CZ:Proposals/Naming Conventions for Biographies: Difference between revisions
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*[[Liberace]] with redirect from [[Wladziu Valentino Liberace]]. | *[[Liberace]] with redirect from [[Wladziu Valentino Liberace]]. | ||
====People from other | ====People from other Latin-alphabet-using countries==== | ||
In general, the same rules apply, though care should be taken to get the correct surname when doing default sorts and choosing disambiguation. For example, a former president of Colombia is [[Julio César Turbay Ayala]]. His last name is '''Turbay Ayala''', and should be alphabetised under "T", not "A". It may be useful, in such cases, to create a redirect from [[Julio César Turbay]] | In general, the same rules apply, though care should be taken to get the correct surname when doing default sorts and choosing disambiguation. For example, a former president of Colombia is [[Julio César Turbay Ayala]]. His last name is '''Turbay Ayala''', and should be alphabetised under "T", not "A". It may be useful, in such cases, to create a redirect from [[Julio César Turbay]] | ||
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====People from countries which do not use the Latin alphabet==== | ====People from countries which do not use the Latin alphabet==== | ||
In general, the rules for English-speaking countries still apply, except for the issue of transliteration. For languages with fairly standard transliteration, such as most of those using the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, this shouldn't be problematic; except to point out that transliterations should be into English, not German or French: [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]], not ''Tschaikowski'' or ''Tchaïkovski''. Particular | In general, the rules for English-speaking countries still apply, except for the issue of transliteration. For languages with fairly standard transliteration, such as most of those using the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, this shouldn't be problematic; except to point out that transliterations should be into English, not German or French: [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]], not ''Tschaikowski'' or ''Tchaïkovski''. Particular care should be taken with transliterations from Greek, as Ancient Greek was not, according to the scholars, pronounced as Modern Greek is. Thus [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], not [[Eleutherios Venizelos]] (nor ''Benizelos''), but [[Euripides]], not [[Evripidis]]. | ||
Chinese names should be transliterated in the way most familiar to literate people in the English-speaking world. For people from the Republic of China, or major figures of Nationalist China or the Chinese Empire, that is likely to be the Wade-Giles method. For people from the People's Republic, that is likely to be the Pinyin method. For both, the family name should stay in front. So [[Mao Zedong]] (with redirect from [[Mao Tse-Tung]]), but [[Sun Yat-Sen]]. However, [[Confucius]], not [[Kǒng Fūzǐ]] or [[K'ung-fu-tzu]]. (As always, redirects should exist from both of those, and from [[Kong Fuzi]] and [[Kung Fu Tzu]].) | Chinese names should be transliterated in the way most familiar to literate people in the English-speaking world. For people from the Republic of China, or major figures of Nationalist China or the Chinese Empire, that is likely to be the Wade-Giles method. For people from the People's Republic, that is likely to be the Pinyin method. For both, the family name should stay in front. So [[Mao Zedong]] (with redirect from [[Mao Tse-Tung]]), but [[Sun Yat-Sen]]. However, [[Confucius]], not [[Kǒng Fūzǐ]] or [[K'ung-fu-tzu]]. (As always, redirects should exist from both of those, and from [[Kong Fuzi]] and [[Kung Fu Tzu]].) | ||
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''A discussion section, to which anyone may contribute.'' | ''A discussion section, to which anyone may contribute.'' | ||
{{Proposals navigation}} | {{Proposals navigation}} | ||
Revision as of 17:26, 14 February 2008
This proposal has not yet been assigned to any decisionmaking group or decisionmaker(s).
The Proposals Manager will do so soon if and when the proposal or issue is "well formed" (including having a driver).
For now, the proposal record can be found in the new proposals queue.
Complete explanation
The text below is intended to stand as a guideline for naming articles about people. The general rule I propose is that an article about a person ought to live at the name at which the person is best-known to educated English-speaking people, with redirects from all common alternates. This will mean some inconsistency measured against other possible rules, but I believe will create the most easy-to-use compendium of knowledge.
How to name articles about people
In general, an article about a person ought to live at the name at which the person is best-known to educated English-speaking people, with redirects from all common alternates.
People from English-speaking countries
Use the full first name and last name, unless the person is well-known by some other form. If a person commonly is given a middle initial to distinguish them from another person with the same first and last name, use the middle initial. If the person commonly is addressed by or discussed by a nickname, use that. Where more than one form is common, there should be redirects from the others. Thus, some U.S. presidents:
- John F. Kennedy - redirects from John Kennedy, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, JFK (or JFK (disambiguaton)).
- Lyndon B. Johnson - redirects from Lyndon Johnson, Lyndon Baines Johnson, LBJ
- Richard Nixon - redirects from Richard M. Nixon, Richard Milhous Nixon,
Tricky Dick - Gerald Ford - redirects from Gerald M. Ford, Jerry Ford
- Jimmy Carter - redirect from James Earl Carter
- Ronald Reagan - redirect from Ronald Wilson Reagan
- George H. W. Bush - list on George Bush disambiguation page, redirect from George Bush Sr., Bush 41
- Bill Clinton - redirect from William Jefferson Clinton.
