Misplaced Pages:Category names

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This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Category names 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 Misplaced Pages talk:Category names, whilst also publicising the proposal at Misplaced Pages 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".
Don't hard-code the category structure into 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: "Misplaced Pages policy precedents and examples", not "Precedents and examples" (a subcategory of "Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines").
Topical category names should be singular. Examples: "Biology", "Law".
As with lists avoid descriptive adjectives such as famous, important, or notable in category titles.

Special conventions for lists of items

Category names for lists of items should be plural. Examples: "sports", "writers".
In instances where a list page simply contains an alphabetical list of items with no other information (for example "List of 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 British Prime Ministers"), 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 trick for category sorting, or all properly named lists will appear under the letter "L".

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 categorization of people

People are 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.
As a general recommendation for categories on people, have the category names as gender-neutral as possible (unless, of course, there is a distinct reason to otherwise; please mention that reason on the category page in that case).

Example: instead of a category for "Kings" and a different category for "Queens", use Category:Monarchs.

Some categories can be used in a stigmatizing way; always try to find the most neutral or generic name.

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

Avoid names that are too long or too short. Short, clear names are preferred for categories. It is possible to deviate from this principle for neutrality and clarity reasons, but don't exaggerate on length or complexity of category names. Avoid abbreviations.

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. 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.

Man-made objects

Categories of permanently located man-made 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 - Cathedrals - Cemeteries - Churches - Cities - Forts - Ghost towns - Golf clubs and courses - Horse racing venues - Hospitals - Hotels - Indoor arenas - Libraries - Monasteries - Motor racing circuits - Museums - Prisons - Roads - Schools - Shopping malls (or shopping centres, based on local usage) - Sports venues - Theme parks - Towns - Universities and colleges ("Universities" categories are also legitimate in countries where universities and colleges are distinct, ie. most countries, and are often a subcategory) - World Heritage Sites

Current exceptions to this guidleline (to be listed on WP:CFD for renaming) include

Category:Cricket grounds (all currently "fooish x")
Category:Football (soccer) venues by country (all currently "fooish x" - and only three of them mention "soccer")
Category:Landmarks by country (currently a mix of "in foo", "of foo", and "fooish x")

Natural features

Categories of natural features by country are named "... of country" (there will be a proposal to change most of these to "... in country" advertised soon). This guideline applies to:

Islands - Lakes - Mountain ranges - Mountains - Mountain passes - National parks - Peninsulas - Protected areas - Rivers - Volcanoes

Miscellaneous "of country"

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

Companies - Demographics - Economies - Foreign relations - Geography - Government - Heads of state - History - Images - Languages - Manufacturing companies - Militaries - Politics - Postal systems - Subdivisions (top level subcategories) - Weapons

Miscellaneous "in country"

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

Business - Capital punishment - Castles - Communications - Conservation - Cycle racing - Education - Health - Healthcare - Hotels - Human rights - Political parties - Prisons - Rail transport - Religion - Tourism - Transportation (or transport if that is local usage) - Villages

Miscellaneous "nationality x"

Subcategories of these categories are named "nationality ...". Considerable discussion has already occurred on this naming convention. Expect proposals for renaming many of these category types soon.

Aircraft - Aircraft manufacturers - Architecture - Art - Athletes - Cricket - Culture - Environment - Environmental organizations - Films - Football (soccer) venues - Horseracing - Law - Literature - Magazines - Media - List of ministers - Music - Musical groups - Newspapers - Nationalities by occupation - Occupations by nationality (75 subcats) - Organizations - Plays - People - Radio - Societies - Sports - Television

Exceptions under Occupations by nationality include:

Category:Heads of government by country (mixed)
Category:Prime ministers by country (currently "of x")

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 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: Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions (Chinese)#Political NPOV
of the Republic of Ireland (for the modern-day country)
of Northern Ireland (for the modern-day country)
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 Cote 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 U.S. 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
of Kosovo
of the Republic of Macedonia

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".

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.

Animals - Athletics - Battles - Golf - Heads of government - Lists (the countries are all X-related lists, but the two continents are not) - Public holidays - Ships (a mess with major duplication) - Tennis - Wars

Categories: