Wikipedia:Naming conventions (clergy)

This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts: WP:NCCL WP:NCWC

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This page contains guidance on how to title articles about members of the Christian clergy (popes, cardinals, bishops, etc.), as well as saints.

For links to pages with guidance concerning other religions, see the Other religions section below. For general guidance on how to title biographical articles, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people), and for those with royal or noble titles, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility).

While most clerical names are clear, unambiguous and known, some names associated with clergy of some faiths make this difficult. In those religions which have hierarchies, the higher the level within that hierarchy the greater the likelihood that the person's first name may have ceased to be used publicly, being replaced by a title. Others replace their own name completely with a new one. In some cases it may be difficult to discover what the first name actually was, particularly when dealing with ancient historical church clergy at the higher level.

Honorifics such as "His Holiness" should ordinarily not be used in naming clergy except when discussing forms of address; see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Honorific prefixes.

Popes

For popes, whether Roman Catholic, Coptic, or otherwise, use the format "Pope {papal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Popes of Rome should not be linked with their episcopal sees; Rome is understood. For popes who are also saints, see Saints below.

Some early popes are better known to a wide range of readers by an epithet or cognomen than by name and number; when this is so, Wikipedia may title the article by the well-known name. Which name is to be used should be decided by consensus, after consultation of a variety of reliable English-language sources.

Do not use a pope's personal name (for example, Albino Luciani instead of Pope John Paul I) except when referring to the life of the pope prior to being elevated to the papacy: "Luciani entered the minor seminary of Feltre in 1923..." (life before papacy) but "John Paul refused to...wear the Papal Tiara" (after being elected pope).

Patriarchs

For patriarchs, whether the Ecumenical Patriarch, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, or otherwise, use the format "Patriarch {episcopal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Do not use a patriarch's personal name; e.g., use Patriarch Nikon, not Nikita Minov. However, if there is already a well established name in English for a particular patriarch, use that format instead. For example, use John Chrysostom as the main title of article, with Patriarch John I of Constantinople and John I of Constantinople as redirects.

Cardinals

In the titles of articles, cardinals generally go by their full name (both first name and surname) alone, without the title "Cardinal", as "Ascanio Sforza", not "Cardinal Ascanio Sforza", nor "Ascanio Cardinal Sforza". Exceptions are cardinals who are identifiable only by the cardinalitial title (as in the case of a hypothetical Cardinal John Smith), those best known by the title "Cardinal" followed by a surname (as Cardinal Richelieu), and those of the period before the introduction of surnames. (For many of the latter, however, their place of origin will serve the same function as a surname.)

When it is necessary to add the title "Cardinal", it will usually be sufficient to prefix it to the surname of the cardinal, especially in the body of an article, as "Cardinal Sforza". If both name and surname are used, wikilinking is straightforward if the title is prefixed to the name, as in "Cardinal Ascanio Sforza". However, those who prefer the form "Ascanio Cardinal Sforza" should take care to ensure there is a redirect to the form used in the title of the article on the cardinal in question, or use a piped link.

Western bishops and archbishops

Shortcut: WP:BISHOP

For bishops and archbishops in the Western world, do not use their episcopal or archiepiscopal title in the article name unless necessary for disambiguation. For article names where there is both a forename and a surname, used also by other articles, inserting {bishop} after is common, for example William Atwater (bishop) or George Douglas (bishop). If disambiguation is still necessary, use a form such as William Turner (bishop of Salford) (rather than William Turner, Bishop of Salford) – using the subject's current or most recent see. Where the bishop concerned held office as an archbishop, avoid disambiguation by {archbishop}, since that is only part of a job title – instead use {bishop} (the order) or the full title e.g. {archbishop of York}. Where this is not useful, for instance when men of the same name occupy the same bishopric, death dates can be used, as with Alexander de Kininmund (died 1380) and Alexander de Kininmund (died 1344), both bishops and both bishops of Aberdeen. Note that the lower-case in "bishop" does not apply to use of an episcopal title ("Bishop of London") in article text, where the capital "B" is standard in British English and very common in American English.

Where only a forename is available, it is not the business of Wikipedia to invent surnames. In some cases the person is referred to as "{name} of {place}", as with Augustine of Canterbury or Clement of Dunblane, and this form can then be used as the article title. If no such form is in use, it may be necessary to disambiguate using the episcopal title, as with Gerard (archbishop of York). In the era before the widespread use of surnames in western Europe (say, before 1200), it is common to encounter more than one bishop with the same name of the same diocese. In these cases using Roman numerals is an acceptable additional method of disambiguation, as in Ælfsige II (bishop of Winchester).

When these suggestions are still insufficient for a clear disambiguation, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people) for further suggestions.

Eastern Orthodox metropolitans, archbishops and bishops

For Orthodox metropolitans, archbishops and bishops, the form {name} of {place} is often used, as with Anthony of Sourozh and Gabriel of Comane. In other cases name and surname are used, as in Kallistos Ware.

Syriac bishops

For bishops of Syriac tradition (Oriental Orthodox and Catholic) the title "Mar" is not used in the article name unless necessary for disambiguation or for conformance with actual usage. Thus Varkey Vithayathil is used, not "Mar Varkey Vithayathil" or forms such as "Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil". However Mar Thoma I, Mar Thoma II, etc. are used, because these men are never referred to as simply "Thoma I" etc.

Saints

Saints go by their most common English name, minus the "Saint", unless they are only recognisable by its inclusion. For example, Ulrich of Augsburg but Saint Patrick. (See also List of saints.) Make redirects from forms with "St.", "St", and "Saint".

Articles on popes who are also saints are titled according to the guidance in Popes above, with any necessary redirects from the forms with "Saint". For example, Pope Pius X, with redirects from Pope Saint Pius X and other forms; but Saint Peter rather than the less recognizable Pope Peter.

Buildings named after saints

Cathedral and church names, unless they individually use something different, are written as St or St., not Saint. Hence St Paul's Cathedral not Saint Paul's Cathedral, St. Peter's Basilica not Saint Peter's Basilica, etc.

Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism)

See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints).

Other religions

For guidance on naming articles about people associated with other religions, see the following pages:

• For ancient Roman religion, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ancient Romans). Note that neither "pontifex" nor "pontifex maximus" nor any other priestly function (like the prophesying function of a "Sibyl", the worshipping function of a "Maenad" or "Korybante", etc.) is used in the titles of articles on individual ancient Romans, Greeks, etc., except in rare cases of bracketed disambiguation, such as Papirius (pontifex).
• For Judaism, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Hebrew)
• For Asian religions, the appropriate country-specific pages: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Korean), Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese), Wikipedia:Manual of Style (Japan-related articles), Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Indic)#Titles and honorifics, etc. (see the box at the top of the page).