Wookieepedia:Naming policy

This is a list of rules on how to appropriately create and name articles. Generally, article naming should be derived from a canonical source and be easily recognizable for the majority of English speakers, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity.

Be precise when possible
When naming an article, please abide the following procedure:
 * 1) Use a canonical name whenever possible.
 * 2) *If a subject has more than one canonical name, use the most formal and accurate version provided in sources (example: Jabba Desilijic Tiure instead of Jabba the Hutt; Mitth'raw'nuruodo instead of Thrawn; Alliance to Restore the Republic instead of Rebel Alliance).
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Article naming conventions
 * 1) Whenever alternate names are used in canon, use the name under which the subject was known during the later time period (example: Kanan Jarrus instead of Caleb Dume; Rebel Dream instead of Tyrant) or, for characters, at the moment of the character's death (example: Grievous instead of Qymaen jai Sheelal; Darth Caedus instead of Jacen Solo).
 * 2) *Whenever two or more names are used by a character simultaneously (adopted names included), use the most commonly known of those names (example: both Star Wars Legends Palpatine and Dooku were commonly known under their given names, which they continued to use alongside their Sith titles, so those names are preferred for the respective articles). Exceptions may apply to characters who prominently identify as a certain name despite their public persona. A prime example is Canon Darth Sidious, who was publicly known as Palpatine but self-identified as Darth Sidious at the end of his life.
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Proposed amendment to the naming policy
 * 1) *If a non-character subject is known by two or more names across multiple sources with no clear in-universe chronological naming precedence, use the name most commonly presented in sources (example: Golm instead of Bothawui Prime). Name proliferation may be trumped by a clear and/or consistent intention to rename a subject, in which case the name presented in the most recently published source takes precedence (example: TIE/sh VIP shuttle).
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments, Part 2
 * 1) If no canonical name exists, use the in-universe nickname or call sign (such as Shadow Seven), but put Nickname on top of the article.
 * 2) *Whenever the official name of the character is known, do not add the nickname to the article's name (example: Obi-Wan Kenobi instead of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi).
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming conventions: Stage names?
 * 1) If no in-universe designation exists, use a conjectural name with Conjecture on top of the article.
 * 2) *When using a conjectural name, use "Unidentified" instead of "Unknown" or "Unnamed" (example: Unidentified Sullustan Jedi instead of Unknown Sullustan Jedi or Unnamed Sullustan Jedi).
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Unnamed, unknown, nameless

Lowercase second and subsequent words
Do not capitalize second and subsequent words unless the title is a proper noun (such as a name) or is otherwise always capitalized (example: Han Solo, but Video game).

Due to the technical limitations inherent to the MediaWiki software, the first letter in an article title always needs to be a capital letter. Ordinarily, this isn't a problem, but it poses an issue when a proper noun's first letter is lowercase (example: t'landa Til). The first letter of an internal wikilink need not be capitalized and will direct the reader to the same page (example: Lightsaber or lightsaber can be used interchangeably as needed). Also, the magic word  can be used to display the article's name with the first letter in lowercase. (DISPLAYTITLE has advantages over Title in that the former is a native MediaWiki function as opposed to a JavaScript hack, takes effect as soon as the page comes up instead of after it finishes loading, and also works in your browser's title bar and history.)

Singular nouns
Create in-universe article titles using singular nouns unless a subject is always presented in a plural form (examples: electrobinoculars, stun cuffs). Note that category names follow different pluralization conventions (example: Category:Black Sun members).
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments, Part 2

Avoid the definite and the indefinite article at the start of the page name
Except in titles of works (example: The Approaching Storm, The Truce at Bakura) or in official names (example: The Force, The Maw), avoid the definite ("the") and indefinite ("a"/"an") articles at the beginning of an article title. This applies even if the article subject is usually preceded by the definite article "the" in speech or writing (example: Death Star instead of the Death Star). However, the following exception may apply:
 * If two article subjects, one of which covers a general term and another a specific instance, are competing for the same article title and are usually preceded by the definite article, then "the" is to be used at the beginning of the specific instance's article title in order to avoid a parenthetical descriptor (example: The Grand Inquisitor and Grand Inquisitor, The Iteration and Iteration, The galaxy and Galaxy).
 * The preceding exception does not apply for starships and vehicles. Starships and vehicles may only include the definite article at the beginning of the article title if "the" is part of the subject's formal name (example: The Last Resort).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy: minor change to definite/indefinite article usage and Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendment, definite/indefinite articles

Prefer spelled-out phrases to abbreviations
Use the full name of the subject instead of its abbreviation (example: Commission for the Preservation of the New Order instead of COMPNOR).

