Editing Encyclopedia:Article titles (section)

==Deciding on an article title==
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{{visible anchor|Article titles are}} based on how [[Wikipedia:Verifiability#WP:SOURCES|reliable English-language sources]] refer to the article's subject. There is often more than one appropriate title for an article. In that case, editors choose the best title by [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] based on the considerations that this page explains.
A good Wikipedia article title has the five following characteristics:
<section begin="naming criteria" />
* {{anchor|RECOGNISE|RECOGNIZE|Recognizability|recognise|recognize}}'''Recognizability''' – The title is a name or description of the subject that someone familiar with, although not necessarily an expert in, the subject area will recognize.
* {{anchor|NATURAL|Naturalness|natural}}'''Naturalness''' – The title is one that readers are likely to look or search for and that editors would naturally use to link to the article from other articles. Such a title usually conveys what the subject is actually called in English.
* {{anchor|PRECISE|precise}}'''Precision''' – The title unambiguously identifies the article's subject and distinguishes it from other subjects. {{xref|(See {{section link||Precision and disambiguation}}, below.)}}
* {{anchor|CONCISE|concise}}'''Concision''' – The title is not longer than necessary to identify the article's subject and distinguish it from other subjects. {{xref|(See {{section link||Concision}}, below.)}}
* {{anchor|CONSISTENT|consistent}}'''Consistency''' – The title is consistent with the pattern of similar articles' titles. Many of these patterns are listed (and linked) as [[#nameconbox|topic-specific naming conventions on article titles]], in the box above. {{xref|(See {{section link||Consistency}}, below.)}}
<section end="naming criteria" />
These should be seen as goals, not as rules. For most topics, there is a simple and obvious title that meets these goals satisfactorily. If so, use it as a straightforward choice. However, in some cases the choice is not so obvious. It may be necessary to favor one or more of these goals over the others. This is done by consensus. For instance, the recognizable, natural, and concise title [[United Kingdom]] is preferred over the more precise title [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]. {{xref|(For more details, see {{section link||Use commonly recognizable names}}, below.)}}

When titling articles in specific fields, or with respect to particular problems, there is often previous consensus that can be used as a precedent. Look to the guideline pages referenced. When no previous consensus exists, a new consensus is established through discussion, with the above questions in mind. The choice of article titles should put the interests of readers before those of editors, and those of a general audience before those of specialists.

[[Wikipedia:Redirect|Redirects]] should be created to articles that may reasonably be searched for or linked to under two or more names (such as [[:Category:Redirects from alternative spellings|different spellings]] or [[:Category:Redirects from former names|former names]]). Conversely, a name that could refer to several different articles may require [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation]].