Wikipedia:Name pages

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Shortcut WP:NAMEPAGE

This how-to guide for name pages discusses articles about surnames and given names and articles containing lists of people sharing a surname or given name. It also differentiates these articles from disambiguation pages that include lists of people.

Scope

This guide explains common editorial practice for name pages with reference to accepted

Nomenclature

A surname page refers to an article about a surname or to a kind of set index article (SIA), a surname index article, that lists people who share a common surname. Similarly, a given name page refers to an article about a given name or to a given name index article listing people who share a common given name.

For purposes of this guide, surname pages, given name pages, and articles that are a combination of surname and given name pages (or about a name used more broadly) will be collectively referred to as name pages. Set index articles listing people sharing a surname or given name will be referred to as name index articles.

Name pages may include summary information about the name or detailed encyclopedic content, as names are a subject of study in the field of anthroponymy and often have cultural and historical significance.

Name index articles include one or more embedded lists of notable people with a common surname or given name. They often include only a brief description of the name (as in Cross or Gretel), but they may also feature additional non-list prose in the article body (as in García or Jack).

In many cases, name pages include

Introductory phrase

It is standard practice in name index articles to include a short introductory phrase prior to the first embedded list (e.g., "Notable people with the surname include:").

Organization

Generally, names should be listed in alphabetical order, but where the page includes a large number of people it may be helpful to categorize them (as in Khan or Elizabeth).

Fictional characters are usually listed separately from real people to avoid confusion (as with Elsa).

List entries

Names of people do not need to adhere to the policy for entries in disambiguation pages, since name pages are articles and not disambiguation pages. However, when several people have the same or very similar full names, it may be helpful to distinguish them in a similar manner, such as by including their birth and death years (see

Name index articles should only list notable people bearing the name. Therefore, inclusion of red links on name index articles should be limited to individuals who are otherwise clearly notable, but are missing an article.

Including entries from other lists

It is fairly common with name index articles to include entries that are also included in other similar lists, either explicitly or by reference, such as by linking to human name disambiguation pages.

Human name disambiguation pages

People who share a surname or given name may also share their full name, in which case the full name needs disambiguation. Pages that disambiguate people with the same full name are referred to as human name disambiguation pages.

It is common practice to included entries in name index articles that are links to human name disambiguation pages, in which case the entry may include clarifying text such as "multiple people" (as in Thomas, which has an entry for Aaron Thomas (disambiguation), multiple people).

Using a separate section

Properly speaking, such links should be listed in a separate section (as in

Explicitly listing distinct individuals

The alternative, and arguably the more proper approach, is to list people with the same full name explicitly as distinct entries in the name index article instead of referencing human name disambiguation pages.

Primary topic

It is common for a name page to be entitled the name itself (as with Johnson or Susan). If the name is the primary topic of an ambiguous term, other meanings may be included in a disambiguation page (as with Johnson (disambiguation) or Susan (disambiguation)).

Qualifiers

If another topic can be considered primary, name pages are usually titled with a qualifier, e.g., name, surname and given name.

Generic name qualifier

Name pages about the name used broadly are often titled with the generic name qualifier (as with Jackson (name)).

The name qualifier is also commonly used when a name is used primarily in a narrow sense as a surname or given name and there is only one article about the name (as with

Name pages are often titled using a narrow qualifier (as with Hill (surname) and John (given name)), especially when the name is used in multiple senses and distinct articles exist. Other more specific qualifiers are sometimes used (as with Rhun (Welsh given name)).

Descriptive

When a name index article is long, it may make sense to split it from the article page discussing the name as a topic. In such cases the index article can be titled descriptively (such as with List of people with surname Carpenter or List of people named Marie).

Most surnames and given names are ambiguous in the sense that they are shared by multiple persons, and people are often referred to and even recognized by their first or last name.

Regardless, name index articles are fundamentally articles. As with other set index articles, name index articles are not considered disambiguation pages, because the combination of a given name and surname would generally be considered a

In contrast,

Name-holder lists

Despite the narrow policy on including people on disambiguation pages, it has become somewhat common practice to include notable people having a common surname or given name (as in Torn or Bent). This practice should be limited to cases with only a few names and only when a separate name page does not already exist.

Lists of people with a common surname or given name on disambiguation pages are referred to as surname-holder lists and given-name-holder lists. Disambiguation pages containing name-holder lists are included in Category:Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists and Category:Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists.

Disambiguation pages with lengthy name-holder lists should be split into a separate name index article.

Red links

The criteria for including red links for people is slightly different for name index articles and disambiguation pages. Although the person should be notable in both cases, in name index articles red links are appropriate to encourage writing articles about prominent people, whereas in disambiguation pages red links are appropriate only when the person is mentioned in an existing article, in which case the article mentioning the person may already have a red link for that person.

Surname pages

Place the tag {{Surname}} at the bottom of the surname page. This will automatically include the page in Category:Surnames and will add an advisory note at the bottom of the page.

Immediately following the {{Surname}} tag, you may add surname categories as appropriate (e.g., Category:English-language surnames), after first verifying via reliable sources.

Consider adding the {{surname-stub}} tag at the bottom of the page to encourage further development of a stub article.

Do not place {{Disambiguation}} tags on surname pages.

Given name pages

Place the tag {{Given name}} at the bottom of the given name page. This will automatically include the page in Category:Given names and will add an advisory note at the bottom of the page.

Immediately following the {{Given name}} tag, you may add given name categories as appropriate (e.g., Category:Russian feminine given names), after first verifying via reliable sources.

Consider adding the {{given-name-stub}} tag at the bottom of the page to encourage further development of a stub article.

Do not place {{Disambiguation}} tags on given name pages.

Combined name pages

For articles about names used as both surnames and given names (such as Vagner), use {{Given name|type=both}}, in which case there is no need to use the {{surname}} template.

Name index articles

For name index articles, you may add a name list category as appropriate, e.g., Category:Lists of people by surname, Category:Lists of people by given name, Category:Nicknames.

Disambiguation pages

For disambiguation pages that include a list of people with a common surname or given name (name-holder lists), place the {{disambiguation}} tag on the page using the surname parameter or given name parameter as appropriate, i.e., {{Disambiguation|surname}}) or {{Disambiguation|given name}}). This will place the disambiguation page in Category:Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists or Category:Disambiguation pages with given-name-holder lists.

Placing name-holder lists in these categories will facilitate cleanup of these disambiguation pages such as by splitting the list of people into a separate name page.

Do not place the {{Surname}} or {{Given name}} tags on disambiguation pages.

Human name disambiguation pages

For human name disambiguation pages, place the {{hndis}} tag on the page. For example, Robert Montgomery uses {{hndis|Montgomery, Robert}}. Tagging pages with {{hndis}} adds the pages to Category:Human name disambiguation pages.

Category sorting

For name pages with descriptive titles, add {{DEFAULTSORT:sortkey}}, where sortkey is the surname or given name, immediately above the line which begins the list of categories. For example, List of people with surname Wilson uses {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson}}. Alternatively, override the default sort of the category. For example, List of people with given name Alan uses [[Category:Lists of people by given name|Alan]] .

Talk pages

Place the {{

Because surnames and given names are also encyclopedic topics, it is appropriate to link to a name page when the link intends that topic (as in List of most popular given names, which links to several given name pages, and Normans, which links to Gray as a historical Scottish family name).

Cross-linking with index article

When there are distinct name topic pages and name index articles they should link to one another.

Place a hatnote on the topic page (as in

When a surname or given name has other ambiguous meanings, the disambiguation page for the term should include an entry linking to the name page (as in Hope (disambiguation), which includes entries linking to Hope (surname) and Hope (given name)).

• Personal name
• Surname
• Given name
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Anthroponymy/Standards
• Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists
• Wikipedia:Set index articles
• Wikipedia:Disambiguation
• Wikipedia:Notability (people)
• Wikipedia:Notability (fictional characters)
• Template {{surname}}
• Template {{given name}}
• Template {{hndisambig}}