Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories)

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This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcut: WP:NCCAT

This page in a nutshell: Category names should be specific, neutral, inclusive and follow certain conventions, such as "Natural history of Venezuela", "Hospitals in Denmark" or "Australian journalists".

Naming conventions (categories) is a list of guidelines for how to appropriately name categories. Standard article naming conventions also apply; in particular, do not capitalise regular nouns. If you wish to propose a new or modified category related naming convention, please do so on Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (categories), while also publicising the proposal at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions, Requests for comment, and the Village Pump, as well as at any related pages.

General naming conventions

For a pre-existing category, the article of the same or similar name and (rarely, or) on the same topic should be added to that category. When creating an article one should, only if appropriate (especially horizontally), create a category of the same or similar name on the same topic .
Articles should be placed in the most specific categories possible. Categories should be more or equally as broad as the articles they contain; articles should be more or equally specific as the categories they are in.
Avoid abbreviations. Example: "World War II equipment", not "WW2 equipment". However, former abbreviations that have become the official name should be used in their official form where there are no other conflicts.
Don't write the category structure in names. Example: "Monarchs", not "People - Monarchs".
Choose category names that are able to stand alone, independent of the way a category is connected to other categories. Example: "Wikipedia policy precedents and examples", not "Precedents and examples" (a subcategory of "Wikipedia policies and guidelines").
Topical category names should be singular. Examples: "Law", "Civilization"
As with lists avoid descriptive adjectives such as famous, important, or notable in category titles.

Special conventions

Special conventions for lists of items

If a category contains pages which are each about a kind of X or an individual X, the name of the category is Xs (plural), e.g. if a category contains pages which are each about a river and/or a kind of river, the name of the category is "rivers", and similarly for "writers". Such a category may additionally contain subcategories with similar, more restricted content. It is also possible that the category exclusively contains subcategories.
In instances where a list page simply contains an alphabetical list of items with no other information (for example "List of The Beatles songs") it could be replaced by a category (such as "Category:The Beatles songs").
If the list contains extra information (in this example that could include writing credits, date of release, etc.), or is non-alphabetical (for example sorted by date) it should remain as a list page, rather than a category.
Categories can only list articles that exist and have been assigned to the category. Therefore, comprehensive lists, (such as "List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom"), which must include all items regardless of whether an article already exists for them, should not be replaced by categories. Similarly, in an area that is not yet well-covered, lists can effectively indicate articles that still need to be written; categories cannot do this.
If there are a lot of lists regarding a particular subject area, it might be useful to have a category to hold them, (such as "Category:Lists of countries"). These categories should only contain list pages (for example "List of Soviet Republics", "List of countries by population"). Please use the pipe character | followed by the sort term for category sorting, or all properly named lists will appear under the letter "L".
For geographical photo requests, the category name should be 'Wikipedia requested photographs in xxx' as in [[Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in England]]. Wikiprojects desiring to keep track of articles needing photos should use 'xxxx articles needing photos' as in [[Category:England articles needing photos]] and [[Category:England articles needing images]] (for photos, maps, drawings, etc.)

Note that there are a growing number of instances where both the singular category (listing topics relating to) and plural category (listing instances of) exist, for example, Category:Opera and Category:Operas. Be careful to choose the right one when categorizing articles.

When including the United States in a list of countries, do not abbreviate the United States. (for example "France and the United States", not "France and the U.S.").

Special conventions for stub categories

Naming guidelines for sub-categories of Category:Stub categories are listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Naming guidelines#Categories.

Special conventions for Wikipedia-related categories

All project categories should have "WikiProject" (or "WikiProjects") as part of the name. Note that this does not apply to the names of categories that projects might create for the use of assessments. In these cases, the advice given in Project Categories, which conforms to Category:Wikipedia 1.0 assessments is advised, though not mandatory.
All administrative categories should have "Wikipedia" (without a colon) as part of the name, and placed in the Category:Wikipedia administration tree.
For categorisation in userspace, see Wikipedia:Categorization#User namespace and Wikipedia:User categories#Naming conventions.

Categorization of people

For more details on this topic, see Wikipedia:Categorization of people.