- George W. Bush - list on George Bush disambiguation page, redirect from George Bush Jr., Bush 43 (and maybe Dubya?)
However, some people "part their name on the left", or are known by a stage name, or a single name. In general, the form the person uses in writing is the form which should be used for the article title, with some redirects. For example:
- F. Lee Bailey with rdirect from Francis Lee Bailey Jr.
- Anna Nicole Smith,with redirects from Vickie Lynn Marshall and Vickie Lynn Hogan.
- Madonna (entertainer), listed on Madonna (disambiguation), with redirects from Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone and Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Ritchie (and maybe from Madonna Ciccone).
- Mark Twain, with redirect from Samuel Clemens.
- Liberace with redirect from Wladziu Valentino Liberace.
People from other Latin-alphabet-using countries
In general, the same rules apply, though care should be taken to get the correct surname when doing default sorts and choosing disambiguation. For example, a former president of Colombia is Julio César Turbay Ayala. His last name is Turbay Ayala, and should be alphabetised under "T", not "A". It may be useful, in such cases, to create a redirect from Julio César Turbay
Note: This is likely more controversial than most of what else I'm proposing
Names of people who have diacritical marks in their name should be listed using the diacritical marks, with a redirect from the unaccented version, plus any other redirects which would be appropriate. So, to use a more famous Colombian example, Gabriel García Márquez, with a redirect from Gabriel Garcia Marquez (and remember to list him as Garcia Marquez, Gabriel, not Marquez, Gabriel Garcia). The exception to this is for people who have been much discussed in the English-language press using a spelling without diacritics, thus Hermann Goering rather than Hermann Göring, but Kurt Gödel not Kurt Goedel, because the best-known work about the mathematician spells his name with the umlaut. (Of course, the other choice ought to exist as a redirect.)
People from countries which do not use the Latin alphabet
In general, the rules for English-speaking countries still apply, except for the issue of transliteration. For languages with fairly standard transliteration, such as most of those using the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets, this shouldn't be problematic; except to point out that transliterations should be into English, not German or French: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, not Tschaikowski or Tchaïkovski. Particular care should be taken with transliterations from Greek, as Ancient Greek was not, according to the scholars, pronounced as Modern Greek is. Thus Eleftherios Venizelos, not Eleutherios Venizelos (nor Benizelos), but Euripides, not Evripidis.
Chinese names should be transliterated in the way most familiar to literate people in the English-speaking world. For people from the Republic of China, or major figures of Nationalist China or the Chinese Empire, that is likely to be the Wade-Giles method. For people from the People's Republic, that is likely to be the Pinyin method. For both, the family name should stay in front. So Mao Zedong (with redirect from Mao Tse-Tung), but Sun Yat-Sen. However, Confucius, not Kǒng Fūzǐ or K'ung-fu-tzu. (As always, redirects should exist from both of those, and from Kong Fuzi and Kung Fu Tzu.)
People whose culture has family name first
Except where such people have come to be known in the English-speaking world with their names re-ordered to the English standard, the name should be written out in the way which it appears in their culture. Thus Mao Zedong, not Zedong Mao. Redirects need not exist unless there is some substantial literature which has the names in English order.
People with titles of nobility or royalty
Here, I propose to follow the system for names and titles that the Royalty and Nobility Work Group at Wikipedia have developed.
In general:
- Monarchs of nations: "{Monarch's first name and ordinal}, {Title} of {Country}". {title} should be omitted where it is "King" or "Queen".
- Patriarchs and Popes: "Patriarch/Pope {papal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". When the episcopal see is Rome, it should be omitted.
- Hereditary nobility: "{Commonly used name}, {ordinal (if appropriate)} {title} (of) {place}".
A couple of possible exceptions:
- Emperors of Japan: "Emperor {reign name} of Japan", thus Emperor Showa of Japan, with redirect from Hirohito, Hirohito of Japan and Emperor Hirohito
- Cardinals: "{firstname} Cardinal {lastname}", optionally including "Archbishop of {episcopal see}", where necessary. Thus Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Jaime Cardinal Sin, but Cardinal Richelieu.
Reasoning
This proposal is offered because some standard is necessary. The most important part of the proposal is that whatever the actual article title, there should be redirects from the common alternatives which people might use.
The basic idea is that, as stated in the introduction, an article about a person ought to live at the name at which the person is best-known to educated English-speaking people. People consult an encylcopedia to find out information like Madonna's full name, or that Sun Yat-sen is known as Sūn Zhōngshān in Pinyin transliterations; they shouldn't need to remember that Madonna's family name is Ciccone, or the current transliteration of the name of the father of modern China to read his biography.
That said, there are some standard conventions in English, and in other languages, and those should largely be respected.
Implementation
The proposed conventions, as modified through discussion, will be placed onto CZ:Naming Conventions/People, with a link and brief summary on CZ:Naming Conventions.
Discussion
A discussion section, to which anyone may contribute.
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