Redirect adjectives to nouns
Adjectives (such as Imperial) should redirect to nouns (in this case, Galactic Empire).

Use English words
Name articles in English and place the native in-universe transliteration at the beginning of the article unless the native form is more commonly used in canon than the English form (for example: Resol'nare instead of Six Actions).

Be careful with special characters
Some special characters either cannot be used or can but cause problems. For example, you should not use a piping character (|), an asterisk (*), an ampersand (&), a plus sign (+), a number sign (#), curly braces ({}), or square braces ([]) in a name.

Disambiguation
Articles with identical competing titles should typically be disambiguated via a parenthetical descriptor, and the central title should then become a disambiguation page (example: Dono serves as a disambiguation page for Dono (Onderonian) and Dono (Squib)). The following exceptions apply: Article titles shall avoid the parenthetical descriptor unless there is another article subject with an identical competing title.
 * 1) Major subjects shall be granted precedence over lesser-known subjects (example: Battle of Hoth, Executor), and disambiguation pages may be created from there as necessary (example: Battle of Hoth (disambiguation), Executor (disambiguation)).
 * 2) Article subjects with officially-confirmed titles shall be granted precedence over conjectural titles (example: Battle of Sagma and Battle of Sagma (Galactic Civil War)).
 * 3) Genuinely-named characters shall be granted precedence over impostors or other aliases (example: Odan and Odan (impostor)).
 * 4) Precedence shall be granted to articles on planets, species, characters, and starships in that order, pursuant to this section's clause regarding major subjects taking precedence overall. Examples:
 * 5) *Planet: Voss, Voss (species), and Voss (Imperial officer)/Voss (stormtrooper); Daltarri and Daltarri (species)
 * 6) *Species: Zeer and Zeer (clone trooper)/Zeer (criminal)
 * 7) *Character: Anakin Solo and Anakin Solo (Imperial II-class)
 * 8) *Note the following exceptions:
 * 9) **If a species is substantially more significant than its planet namesake, precedence shall be granted to the species and not the planet (example: Falleen and Falleen (planet); Gand and Gand (planet))
 * 10) **If a given subject is explicitly identified as having inspired the name of another subject, the original namesake shall be granted precedence (example: Pernicar and Pernicar (planet)), although this exception may be waived if the inspired subject is a major topic (example: Endor and Endor (planet)).
 * 11) Precedence shall be granted to subjects that can be considered original namesakes for other subjects with competing titles (example: Dagger and all other subjects named Dagger), although this exception may be waived if the namesake's title competes with a major subject (example: Tydirium and Tydirium (ore)).
 * 12) Officially-licensed Star Wars Legends subjects shall be granted precedence over subjects that were non-canon within the Expanded Universe (example: Tantive V and Tantive V (CR90 corvette)) as well as subjects from unlicensed sources (example: Zender and Zender (planet)).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments and Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments, Part 2

Animals and other organisms
Refer to all creatures of Star Wars as creatures and not animals (for example: Bloodfin (creature) instead of Bloodfin (animal)).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Creatures vs. animals?

Canon and Legends
In the instance a canon article requires the use of an article title currently occupied by a redirect to a Legends article or a Legends disambiguation page, the canon article should be created at that title, overwriting the redirect or disambiguation page. The canon article and the Legends version of that article should then use the "legends" and "canon" parameters in the Eras template to correctly link the two article tabs. For example, Ackbar should not redirect to Gial Ackbar but should instead be the article title for the canon version of Ackbar.


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy and titles

Redirects that apply to both Canon and Legends versions of an article subject will redirect to the Legends version by default (example: Tarkin will redirect to Wilhuff Tarkin, not Wilhuff Tarkin).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments

Clone troopers
When provided in canon, use clone troopers' numbers instead of their nicknames in article titles (for example: CC-5052 instead of Bly).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Clone trooper names vs. numbers

Twi'leks
For Twi'leks, use Galactic Basic Standard names instead of Twi'leki names (example: Aayla Secura instead of Aaylas'ecura).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Twi'lek names

Unidentified characters
Conjecturally-titled character articles shall use "Unidentified" at the beginning of the title unless a title uses a possessive or relationship (example: Judder Page's father, Meetra Surik's Jedi Master).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments

Comics and magazines
Do not include the number sign (#) in article titles, in-line text, the Appearances/Sources lists, or any other instance when referring to comic book or magazine issues, including comic trade paperbacks and collections. Although some comic book and magazine issues may use the number sign in their published titles, such use of the number sign creates technical and applicable issues for Wookieepedia in certain instances.


