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This page or section is an official policy on Wookieepedia.

It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that everyone must follow. Please use the Consensus track to propose changes to this policy.

Wookieepedia's Naming policy defines how to correctly title mainspace articles. Generally, article naming shall derive from an official Lucasfilm source and be easily recognizable for the majority of English speakers, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity.

Please note that for the remainder of this policy page, the lowercase term "canon" refers generally to official Star Wars information from either Canon or Star Wars Legends source material, while the capitalized term "Canon" refers to the official Lucasfilm canon continuity.

General rules

Be precise when possible

When naming an article, abide by the following:

  1. Use a canon name whenever possible.
    See Forum:CT:Article naming conventions
    • If the spelling of a subject's name varies between U.S. and U.K. source editions, default to the American-English version of the name (example: Eirriss Ryloth Defense Tech, instead of Eirriss Ryloth Defence Tech, and lightsaber instead of lightsabre)
    See Forum:CT:Naming policy: US vs. UK editions
  2. 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: Anakin Skywalker instead of Darth Vader; Darth Caedus instead of Jacen Solo).
    • 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:Proposed amendment to the naming policy
    • 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:Naming policy amendments, Part 2
  3. If no canonical name exists, use the in-universe nickname or callsign (example: Shadow Seven) and place {{Nickname}} at the top of the article.
    • Whenever the character's formal name is known, do not add the nickname to the article title (example: Obi-Wan Kenobi instead of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi).
    See Forum:CT:Naming conventions: Stage names?
  4. If no in-universe designation exists, use a conjectural name with {{Conjecture}} at the top of the article.
    • 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: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 must always 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 {{DISPLAYTITLE:name}} 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 (example: Electrobinoculars, Stun cuffs). Note that category names follow different pluralization conventions (example: Category:Black Sun members).

See Forum:CT: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:Naming policy: minor change to definite/indefinite article usage, Forum:CT: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 (example: Resol'nare instead of Six Actions).

Be careful with special characters

Due to the technical restrictions inherent to the MediaWiki software, some special characters and text strings cannot be used as part of article titles. For example, neither the piping character (|), the number sign (#), curly brackets ({}), nor square brackets ([]) can be used anywhere in an article title, and the string "Project:" (note the colon) cannot be used at the beginning of a title. See here for a comprehensive list of special characters and strings not permitted in article titles.

Whenever these restrictions force an article to exist at a title different from the subject's actual name (for example, Project: Shell-cracker, #2 Warpod, k'Jtari), use the {{Correct_title}} template on the article in question.

See Wookieepedia:Mofferences/July 25, 2020

Disambiguation

In-universe vs. real-world articles

If an in-universe article and a real-world (or out-of-universe) article compete for the same title, the in-universe subject shall take precedence. The real-world article will then disambiguate according to its media or subject type (examples: Phasma and Phasma (novel); Outbound Flight and Outbound Flight (novel); Blue Shadow Virus and Blue Shadow Virus (episode); David West Reynolds and David West Reynolds (author); Shawn Valdez and Shawn Valdez (real person))

See Forum:CT:Naming policy: IU vs. OOU
  • As an exception, articles on real-world days, months, years and decades shall take precedence over any in-universe articles competing for the same title (examples: August 8 shall direct to the real-world day, not August 8 (in-universe); May should not be a redirect to Mari Amithest, identified as "Jedi Child May" in a movie's script).
See Forum:CT:Naming policy: real-world dates amendment

In-universe vs. in-universe articles

In-universe articles shall disambiguate from one another using a parenthetical descriptor, which must use in-universe terminology (example: Suba (lieutenant), not Suba (The Empire Strikes Back)).

  • One exception is subjects from the Star Wars Legends comic-book series The Star Wars, a unique story line adapted from George Lucas's original draft for Star Wars, which is considered non-canon within the Legends continuity. These subjects shall disambiguate via the parenthetical descriptor "The Star Wars" (example: Leia (The Star Wars)).

Disambiguation by continuity

The following section applies exclusively to intra-continuity disambiguation cases. Do not apply these rules to cross-continuity cases.

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:

  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. 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)).
  6. 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)).

Article titles shall avoid the parenthetical descriptor unless there is another article subject with an identical competing title.

Disambiguation between continuities

The following section determines how to disambiguate articles with identical competing titles between different continuities, primarily Canon and Legends.

If multiple articles of differing subject matter from both Canon and Legends compete for the same title, precedence shall be granted to the Canon subject, while any Legends articles will disambiguate via parentheses without the need for "/Legends" in the title. A disambiguation page may be created from there as necessary (examples: Rill/Rill (species) and Rill (bounty hunter); Ravager and all other subjects found in Ravager (disambiguation).

See Forum:CT:Naming policy amendments, Forum:CT:Naming policy amendments, Part 2, Wookieepedia:Mofferences/September 10, 2016

Specific rules

Animals and other organisms

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

See Forum:CT: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 {{Top}} template to correctly link the two article tabs (example: The Canon article shall be Kitster Banai, while the Legends article shall be Kitster Chanchani Banai).

Alternatively, a Legends subject may use as its article title a name that would otherwise be a redirect to its Canon counterpart (example: Lightsaber crystal is the title of the Legends article rather than redirecting to Kyber crystal). One exception to this rule is film characters. Applicable Legends film-character articles shall utilize the /Legends suffix to allow all relevant alternate names and name variations to redirect to their Canon versions (example: Palpatine redirects to Darth Sidious, while Palpatine/Legends is the Legends article title).

