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*'''Boris Karloff''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]), born '''William Henry Pratt''', was an actor best known for his roles in horror films. He was initially billed as "Karloff" and sometimes as "Karloff the Uncanny". *'''Boris Karloff''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]), born '''William Henry Pratt''', was an actor best known for his roles in horror films. He was initially billed as "Karloff" and sometimes as "Karloff the Uncanny".


It is not always necessary to spell out why the article title and lead paragraph give a different name. Care must be taken to avoid implying that a person who does not generally use all their forenames or who uses a familiar form has actually changed their name. Therefore: "'''Johnny Reid "John" Edwards''' (born ], ]) &hellip;" is preferable to saying that John Edwards was born with the name Johnny Reid Edwards. It is not always necessary to spell out why the article title and lead paragraph give a different name. Care must be taken to avoid implying that a person who does not generally use all their forenames or who uses a familiar form has actually changed their name. Therefore: "'''Freddie "Fred" Dalton Thompson''' (born ], ]) &hellip;" is preferable to saying that Fred Dalton Thompson was born with the name Freddie Dalton Thompson.


Once the most common name has been determined, remember to add the full names and alternate names as redirects. For example, "William Jefferson Clinton" would be added as a redirect to "Bill Clinton". This will prevent others from moving the article later, to what they may believe is the proper name for the article. This also lets future editors know that the chosen shortened name was ''not'' an oversight, but was carefully planned. Once the most common name has been determined, remember to add the full names and alternate names as redirects. For example, "William Jefferson Clinton" would be added as a redirect to "Bill Clinton". This will prevent others from moving the article later, to what they may believe is the proper name for the article. This also lets future editors know that the chosen shortened name was ''not'' an oversight, but was carefully planned.

Revision as of 07:07, 9 September 2007

This guideline is a part of the English Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style.
It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.		Shortcut
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Manual of Style (MoS)

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Related guidelines
"WP:NAMES" and "MoS:NAMES" redirect here. For naming conventions in general, see Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions. For usernames, see Misplaced Pages:Username.

The objective of this Manual of Style (or style guide) is to provide guidelines for maintaining visual and textual consistency. Adherence to the following guidelines is not required; however, usage of these guidelines is recommended. By maintaining consistency, Misplaced Pages will be read, written, edited, navigated, and used more easily by readers and editors alike.

See also: Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Biography.

Opening paragraph

The opening paragraph should give:

  1. Name(s) and title(s), if any (see, for instance, also Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions (names and titles))
  2. Dates of birth and death, if known (see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Dates of birth and death)
  3. Nationality (In the normal case this will mean the country of which the person is a citizen or national, or was a citizen when the person became notable. Ethnicity should generally not be emphasized in the opening unless it is relevant to the subject's notability.)
  4. What they did
  5. Why they are significant.

For example:

Names

While the article title should generally be the name by which the subject is most commonly known, the subject's full name should be given in the lead paragraph, if known. Many cultures have a tradition of not using the full name of a person in everyday reference, but the article should start with the complete version. For example:

In some cases, subjects have changed their names at some point after birth. In these cases the birth name should be given as well:

Maiden names

It is common to give the maiden surname of women better known under their married name, for example:

  • Lucy Washington (née Payne) (1772?–1846), widow of Major George Steptoe Washington, became the wife of Thomas Todd. She was the first woman married in the White House, in 1812.

An alternate form Lucy (Payne) Washington is also widely accepted in genealogical circles.

But in all cases, a woman should be called by the name she is most widely known under. Elizabeth Taylor, even though she was married eight times, would not be referred to under those other surnames.

Pseudonyms, stage names and common names

For people who are best known by a pseudonym, the legal name should usually appear first in the article, followed closely by the pseudonym. Follow this practice even if the article itself is titled with the pseudonym:

Alternatively, the legal name can appear in apposition to the pseudonym:

  • Boris Karloff (November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969), born William Henry Pratt, was an actor best known for his roles in horror films. He was initially billed as "Karloff" and sometimes as "Karloff the Uncanny".

It is not always necessary to spell out why the article title and lead paragraph give a different name. Care must be taken to avoid implying that a person who does not generally use all their forenames or who uses a familiar form has actually changed their name. Therefore: "Freddie "Fred" Dalton Thompson (born June 10, 1953) …" is preferable to saying that Fred Dalton Thompson was born with the name Freddie Dalton Thompson.

Once the most common name has been determined, remember to add the full names and alternate names as redirects. For example, "William Jefferson Clinton" would be added as a redirect to "Bill Clinton". This will prevent others from moving the article later, to what they may believe is the proper name for the article. This also lets future editors know that the chosen shortened name was not an oversight, but was carefully planned.

Honorific prefixes

The inclusion of some honorific prefixes and styles has proved controversial on Misplaced Pages. Misplaced Pages currently distinguishes between three groups: nobles, government officials, and members of royal families and popes.