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Number sign in comic issue titles

Languages
If a language has been given an official name, then that name should be used as the article's title, with the parenthetical "(language)" if there is a naming conflict (example: Cerean (language) instead of Cerean language). If a language has not been given an official name, "Species language" should be used as a conjectural title for the article.


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Language naming

Lists
The list of Xs should be titled as list of Xs, rather than Xs, famous Xs, listing of important Xs, list of noted Xs, list of all Xs, etc. Before ever creating a list, consider making a category instead: categories are easier to maintain and lists are generally discouraged by the Wookieepedia community.

Literary works
Use the title of the work as the article's title, following all applicable general conventions. To disambiguate, add the type of literary work in parentheses, such as "(novel)", "(short story)", etc. You may use "(book)" to disambiguate a non-fiction book.

Whenever the book has several different editions, list them after comma when the edition is a part of the formal title, and without italics if it is not literally a part of the book's title. (For example: Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, but Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, Second Edition).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/How to name publication edition, redux

Novels and books
Do not include "Star Wars" in the article title of novels, junior novels, novellas, eBooks, young reader stories, storybooks, roleplaying adventure books, or any other print or digital book that would normally be considered an in-universe "Appearance." The following exceptions apply: film novels and film junior novelizations (examples: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (junior novelization), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (novel)), and subjects with "Star Wars"–specific titles (examples: Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, Star Wars Missions 1: Assault on Yavin Four, Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice, Star Wars Adventures: Boba Fett and the Ship of Fear, LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles (book)).

Applicable books from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic series will be shortened to "The Clone Wars" and "The Old Republic," respectively (examples: The Clone Wars: Wild Space instead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space, The Old Republic: Revan instead of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan). Applicable books from Star Wars Rebels will not include the series title.

If the book is part of a series, include the series name as part of the title (examples: Galaxy of Fear: Eaten Alive, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice, Fate of the Jedi: Outcast). Do not include the series name as part of the title if the series is not typically included in the book's title (examples: Heir to the Empire instead of The Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Ambush at Corellia instead of The Corellian Trilogy: Ambush at Corellia).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy: Novels

Real-world people
Always list main author articles under the chosen, publishing name of the author, be it their real name or a pseudonym. Likewise, title all real-world actors, artists, crew members, production people, etc., according to their actual credited name in a Star Wars work(s) (example: Billy Dee Williams instead of William December Williams). If a real-world person is credited as two different names between multiple Star Wars works, use the most recent credited name and turn the alternate name into a redirect (example: Steve Blum instead of Steven Jay Blum).

Initials in people's names should be written with full stops (periods) after them, with a space between the initials and the name, and between initials (for example: R. A. Salvatore, A. L. Singer). Whenever possible, use people's credited names instead of initials.


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Author's real names
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments

Starships
To disambiguate individual starships, add the ship class in parentheses to the vessel's name.
 * The parenthetical descriptor need only specify the abbreviated ship class (example: Relentless (Pellaeon-class)) unless the abbreviated class name applies to multiple ship classes, in which case the full ship class name shall be specified (example: Vanguard (Defender-class light corvette), because "Defender-class" may refer to several different ship classes).
 * If a ship class does not include "-class" as part of its name, specify the full class name in parentheses (example: Luminous (GR-75 medium transport), Mantooine (CR90 corvette)).

When using a conjectural name or when the class is unknown, use "starship" instead of simply "ship" (example: Carida (starship) instead of Carida (ship)). If a ship type is known, use as specific a term as possible (example: Aurora (Star Dreadnought), Luminious (battlecruiser)).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy amendments, Part 2

Titles
Titles are generally not considered to be part of a character's name (example: Dooku instead of Count Dooku). The notable exception is the Sith title "Darth," which is considered to be part of the Sith Lord's name (example: Darth Talon instead of Talon).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Naming Conventions for Nobility and Royalty
 * → See Forum:CT Archive/About those naming conventions...

Video games
To disambiguate video games, use "(video game)" instead of simply "(game)" (example: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (video game) instead of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (game)).


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Video games

Years and plain numbers
Plain numbers (like 1138) can be used for any purpose, with a small exception of numbers between 1970 and 2020, which are reserved for the real-world year articles (when new articles outside this range are created, the range may be extended in five-year increments as needed without need for full CT discussion).

For in-universe year articles, omit the comma for years 1000-9999 BBY/ABY (example: 5000 BBY, not 5,000 BBY). Do include the comma for all years 10,000+ BBY/ABY.


 * → See Forum:CT Archive/Commas in year articles