Avoid abbreviations. Exceptions should be rare, and explained in all member pages.
Avoid names that are too long or too short. Short, simple names are preferred for categories. It is possible to deviate from this principle for clarity and neutrality, but don't exaggerate on length or complexity of category names.

Neutrality

Use gender-neutral category names, unless there is a distinct reason and consensus to do otherwise. In that case, please specify the reason on the category page, and record the consensus on its associated discussion page.

Example: instead of a category for "Kings" and a different category for "Queens", use Category:Monarchs.
Always try to use the most generic neutral name. Some categories can be used in a stigmatizing way.

Example: "Prostitutes" is a better name for a category than "whores". "Sex workers" might work even better for a category name, as more gender-neutral and better approaching Business Card style.

Occupation

People are usually categorized by their nationality and occupation, such as Category:Ethiopian musicians.
- The template {{Fooian fooers}} is used to provide navigation on each category page.
- Please note that this template may need to be modified for some categories, because some nationalities are listed as "People of Foo" instead of "Fooian", such as Category:Musicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Category:Musicians of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Occupation categories should not be divided into "current" or "former" categories. For example, Category:Former child actors and Category:Current Minnesota Twins players should not exist.

Heritage

People are sometimes categorized by notable ancestry, culture, or ethnicity, depending upon the common conventions of speech for each nationality. A hyphen is used to distinguish the word order:
1. Fooian Barians, nationality followed by heritage, such as Category:British Asians.
2. Barian-Fooians, heritage followed by nationality, such as Category:Irish-Americans.
The heritage should be combined with the occupation, replacing the nationality alone (for example, Category:African-American actors).
Concurrent citizenship may be reflected by duplicating the occupation (for example, Category:Jewish American actors and Category:Israeli actors).
In addition to the requirement of verifiability, living people must have self-identified as a particular heritage, while historical persons may be identified by notable association with a single heritage.
- Heritage categories should not be used to record people based on deduction, inference, residence, surname, nor any partial derivation from one or more ancestors.
- The place of birth is rarely notable.

Residence

People are sometimes categorized by notable residence, in the form People from Foo (not "Natives of Foo"), regardless of ethnicity, heritage, or nationality.
- Residential categories should not be used to record people that have never resided in that place. Nationality is reflected by the occupation category (above), not country or county or city of residence.
- The place of birth is rarely notable.
Where the commonly used English name for residents of a place is well-known globally (usually the original place of that name), Fooite demonym categories should be {{category redirect}}ed to People from Foo, assisting in automated categorization (for example, Category:New Yorkers).

Time periods

Categories for people by century should be named Category:xx-century foos.

Categories by country

All categories whose subcategories are categories by country (roughly all categories that are members of Category:Categories by country) shall have a per-category naming convention which will apply to all of their subcategories. These naming conventions, their guidelines and their exceptions are listed here. Non-conformance to these naming conventions shall be treated as a criterion for "speedy category renaming" as defined on WP:CFD. Changing these conventions shall require a consensual discussion either directly at WP:CFD or publicized there.

Manufactured objects

Categories of permanently located manufactured objects by country are named "... in country". This guideline applies to:

Airports - American football venues - Amusement parks - Archaelogical sites - Art museums - Athletics (track and field) venues (mostly named "athletics" as per non-U.S. usage) - Baseball venues - Basketball venues - Bridges - Buildings and structures - Casinos - Castles - Cathedrals - Cemeteries - Churches - Cities - Cricket grounds - Football (soccer) venues - Forts - Gardens - Ghost towns - Golf clubs and courses - Horse racing venues - Hospitals - Hotels - Indoor arenas - Libraries - Monasteries - Motorsport venues - Mosques - Museums - Palaces - Parks - Prisons - Railway stations - Roads - Rugby union stadiums - Schools - Shopping malls (or shopping centres, based on local usage) - Skyscrapers - Sports venues - Theatres - Towns - Universities and colleges ("Universities" categories are also legitimate in countries where universities and colleges are distinct, i.e. most countries, and are often a subcategory) - Villages - World Heritage Sites - Zoos

Landforms

Categories of landforms by country are named "... of country". This guideline applies to:

Landforms (top category) - Islands - Lakes - Mountain ranges - Mountains - Mountain passes - Peninsulas - Rivers - Volcanoes - Beaches

Companies

By-country subcategories of all <company type> by country categories are named ... of country. This guideline applies to:

Airlines - Banks - Book publishing companies - Companies - Defunct companies - Engineering companies - Financial services companies - Insurance companies - Manufacturing companies - Retailers

State-based topics

Categories of topics usually in the domain of the state are named "... of country".