  1. Styles and honorifics which are derived from noble title, including The Most Noble, The Most Honourable, The Right Honourable, and The Honourable, should not be included in the text inline but may be legitimately discussed in the article proper.
  2. Styles and honorifics which are derived from political activities, including but not limited to The Right Honourable for being a Member of the Privy Council, should not be included in the text inline but may be legitimately discussed in the article proper.
  3. Styles should not be used to open articles on royalty and popes. Thus the article on Pope Benedict XVI should not begin "His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI . . . " nor the article on Queen Victoria begin "Her Majesty Queen Victoria . . ." They should, however, be discussed in the article proper.
  4. The honorifics Sir and Dame should be included in the text inline for baronets, knights bachelor, and members of knightly orders whose rank grants them that dignity, provided that they do not hold a higher dignity, such as a peerage, which trumps that usage. No baronet should be shown with the postfix but without the prefix, e.g. John Smith, 17th Baronet is wrong, the correct style being Sir John Smith, 17th Baronet. (Note that honorary knights and dames are not entitled to "Sir" or "Dame", only the post-nominal letters.) Example: "Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE (born July 8, 1976) is an English sailor..."

An example of such discussion would be the inclusion of a special graphic known as an infobox, giving the official, spoken and alternative versions of a style for a member of a royal family or pope, would be included in the article. (ex. Template:Infobox UKkingstyles)

See Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions (names and titles) for their use in article titles.

Note that in the case of some historic people, an honorific is so commonly attached to their names that it should be included. Thus, in the U.S. in the 1930s, "Father Coughlin" (Charles Coughlin). Likewise, include the honorific for Father Damien, the missionary in Hawaii; Father Divine, an American religious leader; Father Joseph, in 17th-century France; and Mother Teresa, a 20th-century humanitarian.

Academic titles

Academic and professional titles (such as "Doctor" or "Professor") should not be used before the name in the initial sentence or in other uses of the person's name. Verifiable facts about how the person attained such titles should be included in the article text instead. In cases where the person is widely known by a pseudonym or stage name containing such a title (whether earned or not), it may be included as described above.

For example:

Postnominal initials

Writers should remember that the meaning of the most obvious (to them) postnominal initials will not be obvious to some readers. When postnominal initials are used the meaning should be readily available to the reader. This is most easily done with a piped link to an article with the appropriate title thus:

Joe Bloggs, ]     gives     Joe Bloggs, VC

Ensuring that readers who hover over the initials see the expanded abbreviation as a hint and in the status bar at the bottom of the window. Readers who click immediately on the link, missing hints will hopefully see a short article with the definition clear and near the start. Often one line article will suffice, with appropriate links to further information, thus: Jack Brabham, OBE.

Subsequent uses of names

After the initial mention of any name, the person may be referred to by surname only. For example:

Fred Smith was a cubist painter in the 15th century. He moved to Genoa, where he met John Doe. Smith later commented: "D'oh!"

The person may be referred to by their first name in the case of royalty, or as "Prince/ss John/Jane," or "The Duke," "The Earl," "The Duchess," "The Countess," etc. Similarly, if someone has been knighted they may be referred to as, eg. "Sir Stephen" (for Sir Stephen Redgrave) or "Dame Judi" (for Dame Judi Dench) - but never as "Sir Redgrave" or "Dame Dench". For other subjects, it is better to refer to the person by their surname and not their first name, even if the subject is not controversial. The use of the first name gives the impression that the writer knows the subject personally, which, even if true, is not relevant.

Nobility may be referred to by their title if that form of address would have been the normal way to refer to them, for example Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester may become "the Earl of Leicester" or just "Leicester" in subsequent mentions. Be careful not to give someone a title too soon; for example, one should use "Robert Dudley" or "Dudley" prior to his elevation to the peerage in 1563.

For people who are best known by a pseudonym, they shall be referred to by their pseudonym surname, or if not applicable, some other suitable abbreviation (or without abbreviation if none is suitable).

For people with academic or professional titles, subsequent uses of names should omit them. For example, use Asimov, Hawking, and Pinsky; not Dr. Asimov, Professor Hawking (or Prof Hawking or Dr Hawking), or Dr. Pinsky (or Dr. Drew).

To disambiguate between siblings or other well-known relatives with the same surname, use the surname of the article header to indicate that person, and use first names or complete names to indicate siblings or others.

Tense

Biographies of living persons should begin in the present tense; biographies of deceased persons should begin in the past tense. If a person is living but has retired, use the present tense "is a former" rather than the past tense "was", e.g.

  • John B. Smith (1946–2003) was a baseball pitcher...
  • John A. Smith (born 1946) is a former baseball pitcher...

Historical events should be written in the past tense for everyone:

  • Smith played for the Baltimore Orioles between 1968 and...

For objects which are "possessed" by someone, where "possession" expires with them, such as opinions or children, use the present tense for living persons and the past tense for deceased persons. Timeless facts may be expressed in the present tense even if they are in a dead person's article. Or in other words, use common sense.

Out-of-date material

Be careful not to include information that may become inaccurate in time, especially for articles about living people. Always give a date for any time-sensitive information that you include. For example, when giving a living person's age, state the year the age has been calculated for. When writing about an event on a particular date, the person's age on that date can be mentioned. But do not use phrases like "currently" or "this year", or "most recently", or "latest", as these phrases date very quickly. Instead, use the phrase "As of 2025" or "in 2025".

Remember, just because Misplaced Pages is editable does not mean that you can rely on people to always edit it.

(Whether dynamic age information can be used, with a template like Template:age (backlinks edit), is still under discussion.)

See also

Categories: