Wikipedia:Naming conventions (clergy)
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This page contains guidance on how to title articles about members of the Christian clergy (popes, cardinals, bishops, etc.), as well as saints.
For links to pages with guidance concerning other religions, see the
While most clerical names are clear, unambiguous and known, some names associated with clergy of some faiths make this difficult. In those religions which have hierarchies, the higher the level within that hierarchy, the greater the likelihood that the person's first name may have ceased to be used publicly, being replaced by a title. Others replace their own name completely with a new one. In some cases it may be difficult to discover what the first name actually was, particularly when dealing with senior clergy from many centuries ago.
Typical clergy
If an article title needs disambiguation to distinguish a member of clergy from people with other roles – e.g., from an actor, artist, politician or musician – the typical disambiguation term is "(clergyman)" (e.g., rather than "minister" or "preacher"). The corresponding term for a woman would be "(clergywoman)", although as of March 2024 there are currently no article titles on the English Wikipedia that use this form.
For Catholic and Anglican priests, use "priest" rather than "clergyman". The disambiguation term should indicate the highest level attained in the hierarchical structure of the church. For example, in the Catholic Church, "cardinal" would be preferred over "bishop", and "bishop" over "priest".
Popes
For
Some early popes are better known to a wide range of readers by an epithet or cognomen than by name and number; when this is so, Wikipedia may title the article by the well-known name. Which name is to be used should be decided by consensus, after consultation of a variety of reliable English-language sources.
Patriarchs
For patriarchs, whether the
Cardinals
In the titles of articles, cardinals generally go by their full name (both first name and surname) alone, without the title "Cardinal", as "Ascanio Sforza", not "Cardinal Ascanio Sforza", nor "Ascanio Cardinal Sforza". Exceptions are cardinals who are identifiable only by the cardinalitial title (as in the case of a hypothetical Cardinal John Smith), those best known by the title "Cardinal" followed by a surname (as Cardinal Richelieu), and those of the period before the introduction of surnames. For many of the latter, however, their place of origin will serve the same function as a surname.
Western bishops
For bishops (including archbishops) in the Western world, do not use their episcopal title in the article name unless necessary for disambiguation. For article names where there is both a forename and a surname, used also by other articles, inserting (bishop) afterward is common, for example William Atwater (bishop) or George Douglas (bishop). If disambiguation is still necessary, use a form such as William Turner (bishop of Salford) (rather than William Turner, Bishop of Salford) – using the subject's current or most recent see. Where the bishop concerned held office as an archbishop, avoid disambiguation by (archbishop), since that is only part of a job title – instead use (bishop) (the order) or the full title e.g. (archbishop of York). Where this is not useful, for instance when people of the same name occupy the same bishopric, death dates can be used, as with Alexander de Kininmund (died 1380) and Alexander de Kininmund (died 1344), both bishops and both bishops of Aberdeen.
For Anglican bishops the titular name which substitutes the episcopal seat for the last name is to be avoided, e.g. use Rowan Williams, not "Rowan Cantuar".
Where only a forename is available, it is not the business of Wikipedia to invent surnames. In some cases the person is referred to as "{name} of {place}", as with Augustine of Canterbury or Clement of Dunblane, and this form can then be used as the article title. If no such form is in use, it may be necessary to disambiguate using the episcopal title, as with Gerard (archbishop of York). In the era before the widespread use of surnames in western Europe (say, before 1200), it is common to encounter more than one bishop with the same name of the same diocese. In these cases using Roman numerals is an acceptable additional method of disambiguation, as in Ælfsige II (bishop of Winchester).
When these suggestions are still insufficient for a clear disambiguation, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people) for further suggestions.
Eastern Orthodox bishops
For Orthodox bishops (including metropolitans and archbishops), the form {name} of {place} is often used, as with
Syriac bishops
For eastern bishops of
Saints
Saints go by their most common English name, minus the word "Saint", if such a title is available and the saint is the
For example, we use
Articles on popes who are also saints are titled according to the guidance in
Name of a saint as part of an article title
Cathedral and church building names, unless they individually use something different (e.g.
Cities and other
Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism)
Other religions
For guidance on naming articles about people associated with other religions, see the appropriate religion- or country-specific convention or guideline pages, noting that general principles already on this page are not restated there:
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese)
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Japan-related articles
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Hebrew)
- List of rabbis for examples of article titles for Jewish clergy
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean)
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Indic)
- Gaius Papirius (Pontifex Maximus).
- For others, see the navigation box at the top of this page.