Foreign relations - Government - Military - Military equipment - Military units and formations - Municipalities * - National parks - Postal systems - Protected areas - Subdivisions

Administrative divisions take the "of" form and settlements take the "in" form. Municipalities are usually found in non-English speaking countries as third tier administrative divisions covering the whole country including rural areas. In most cases, there are separate designations for settlements such as cities and towns. However where the designation "municipality" is used solely for urban settlements (example, Romania) or where it is the only official designation for cities and towns (example, Spain), the category takes the "in" form.

Political office-holders

By country subcategories of <political office> by country categories are named:

... of country for those concerning holders of a specific office with jurisdiction over a country
... in country for those that group offices of a certain type, operating within a country

This guideline applies to:

Political office-holders - Heads of government - Heads of state - Legislators - Government ministers (or "cabinet secretaries" if that is local usage) - minister lists - Presidents - Prime ministers

... of places in ... for specific jurisdictions within a country, province, state, or equivalent
... of place for the specific jurisdiction

This guideline applies to:

Mayors

Sport

By-country subcategories of all <sport name> by country categories are named ... in country. This guideline applies to:

Athletics - Baseball - Basketball - Cricket - Cycle racing - Football (USA and Canada: "soccer"; Australia: "football (soccer)") - Golf - Horse racing - Ice hockey - Motorsport - Rugby league - Rugby union - Sport (or sports if that is local usage) - Teams - Tennis

Miscellaneous "of country"

Subcategories of these categories are named "... of country".

Cinema - Coins - Demographics - Economies - Environment - Fauna - Geography - History - Languages - Natural history - Politics - Ships - Trade unions - Weapons

Miscellaneous "in country"

Subcategories of these categories are named "... in country".

Aviation - Business - Capital punishment - Communications - Conservation - Crime - Disasters - Education - Ethnic groups - Health - Healthcare - Human rights - Landmarks - Law enforcement - Political parties - Public holidays - Rail transport - Religion - Science and technology - Television - Tourism - Transportation (or transport if that is local usage)

Miscellaneous "involving country"

Subcategories of these categories are named "... involving country".

Battles - Military operations - Naval battles - Sieges - Wars

Miscellaneous

Aircraft ("manufactured by Foo") - Charities ("based in Foo") - Environmental organizations ("based in Foo") - Newspapers ("published in Foo") - Organizations ("based in Foo")

Undecided by country

The convention for these categories is yet to be decided. See the talk page for details. These will be moved up as consensus develops.

Films - Magazines - Media - Law (currently mostly "Fooish law")

Technical categories

Images use the form "Images of country".
Lists use the form "Country-related lists"
Stubs use the form "Country stubs".

How to name the country

For "of country" and "in country" categories, the name of the country should appear as it does in the name of the article about that country, with a lowercase "the" if needed for grammatical purposes. Non-sovereign, disputed, supranational, and historical countries and geographic equivalents may be included if the articles to be categorized require it. For reference, see List of sovereign states, List of dependent territories, and the following list.

In category naming, country names should not be abbreviated.

(Note: Links to articles are shown only for reference; links obviously cannot appear in the actual title of a category.)

"of the Republic of the Congo" for Congo-Brazzaville
"of the Democratic Republic of the Congo" for Congo-Kinshasa (formerly Zaire):
"of the People's Republic of China" (commonly known as "China")
of the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan")
- See also: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese)#Political NPOV
of the Republic of Ireland (for the modern-day country)
of Northern Ireland (for the modern-day province)
of Cyprus (Greek and Turkish Cyprus usually have combined categories)
of Samoa (independent country)
of American Samoa (U.S. territory)
of Russia (for the modern-day country)
of the Bahamas
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
of the British Virgin Islands
of the Cayman Islands
of the Central African Republic
of Côte d'Ivoire
of the Cook Islands
of the Czech Republic
of the Dominican Republic
of the European Union
of the Falkland Islands
of the Faroe Islands
of the Federated States of Micronesia
of The Gambia
of Georgia (country)
of the Isle of Man

of Kosovo
of the Maldives
of Malta
of the Marshall Islands
of the Netherlands
of the Netherlands Antilles
of the Philippines
of the Pitcairn Islands
of the Republic of Macedonia
of Saint Kitts and Nevis
of the Solomon Islands
of Ukraine
of the United Arab Emirates
of the United Kingdom
of the United States
of the United States Virgin Islands
of Vatican City
of Wallis and Futuna
of the Western Sahara
of Azerbaijan
of East Timor
of Yemen (the modern-day country that unified former North and South Yemen in the 1990s)
of North Korea
of South Korea
of Slovenia
of Croatia
of Serbia
of Montenegro

Supranational:

of Serbia and Montenegro
of the European Union
of Ireland (island-wide)
etc., on a case-by-case basis

Historical:

of the Irish Free State (historical material only)
of the Soviet Union (former country only)
of Yugoslavia (former country only)
etc., on a case-by-case basis

Dealing with overlaps

When historical and political complexities (such as mergers and splits) create articles that belong to two countries, do not create a "Foo of X and Y". Instead, list articles in both "Foo of X" and "Foo of Y". For example, "Foo of Russia" and "Foo of the Soviet Union", not "Foo of Russia and the Soviet Union".

Categories by nationality

All categories whose subcategories are categories by nationality (roughly all categories that are members of Category:Categories by nationality) shall have a per-category naming convention which will apply to all of their subcategories. These naming conventions, their guidelines and their exceptions are listed here. Non-conformance to these naming conventions shall be treated as a criterion for "speedy category renaming" as defined on WP:CFD. Changing these conventions shall require a consensual discussion either directly at WP:CFD or publicized there.

Biographies

Subcategories of these categories are named "nationality ...".

Murderers - Musical groups - People by nationality and occupation - People by occupation and nationality - People

Socio-cultural topics

Subcategories of these categories are named "nationality ...".

Art - Architecture - Classical music - Cuisine - Culture - Literature - Music - Plays - Radio programs - Society

How to name a nationality

A list of adjectival forms of place names is available on Wikipedia. In situations where multiple adjectives are possible, please note that no official policy exists as to which one is favoured. Note that the singular-form demonym and adjective for many nationalities are not interchangeable. (i.e. Icelander vs. Icelandic)

Some states do not possess unambiguous (i.e. Democratic Republic of the Congo) or universally-applicable (i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina) adjectives. In these circumstances, users should use the format "Country foo", where Country is the unamended name of the country. Examples of this usage are Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo society, Category:Trinidad and Tobago people, Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians, Category:Republic of the Congo culture, Category:Dominica people, Category:Dominican Republic athletes, Category:Saint Kitts and Nevis businesspeople, and Category:Antigua and Barbuda writers.

Works of art categories by artist

All categories whose subcategories are categories by creative artist (roughly all categories that are members of Category:Works by artist) shall have a per-category naming convention which will apply to all of their subcategories. These naming conventions, their guidelines and their exceptions are listed here. Non-conformance to these naming conventions shall be treated as a criterion for "speedy category renaming" as defined on WP:CFD. Changing these conventions shall require a consensual discussion either directly at WP:CFD or publicized there.

Music by composer

Subcategories of these categories are named "Compositions by [composer]".

Compositions by composer - Operas by composer - Symphonies by composer - Songs by composer

Music by performer

Subcategories of these categories are named "[Performer] works".

Albums by artist -- Songs by artist

Visual arts

Subcategories of these categories are named "Works of art by [artist]".

Paintings by artist -- Sculptures by artist

Architecture

Subcategories of these categories are named "[Architect] structures".

-- Category:Buildings and structures by architect

Literature

Subcategories of these categories are named "Works by [Author]".

Works by author -- Novels by author -- Books by author -- Essay collections by author -- Essays by author -- Picture books by author -- Plays by author -- Poetry by author -- Screenplays by author -- Short stories by author -- Short story collections by author

Stage and screen

Subcategories of these categories are named "Dramas by [dramatist]".

Films by director -- Plays by author -- Screenplays by author