punctuation block.
- Characters not supported on all browsers (avoid them): If there is a reasonable alternative, avoid characters that are so uncommon that not all browser and operating system combinations will render them. For example, the article Fleur-de-lis carries that title rather than the symbol ⚜ itself, which many readers would see as just a rectangular box.
- Fractions: See MOS:FRAC. Templates and LaTeX-style markup cannot be used in article titles.
Italics and other formatting
Use italics when
The titles of articles, chapters, songs, episodes, storylines, research papers and other short works instead take double quotation marks. Italics are not used for major religious works (the Bible, the Quran, the Talmud). Many of these titles should also be in title case.
Italic formatting cannot be part of the actual (stored) title of a page; adding single quotes to a page title will cause those quotes to become part of the URL, rather than affecting its appearance. A title or part of it is made to appear in italics with the use of the
Other types of formatting (such as bold type and superscript) can technically be achieved in the same way, but should generally not be used in Wikipedia article titles (except for articles on mathematics). Quotation marks (such as around song titles) would not require special techniques for display, but are nevertheless avoided in titles; see § Article title format above.
Standard English and trademarks
Article titles follow standard English text formatting in the case of trademarks, unless the trademarked spelling is demonstrably the most common usage in sources independent of the owner of the trademark. Items in full or partial uppercase (such as
Exceptions include article titles with the first letter lowercase and the second letter uppercase, such as iPod and eBay. For these, see WP:Naming conventions (technical restrictions) § Lowercase first letter.
Titles containing "and"
Sometimes two or more closely related or complementary concepts are most sensibly covered by a single article. Where possible, use a title covering all cases: for example,
It is generally best to list topics in alphabetical order, especially those involving different countries or cultures, as in
Titles containing "and" are often red flags that the article has
Considering changes
Changing one controversial title to another without a discussion that leads to consensus is strongly discouraged. If an article title has been stable for a long time,[j] and there is no good reason to change it, it should not be changed. Consensus among editors determines if there does exist a good reason to change the title. If it has never been stable, or it has been unstable for a long time, and no consensus can be reached on what the title should be, default to the title the article had when the first major contribution after the article ceased to be a stub was made.[k]
Any potentially controversial proposal to change a title should be advertised at Wikipedia:Requested moves, and consensus reached before any change is made. Debating controversial titles is often unproductive, and there are many other ways to help improve Wikipedia.
In discussing the appropriate title 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 a name in the title of one article require that all related articles use the same name in their titles; there is often some reason for inconsistencies in common usage. For example, Wikipedia has articles on both the Battle of Stalingrad and on Volgograd, which is the current name of Stalingrad.
Although titles for articles are subject to consensus, do not invent names or use extremely uncommon 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.
Proposed naming conventions 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 is added to the naming conventions category.
New naming conventions for specific categories of articles often arise from WikiProjects. For a manually updated list of current and former proposals, see Proposed naming conventions and guidelines.
See also
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Article titles
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section § Format of the first sentence
- Wikipedia:Category names, a list of guidelines concerning naming conventions for categories
- Linguistic description and Linguistic prescription
- MediaWiki:TitleBlacklist extension, a tool to block the creation of pages with disallowed titles (and their derivatives/variants)
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (technical restrictions), software limitations on the names of Wikipedia pages (articles, categories, templates, etc.)
- Wikipedia:In versus of, proper use of in and of (or some alternatives, as from and on)
- Wikipedia:Ambiguous subjects
- Wikipedia:Reliable sources § Headlines, on the unreliability of news headlines for sourcing
Notes
- ^ Specifically, it is the
<h1 id="firstHeading">HTML element that appears at the top of the article's page. It should be the only<h1>element on the page, but because editors have the ability to add any level of heading to a page's text, that cannot be guaranteed. An additional=Level-1 heading=found in an article body should be converted to==Level 2==, and any subsections under it adjusted to compensate. - ^ The title displayed as the article's main heading is usually identical (and always similar) to the stored title by which the page is referenced in category listings, recent changes lists, etc., and that appears (suitably encoded as necessary) in the page's URL. For technical details, see Wikipedia:Page name.
- ^ It is technically possible, but undesirable for various reasons, to make different pages display with the same title.
- ^ When an article's title is changed, its database entry is altered but not actually moved. For this reason, a title change is sometimes called a rename, although move remains the most common term.
- ^ This includes but is not limited to usage in the sources used as references for the article. Discussions about article titles commonly look at additional off-site sourcing, such as frequency of usage in news publications, books, and journals.
"Common name" in the context of article naming means a commonly or frequently used name, and not necessarily a scientific name, as used in some disciplines.
- ^ Ambiguity, as used here, is unrelated to whether a title requires disambiguation pages on the English Wikipedia. For example, "heart attack" is an ambiguous title, because the term can refer to multiple medical conditions, including cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction.
- ^ Add this code in the search: -site:wikipedia.org.
- ^ Add this code in the search: -inauthor:"Books, LLC" (the quotation marks " " are essential); Books, LLC "publishes" compilations of WP articles.
- ^ This was decided during a July–September 2010 poll; see Wikipedia talk:Article titles/Archive 29 § RfC: Use of italics in article titles, as well as the discussions that led up to the poll at WT:Manual of Style/Archive 116 § Italicised article titles, and WT:Manual of Style/Archive 116 § Request for comment: Use of italics in article names.
- ^ No clear consensus has been found for a timeframe, see Wikipedia:Stable version to revert to (and the talk page). The content change after the move is also relevant, as well as the time a previous move was made. If significant changes have been made after a move, several months may be considered "stable". Otherwise, significantly longer is generally required.
- Manual of Style, which is based on the Arbitration Committee's decision in the Jguk case.
External links
- Google Book Ngram Viewer, a graphic plotter of case-sensitive frequency of multi-term usage in books over time, through 2022