Wikipedia:Article titles: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{see also|Wikipedia:Official names}}

{{Policy shortcut|WP:UCN|WP:COMMONNAME}}

Titles are often proper nouns, such as the name of the person, place or thing that is the subject of the article. The most common name for a subject is often used as a title because it is recognizable and natural; one should also ask the [[#Deciding on an article title|questions]] outlined above; ambiguous or inaccurate names for the article subject, as determined by reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used by reliable sources. Neutrality is also considered; our policy on neutral titles, and what neutrality in titles is, follows in the next section.<!--Please restore the internal link if the section order changes; the section linked to is now called Neutrality--> When there are several names for a subject, all of them fairly common, and the most common has problems, it is perfectly reasonable to choose one of the others. ▼

We decide on the common name through the frequency of use in reliable sources. When there are several common names for a subject, it is perfectly reasonable to select as an article title the name that best fits the other criteria in this policy. If the name of a person, group, object, or other article topic changes then more weight should be given to name used in reliable sources published after the name change than in those before the change.

▲Titles are often proper nouns, such as the name of the person, place or thing that is the subject of the article. The most common name for a subject is often used as a title because it is recognizable and natural; one should also ask the [[#Deciding on an article title|questions]] outlined above; ambiguous or inaccurate names for the article subject, as determined by reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used by reliable sources. Neutrality is also considered; our policy on neutral titles, and what neutrality in titles is, follows in the next section.<!--Please restore the internal link if the section order changes; the section linked to is now called Neutrality-->

Wikipedia does not necessarily use the subject's "official" name as an article title; it prefers to use the name that is most frequently used to refer to the subject in English-language [[WP:RS|reliable sources]]. This includes usage in the sources used as references for the article. For cases where usage differs among English-speaking countries, see also [[#National varieties of English|''National varieties of English'']] below.