Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English)

This consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts WP:EN WP:ENG WP:NCUE WP:ENGLISH

This page in a nutshell: This is the English Wikipedia. Article titles should be written in English.

The

, it will be completely different.

If an examination of the sources in an article shows that one name or version of the name stands out as clearly the most commonly used in the English language, we should follow the sources and use it. Whenever something else is demonstrably more common in reliable sources for English as a whole, and this is not a question of

national varieties of English

, use that instead.

Names not originally in a

.

The native spelling of a name should generally be included in parentheses, in the first line of the article, with a transliteration if the Anglicization isn't identical. Redirects from native and other historically relevant names are encouraged. Where there is an English word or an

exonym

for the subject but a native version is more common in English-language usage, the English name should be mentioned but should not be used as the article title.

Include alternatives

The body of each article, preferably in its first paragraph, should list all frequently used names by which its subject is widely known. When the native name is written in a non-Latin script, this representation should be included along with a Latin alphabet transliteration. For example, the

for an example of this.

Modified letters

The use of modified letters (such as

by reliable sources.

In general, the sources in the article, a Google book search of books published in the last quarter-century or thereabouts, and a selection of other encyclopaedias should all be examples of reliable sources; if all three of them use a term, then that is fairly conclusive. If one of those three diverges from agreement then more investigation will be needed. If there is no consensus in the sources, either form will normally be acceptable as a title.

Place

}} below the redirect to properly categorize it, such as for print editions.

errors.

One recurrent issue has been the treatment of

).

Beware of overdramatising these issues. As an example, Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Ireland-related articles may be mentioned, which—as a side-effect—peacefully regulated use of diacritics regarding Ireland-related articles before, during, and after an extensive dispute on the question of diacritics in 2005, such as Inishmore and not Inis Mór, or Tomás Ó Fiaich and not Tomas O'Fiaich (see the aforementioned MoS page for details).

If a particular name is widely used in English-language sources, then that name is generally the most appropriate, no matter what name is used by non-English sources.

Sometimes, English usage is divided. For example, US newspapers generally referred to the "Olympics in Torino", following official handouts; however, newspapers in other parts of the English speaking world referred to it taking place in Turin. In this case, we cannot determine which is "most common". Use what would be the least surprising to a user finding the article. Whichever is chosen, one should place a redirect at the other title and mention both forms in the lead.

than to less reliable sources (such as comments in forums, mailing lists and the like). Also, consult reliable works of general reference in English.

It is not our business to predict what term will be in use, but rather to observe what is and has been in use and will therefore be familiar to our readers. If Torino ousts Turin, we should follow, but we should not leap to any conclusion until it does.

When there is evenly divided usage and other guidelines do not apply, leave the article name at the latest stable version. If it is unclear whether an article's name has been stable, defer to the name used by the first major contributor after the article ceased to be a stub.^[a]

It can happen that an otherwise notable topic has not yet received much attention in the English-speaking world, so that there are too few sources in English to constitute an established usage. Very low Google counts

etc.).

If, as will happen, there are several competing foreign terms, a neutral one is often best. Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names) § Multiple local names and § Use modern names express some ideas on resolving such problems.

• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (proper names)
  – guideline for proper names, such as place names and personal names.
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names). More on use of alternate names, and of contemporary names and transliterations. Some advice may be applicable to non-geographic names.
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility) – specific rules for Western royalty and nobility.
• Wikipedia:Romanization – an overview of the conventions for transliterating various languages into the Latin alphabet.
• Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (regional) – regional style manual sections covering how to write in English about various places and cultures.
• Wikipedia:Use modern language – encyclopedic writing is semi-formal, but contemporary; avoid old-fashion wording and style.
• Wikipedia:Use plain English – essay on using everyday English, not obscurantist, jargon-festooned, or otherwise obtuse, omphaloskeptic verbiage (like this).