This page contains a list of guidelines concerning naming conventions for categories. If you wish to propose a new naming convention for categories or modify an existing convention, please do so on the talk page.

• And when naming a category, use sentence case, do not use title case. Specifically, do not capitalize regular nouns except when they come at the beginning of the category name.
• Do not write the category structure in names. Example: "Monarchs", not "People – Monarchs". This includes creating categories that are subpages of other categories.
• Choose category names that can stand alone, independent of the way a category is connected to other categories. Example: "Geography terminology stubs", not "Terminology" (a subcategory of "Geography stubs").

• Categories used for Wikipedia administration, are disambiguated by prepending with the word "Wikipedia" (no colon) if this is needed to prevent confusion with content categories. For example, Category:Inactive project pages (where no confusion is likely), but Category:Wikipedia tools (as distinct from the content category Tools).
• All WikiProject 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.
• For geographical photo requests, the category name should be "Wikipedia requested photographs in xxx" as in [[Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in England]]; see Category:Wikipedia requested photographs by location.
• For categorization in userspace, see Wikipedia:Categorization § User pages and Wikipedia:User categories § Naming conventions.

• 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.

• 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.

For categorizing people by ancestry or ethnicity, the format is: "FOOian people of BARian descent", where "FOOian" is the person's nationality (country of citizenship) and "BARian" is the person's ethnic ancestry (such as Category:Irish people of Ghanaian descent and Category:American people of German descent).

Currently, Wikipedia supports categorizing people by occupation, such as: People by educational institution and People by company, as well as other more specific categories.

For categorizing people by occupation, the format is: FOOs, where FOO is the occupation name (such as Category:Editors); or People in FOO or FOO people, where FOO is the topic of the occupation (such as Category:People in agriculture‎ or Category:Music people).

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.

For categorizing people by place of residence, the format is: People from Foo (not "Natives of Foo"). 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, in order to assist with automated categorization (for example, Category:New Yorkers).

For categorizing people by place of burial, the format is: Burials at Foo Cemetery.

By convention, a category name designating a time period with a number (in Arabic numerals) represents a calendar year in the Common Era. For categorizing people by years BCE, the format is: "<year number> BC", for example Category:220 BC deaths.

For categorizing people by century, the format is: Category:xx-century foos or Category:xx-century BC foos.

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.

Categories regarding events in countries (along with years and time) are named "... in country." This guideline applies to:

Millennia - Centuries - Decades - Years - Establishments - Disestablishments

For categorizing permanently located manufactured objects by country, the format is: "... in country". This guideline applies to:

Airports - American football venues - Amusement parks - Archaeological sites - Art museums - Association football venues - 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 - 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 - Reservoirs - 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

For categorizing landforms by country, the format is: "... of country". This guideline applies to:

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

For categorizing "by country" subcategories of all <company type> by country categories, the format is: ... of country. This guideline applies to:

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

For categorizing topics usually in the domain of the state, the format is: "... of country".

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

• Administrative divisions use the "of" format and settlements use the "in" format. 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.

For categorizing subcategories of <political office> by country, the format is:

• ... 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

• For categorizing specific jurisdictions within a country, province, state, or equivalent, the format is: ... of places in ...
• For categorizing the specific jurisdiction, the format is: ... of place

This guideline applies to:

Mayors

For categorizing "by-country" subcategories of all <sport name> by country, the format is: ... in country. This guideline applies to:

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

For categorizing subcategories of these categories, the format is: "... of country".

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

For categorizing subcategories of these categories, the format is: "... in country".

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

For categorizing subcategories of these categories, the format is: "... involving country".

Battles - Military operations - Naval battles - Sieges - Wars

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

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 - Category:Films by country
• Magazines - Category:Magazines by country
• Law - Category:Law by country (currently mostly "Fooish law")

• For categorizing Images by country, the format is: "Images of country".
• For categorizing Lists by country, the format is: "Country-related lists"
• For categorizing Stubs by region, the format is: "Country stubs".

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 (except to the extent that they are already in their respective article titles – for example, "United Kingdom", but not "UK" or "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland").

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

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". The same applies for geographic features that cross national borders, for example "Foo of the United States" and "Foo of Canada", not "Foo of the United States and Canada".

All categories whose subcategories are categories by nationality (roughly all categories that are members of Category:People by nationality or Category:Works 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.

National subcategories of these categories are named using the nationality rather than the country name, as they follow the national diasporas. However, the container categories are named "by country", e.g. Category:Art by country and Category:Culture by country.

Art - Cuisine - Culture - Literature - Music - Plays

Note that many other sub-topics of "Society" are named using the country name, and so are some cultural topics e.g. Architecture and Classical music.

