This
guideline documents an English Wikipedia
naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though
occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect
consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the
talk page. |
This page in a nutshell: Sportsperson articles should follow the general naming conventions for articles on people, but there are some special points to consider in disambiguation. The recommendations within also apply to non-sport competitive gaming. |
As with any other biographical article, the name of an article about a sportsperson (or other type of notable gamester, such as a professional poker or chess player) should be the most commonly used name of the person. That is, it should be the name that is most generally recognizable. Normally this is simply the first and last name of the person (e.g. Peyton Manning), but may also be a nickname if that is how the person is best known professionally (e.g. Sonny Homer). If the person is best known with a middle name or abbreviation, then the title should reflect that (e.g. J. C. Watts, Darrell K. Smith, Arland Bruce III). Disambiguation of sportsperson article titles should follow the general conventions as much as possible, just like any other Wikipedia article.
If the name is shared by another article, e.g. a chemist or actor, then a disambiguation (or "dab") is necessary, via the addition of a qualifier between bracketing parentheses. The qualifier should be as simple and general as possible while still being descriptive and not being ambiguous with another article (see Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Naming the specific topic articles).
It is strongly discouraged to add a middle name, initial, "Jr.", etc., or to use the birth name rather than the nickname (or vice versa), merely for disambiguation purposes. If this format of the name is not the one most commonly used to refer to this person, that simply makes it more difficult for readers to find the article.
The disambiguation used varies between sports, but should either describe the person's role within the sport ("bowler", "cyclist", "acrobat", "chess player", "martial artist", etc.) or the sport itself ("basketball", "baseball", "tennis" etc.). The style used should be consistent within each sport. Avoid obscure or jargonistic terms, such as "pugilist", "karateka" and "billiardist". Also avoid gender-specific language, such as "sportsman", "aviatrix", "female backgammon player" and "men's basketball player".
In most cases, use the sport as a simple noun when it is a separate word, e.g. "(golf coach)" not "(golfing coach)". The exception is when the verb form is the most commonly used in compounds: curling, bowling, rowing, ice skating, but not golfing, skiing or darting.
For sports usually or always referred to in the plural ( darts, billiards, bowls, etc.), use the plural form in disambiguations; i.e., use "(darts trainer)" not "(dart trainer)".
Disambiguations should never refer to accomplishments – "(world champion figure skater)", "(top-16 bowler)", "(Olympic swimmer)", "(Heisman Trophy winner)" – since many if not most readers are probably seeking this information, it is over-specific, and an overemphasis of a particular accomplishment may constitute a non-neutral point of view. Worse yet is using titles or phrasing that imply praise or grandeur, e.g. "(kung fu master)", "(rugby star)".
Media figures should not be given overly-specific disambiguators unless necessary. The very general terms "sportscaster" (North America) and "sport broadcaster" (elsewhere) can be used for anyone playing such a role in television and/or radio, and "sport[s] journalist" can be used even more generally. When a more specific disambiguation is needed (between two sportscasters or sports journalists with the same name), there are many terms, with various meanings, some of which are specific to the variety of English (in particular, Commonwealth English often drops the final -s from "sports" in some but not all of these constructions).
For sportspeople genuinely notable as players in multiple sports, the article should be at the disambiguator "(sportsperson)", with redirects from any more-specific disambiguations that readers could reasonably expect, e.g. "(golfer)", "(footballer)", etc. Figures strongly notable in one field and only marginally notable in one or more others should be disambiguated under the first field, with a redirect created from a title referring to the other(s). I.e., do not use "(sportsperson)" for a world-champion lacrosse player who has also dabbled in semi-pro jai alai and tournament Scrabble.
It is neither necessary nor desirable to distinguish between amateur and professional levels, as in "(college basketball player)" or "(pro poker player)", although amateur designations like "amateur", "college", "minor league", etc., could possibly be used in the unlikely event of two players with the same name from the same place in the same sport but with different professional statuses.
One frequent complication to the normal disambiguation of human names is the large number of sports named for their countries of origin.
