Wikipedia:Categorization/Naming
 | This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
- Standard article naming conventions apply: Generally, category names are based on what the subject is called in verifiable reliable sources (particularly for technical subjects), so that those sources may be used to support inclusion of information. When this offers multiple possibilities, editors choose among them by considering several principles: the ideal category name uses words and phrases which precisely identify the subject; it is neutral, short, natural, distinguishable and recognizable; and resembles names for similar categories.
- Avoid subjective adjectives such as famous, large, or beautiful in category titles.
- Avoid abbreviations. Example: "Category:Military equipment of World War II", not "Category:Military equipment of WW2". However, acronyms that have become the official, or generally used, name (such as NATO) should be used where there are no other conflicts. Exceptions to this should be explained in the category description.
- Because no two articles can have the same title, it is sometimes necessary to add distinguishing information, often in the form of a description in parentheses after the name. When a topic requires disambiguation, any category eponymously named for that topic should include the same form of disambiguation, even if no other articles are likely to have an eponymous category.
- Naming guidelines for subcategories of Category:Stub categories are listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Naming conventions § Stub categories.
Topic and set categories
- Names of topic categories should be singular, normally corresponding to the name of a Wikipedia article. Examples: "Law", "France", "Hillary Clinton".
- Names of set categories should be plural. Examples: "Writers", "Villages in Poland".
- Note that in many instances a topic category and a set category have similar names, the topic category being singular and the set category plural. For example, Opera is a topic category (containing all articles relating to the topic), while Operas is a set category (containing articles about specific operas). Be careful to choose the right one when categorizing articles.