For categorizing subcategories of People by nationality, the format is: "nationality ...".

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

For categorizing people by their nationality and occupation, the format is: "fooian fooers", such as Category:Ethiopian musicians.

Concurrent citizenship may be reflected by categorizing the article by each nationality. For example, Category:Canadian actors and Category:American actors for a dual American–Canadian citizen. Categories that combine two nationalities with an occupation, generally should not be created.

The category description should mention the most commonly used names ("Fooians", or "Fooers"), which can be found in verifiable reliable sources.

The template {{Fooian fooers}} can be used to provide navigation on each category page. For example:

Classification: People: By occupation: Entertainers: Musicians: By nationality: Ethiopian also: Ethiopia: People: By occupation: Entertainers: Musicians

• Please note that this template may need to be modified for some categories. To avoid ambiguity, some nationalities are listed as "People of Foo" instead of "Fooian"; for example, "Georgian people" could mean either Category:People from Georgia (country) or Category:People from Georgia (U.S. state). For those categories, use {{Fooers from Boo}}. For sub-categories of Category:People from Northern Ireland by occupation, use {{Fooers from Northern Ireland}}.
• Similarly, some nationalities are listed as "Country people" instead of "Fooian people", such as Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina musicians and Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo musicians. In those cases the value used for "nationality" is the name of the country.

A list of adjectival forms of place names is available on Wikipedia. In situations where multiple adjectives are possible for a particular nationality (e.g., Argentine vs. Argentinean), discussions at categories for discussion have frequently opted for one alternative over another to ensure consistency in category naming. Note that the singular-form demonym and adjective for many nationalities are not interchangeable. (i.e., Icelander vs. Icelandic; New Zealander vs. New Zealand). Most category names use the adjectival form, not the noun-form demonym.

Some states do not possess unambiguous (i.e., "Congolese" for Democratic Republic of the Congo) or universally-applicable (i.e., "Bosnian" for Bosnia and Herzegovina) adjectives. In these circumstances, the format is: "Country FOO", where Country is the unamended name of the country.

The list below reflects the most recent consensuses on what form to use for particular nationalities. These adopted forms may be subject to change by consensus and proposals to do so can be made by nominating the affected categories at categories for discussion. References are included to discussions that have discussed particular name formats.

In general, the formats for people of former nationalities is less settled. The list below represents examples which are reasonably well settled.

After September 2022, "of" is now deprecated and "from" will become the standard for former countries that have compound names.

Therefore, for categorizing people of former nationalities with a compound name, the format is: "FOOs from Country".

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 at WP:CFD. Changing these conventions shall require a consensual discussion either directly at WP:CFD or publicized there.

For categorizing music by composer, the format is: "Compositions by [composer]".

Compositions by composer – Operas by composer – Symphonies by composer – Songs by composer

For categorizing music by performer, the format is: "[Performer] works".

Albums by artist – Songs by artist

For categorizing articles of each type of work of an artist, the format is: "[type of work]s by [artist]" (for example, Category:Paintings by Salvador Dalí). For categorizing subcategories of different types of work of an artist (for example, for paintings and sculpture), the format for the parent category is: "Works by Foo".

Paintings by artist – Sculptures by artist

For categorizing architecture by architect, the format is: "[Architect] buildings", with exceptions for architects involved in more than one type of work.

Buildings and structures by architect

For categorizing literature by writer, the format is: "[Work]s by [writer]".

Works by writer – Novels by writer – Books by writer – Essay collections by writer – Essays by writer – Picture books by writer – Plays by writer – Poetry by writer – Short stories by writer – Short story collections by writer

For categorizing stage and screen works by contributor, the format is: "[Works] by [person]".

Films by director – Films by screenwriter – Plays by writer – Television shows by writer

The name used should match the name of the biography article about the person, including any disambiguator, e.g. Category:Books by Peter Carey (novelist). The only exceptions are categories for visual arts, where the name used for the artist may instead match usage within the articles on the works; e.g. Category:Paintings by Sergei Ivanovich Osipov does not have to follow the article name Sergei Osipov (artist).

Category names of a subject should match the name for that subject within articles and citations (including spelling and capitalisation), rather than the name of the Wikipedia article on the topic. For example:

• Category:Entombment of Christ in art and Category:Paintings of the Entombment of Christ, although the generic parent Category:Burial of Jesus follows the article Burial of Jesus

Additionally, disambiguation is not always necessary if the subject is unambiguous. For example:

• Category:Venus in art and Category:Temples of Venus, although the generic parent Category:Venus (mythology) follows the article Venus (mythology)