Editing Encyclopedia:Article titles (section)

==<span id="Common names"></span> Use commonly recognizable names==
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{{See also|Wikipedia:Official names}}
{{Shortcut|WP:UCRN|WP:COMMONNAME|WP:COMMONTERM}}
In Wikipedia, an article title is a [[natural-language]] word or expression that indicates the subject of the article; as such, the article title is usually the name of the person, or of the place, or of whatever else the topic of the article is. However, some topics have multiple names, and some names have multiple topics; this can lead to disagreement about which name should be used for a given article's title. Wikipedia does not necessarily use the subject's [[WP:OFFICIAL|official name]] as an article title; it generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of [[Wikipedia:Independent sources|independent]], [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable]], English-language sources) as such names will usually best fit the [[WP:CRITERIA|five criteria]] listed above.{{efn|This includes but is not limited to usage in the sources used as references for the article. Discussions about article titles commonly look at additional off-site sourcing, such as frequency of usage in news publications, books, and journals.

"Common name" in the context of article naming means a {{em|commonly or frequently used name}}, and not necessarily a [[Common name|common (vernacular) name]], as opposed to [[scientific name]], as used in some disciplines.}} When there is no single, obvious name that is demonstrably the most frequently used for the topic by these sources, editors should reach a [[WP:consensus|consensus]] as to which title is best by considering these criteria directly.

For cases where usage differs among English-speaking countries, see also [[#National varieties of English|§ National varieties of English]], below.

Editors should also consider [[#Deciding on an article title|all five of the criteria for article titles]] outlined above. Ambiguous{{efn|''Ambiguity'', as used here, is unrelated to whether a title requires [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation pages]] on the English Wikipedia. For example, "heart attack" is an ambiguous title, because the term can refer to multiple medical conditions, including [[cardiac arrest]] and [[myocardial infarction]].}} or inaccurate names for the article subject, as determined in reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used by reliable sources. Neutrality is also considered; see {{section link||Neutrality in article titles}}, below. Article titles should be neither [[Vulgarism|vulgar]] (unless unavoidable) nor [[pedantic]]. When there are multiple names for a subject, all of which are fairly common, and the most common has problems, it is perfectly reasonable to choose one of the others.

Although official, scientific, birth, original, or trademarked names are often used for article titles, the term or name most typically used in reliable sources is generally preferred. Other encyclopedias are among the sources that may be helpful in deciding what titles are in an encyclopedic [[Register (socio-linguistics)|register]], as well as what names are most frequently used.

The following are examples of the application of the concept of commonly used names in support of recognizability:

'''[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)|People]]'''
* [[Mahatma Gandhi]] (not: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)
* [[Mansa Musa]] (not: Musa I)
* [[Bill Clinton]] (not: William Jefferson Clinton)
* [[J. K. Rowling]] (not: Joanne Rowling)
* [[Bono]] (not: Paul Hewson)
* [[Mark Antony]] (not: Marcus Antonius)
* [[Shirley Temple]] (not: Shirley Temple Black)

'''[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names)|Places]]'''
* [[Germany]] (not: Deutschland)
* [[Great Pyramid of Giza]] (not: Pyramid of Khufu)
* [[North Korea]] (not: Democratic People's Republic of Korea)
* [[Westminster Abbey]] (not: Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster)

'''Scientific and technical topics'''
* [[Aspirin]] (not: acetylsalicylic acid)
* [[Diesel engine]] (not: compression-ignition engine)
* [[Guinea pig]] (not: ''Cavia porcellus'')
* [[Polio]] (not: poliomyelitis)
* [[Spanish flu]] (not: 1918 influenza pandemic)

'''Product names and fictional characters'''
* [[Windows XP]] (not: Windows NT 5.1)
* [[Sailor Moon (character)]] (not: Usagi Tsukino)
* [[Darth Vader]] (not: Anakin Skywalker)

'''Other topics'''
* [[Cello]] (not: Violoncello)
* [[FIFA]] (not: {{lang|fr|Fédération Internationale de Football Association|i=unset}} or International Federation of Association Football)
* [[Mueller report]] (not: ''Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election'')
* [[Proxima Centauri]] (not: V645 Centauri or Alpha Centauri C)

In determining which of several alternative names is most frequently used, it is useful to observe the usage of major international organizations, major English-language media outlets, quality encyclopedias, geographic name servers, major scientific bodies, and notable scientific journals. A [[search engine]] may help to collect this data; when using a search engine, restrict the results to pages written in English, and exclude the word "Wikipedia".{{efn|Add this code in the search: {{xt|-site:wikipedia.org}}.}} When using Google, generally a search of Google Books and News Archive should be defaulted to before a web search, as they concentrate reliable sources (exclude works from ''Books, LLC'' when searching Google Books{{efn|Add this code in the search: {{xt|-inauthor:"Books, LLC"}} (the quotation marks "&nbsp;" are essential); Books, LLC "publishes" compilations of WP articles.}}). Search engine results are subject to certain biases and technical limitations; for detailed advice on the use of search engines and the interpretation of their results, see [[Wikipedia:Search engine test]].

===Name changes===
{{Shortcut|WP:NAMECHANGES}}
{{Redirect|WP:NAMECHANGES|the manual of style for biographies|MOS:CHANGEDNAME|changing your Wikipedia username|WP:RENAME}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)#Self-published name changes}}
Sometimes the subject of an article will undergo a change of name. When this occurs, we give extra weight to [[Wikipedia:Verifiability#Reliable sources|independent, reliable, English-language sources]] ("reliable sources" for short) written after the name change. If the reliable sources written after the change is announced routinely use the new name, Wikipedia should follow suit and change relevant titles to match. If, on the other hand, reliable sources written after the name change is announced continue to use the established name {{em|when discussing the article topic in the present day}}, Wikipedia should continue to do so as well, as described above at {{section link||Use commonly recognizable names}}.

[[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a crystal ball|Wikipedia is not a crystal ball]]. We do not know what terms or names will be used in the future, but only what is and has been in use, and is therefore familiar to our readers. However, [[Wikipedia:Common sense|common sense]] can be applied&nbsp;– if the subject of an article has a name change, it is reasonable to consider the usage following the change in [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable]], English-language sources. This provision also applies to names used as part of descriptive titles.