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

See Forum:CT:Naming policy and titles, Forum:CT:Canon/Legends Default Switch, Wookieepedia:Mofferences/September 10, 2016, Forum:CT:Naming policy: The Palpatine Amendment

Characters

Clone troopers

Use clone troopers' chosen names/nicknames instead of their numbers in article titles (example: Fives instead of CT-5555) in all cases unless it is noted that the clone in question prefers their number, in which case their page name shall be their number. Numbers should also be used if a trooper's name is not known.

See Forum:CT:Clone trooper names vs. numbers, Forum:CT:Naming policy update for clone troopers, Forum:CT:Clone trooper naming update

Hutts

Use a Hutt's full clan name when provided (example: Jabba Desilijic Tiure). If a Hutt character does not have a clan name, omit the appellation "the Hutt" from the article title (example: Dorosii instead of Dorosii the Hutt).

See Wookieepedia:Mofferences/March 6, 2016

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: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:Naming policy amendments

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: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.

Real-world people

Articles for real-world people, such as actors and authors, shall be titled according to their actual credited name in a Star Wars work, whether that be an abbreviation/stage name (example: Billy Dee Williams, not William December Williams) or pseudonym (example: Jude Watson, not Judy Blundell). Note the following situations and exceptions:

Real-world publications

For real-world publications, use the title of the work as the article's name.

See Forum:CT:Naming policy: US vs. UK editions

To disambiguate, add the type of literary work in parentheses, such as "(novel)," "(comic)," or "(short story)." Articles may use "(book)" to disambiguate a non-fiction book. For novelizations, such as film novelizations or junior film novelizations, use either "(novelization)" or "(junior novelization)" as appropriate.

See Forum:CT:Naming policy amendments: Books

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

See Forum:CT:How to name publication edition, redux

To disambiguate for any publication type not covered in the following sections, use the type of literary work, such as "(short story)" (example: The Tale of the Aiwha Pod (short story))

Comics and magazines

Individual comic issues

Do not include the "Star Wars" prefix in the article titles of individual comic book issues, stories, or original manga volumes. The following exceptions apply:

The preceding rule does not apply to comic series, story arcs, trade paperbacks, or any other compendium publication not typically included in an article's Appearances list. These articles shall include "Star Wars" in their titles.

Do not include story names in the article titles of individual comic book issues (examples: Star Wars (1977) 108, not Star Wars 108: Forever Crimson; Kanan 1, not Kanan 1: The Last Padawan, Part I: Fight; Lando 1, not Lando, Part I).

See Wookieepedia:Mofferences/September 10, 2016, Forum:CT:Naming policy: Canon comic books, Forum:CT:Naming policy: Legends comic books, Forum:CT:Manga volumes - revisited
Disambiguation
  • To disambiguate comic stories, use "(comic)" (example: Sabotage (comic)).
  • To disambiguate comic-book series, use "(comic series)" (example: Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge (comic series)).
  • To disambiguate comic-book collected editions, use "(TPB)" for trade paperbacks and "(HC)" for hardcovers.
  • When two or more comic series share the same title, but began publication in different years, the year of each of the series' initial publication should be considered part of the series title, and included in a parenthetical descriptor (example: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) and Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2020)). If a comic series name competes with a different piece of Star Wars media, include the publisher's name in the parenthetical disambiguator. (Example: Star Wars (Marvel Comics 1977), not Star Wars (1977), in order to avoid confusion with Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Star Wars (1977) would then become a disambiguation page.)
  • The preceding rule also applies to individual issues of the series, and should be applied to all issues of the series, regardless of whether there is a competing issue title. A disambiguation page should be created at the root title (example: Doctor Aphra (2016) 12 and Doctor Aphra (2020) 12, with a disambiguation page at Doctor Aphra 12).
See Forum:CT:Naming policy: Comic book collected editions, Forum:CT:Naming policy: Canon comic books, Wookieepedia:Mofferences/July 25, 2020, Forum:CT:Publication Years in Comic Titles
Italics and number sign

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:Number sign in comic issue titles, Wookieepedia:Mofferences/September 10, 2016

Do not italicize the issue number in the article titles of individual comic books (examples: Legacy 18, Marvel Comics 1000, Doctor Aphra 38, Star Wars Adventures 28).

See Forum:CT:Italics in Canon comic issues, Forum:CT:Naming policy: Legends comic books

Novels and books

Individual works

Do not include the "Star Wars" prefix in the article titles 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:

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:Naming policy: Novels
Series

Do include the "Star Wars" prefix in the article titles of novel and book series (examples: Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Aftermath Trilogy, Star Wars: Adventures in Wild Space).

See Forum:CT:Naming policy amendments: Books
Disambiguation
See Wookieepedia:Mofferences/July 25, 2020

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:Video games

Starships

To disambiguate individual starships, add the ship class in parentheses to the vessel's name.

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), Luminous (battlecruiser)).

See Forum:CT:Naming policy amendments, Part 2

Star systems

Star systems named in The Essential Atlas and/or the Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion shall be titled in accordance with these texts, with the understanding that nothing listed in the Atlas appendices was intended to override a preexisting name (example: Drynn system, listed in the Atlas as "Kammia system").

Add a conjecture tag to Atlas system articles if the system is named after a space station; nebula; star cluster; rogue planet; or any other non-standard, non-planetary astronomical location (example: Azzameen Station system, Red Nebula system).

See Forum:CT:Atlas Star Systems: Deviating from our Present Course

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 Sidious).

See Forum:CT:Naming Conventions for Nobility and Royalty
See Forum:CT:About those naming conventions...

Years

For Legends 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:Commas in year articles

See also

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