It is not desirable to use disambiguators like "(Canadian football player)" for players of Canadian football, for example. discuss It is unclear if the adjective ("Canadian") refers to the game or to the nationality of the player – there are numerous non–Canadian-national players of Canadian football, and the general naming convention for people clearly calls for such a construction to imply the former. A disambiguation that introduces another ambiguity is of no value to our readers. In the case of an example like this one, it is also problematic because players frequently play more than one code of football. Even if the subject were a Canadian-citizen player of Canadian football, rendering the ambiguity moot, such a disambiguation suggests that this is a naming convention for players of Canadian football generally, and thus is likely to confuse readers and editors alike as to the names of other disambiguated articles on players of the sport.
The disambiguator "(gridiron player)" can be used for a player who has played two or more codes of gridiron football, most commonly American and Canadian, and is notable for play in more than one league, but the other football player(s) who share the same name play soccer or rugby.
Use the "(player of country sport)" format only when necessary for clarity, as in "(player of English billiards)", as it otherwise makes the disambiguation unnecessarily long-winded. But do use it when the title would be ambiguous without it.
Some sports require the use of special disambiguations, either because the WikiProject requested it or by necessity. These special cases are as follows.
Do NOT attempt to differentiate between people simply by the qualifiers "(footballer)" and "(soccer)". Association football and soccer are different names for the same game in different parts of the English-speaking world. Follow the guidance in (2), above.
When there are multiple people with the same name, and only one of them is an athletics competitor:
Note that if the person in question was a coach or sports journalist, it's best to just use the generic "(coach)" or "(journalist)" suffixes even if their work was focused primarily on athletics as per general Wikipedia guidelines.
Where there is already another person of the same name with an article, the preferred disambiguation method is:
Using (AFL footballer), (VFL footballer), (Collingwood footballer) or similar is discouraged. If in doubt, ask at the project talk page.
The title of an article for a baseball player should reflect the name they most commonly went by during their career. Informally, the name that appeared on a player's baseball cards should serve as the article's title.
Nicknames should only be used when a player went by their nickname professionally instead of their given first name.
Examples: Babe Ruth – Whitey Ford – Lefty Gomez
Because of the large number of articles about baseball players, disambiguation is often necessary. In cases where two (or more) ballplayers share the same name, disambiguation is often complex and confusing.
The following steps should be followed to disambiguate baseball player articles:
Among players of cue sports (billiards-family games), snooker and pocket billiards (pool) players (regardless of any specialization) are disambiguated with "(snooker player)" and "(pool player)", respectively. All others are disambiguated with "(billiards player)". In cases of overlap (e.g., a player notable for both snooker and pool, or carom billiards and pool, or snooker and English billiards), use "(billiards player)".
More topically-specific disambiguations – "(three-cushion billiards player)", "(eight-ball pool player)", etc. – are rarely needed or helpful, since players of one discipline almost always play in some others as well.
The normal disambiguation for ice hockey players is (ice hockey), instead of (hockey), (hockey player), or even (ice hockey player). In situations where two or more people involved with hockey have the same name, players are disambiguated by birthdate (e.g. Bob Johnson (ice hockey, born 1931)). Wikipedia does not abbreviate "born" as "b." Ice hockey people are not often disambiguated by position due to the nature of the game, in which players often play more than one position. In situations where two players are born in the same year with the same name alternative measures such as using middle names or the main position they played may be considered. Generations are generally not used (1930s ice hockey) due to the POV nature of such disambiguation and careers spanning more than one decade.
The qualifiers (hockey) and (hockey player) should never be used, because they do not distinguish between players of field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, and so on.
If a sportsperson in any form of rugby football— rugby league, rugby union, or beach rugby—is not a primary topic of all people with a similar name, use (rugby), (rugby player), (rugby union), (rugby league), or (beach rugby).
Wikipedia article titles use diacritics, tone marks, and non-English letter forms where needed, consistently with article text (see MOS:ROMANISATION and WP:DIACRITICS). For titling sportsperson articles:
Wikipedia follows reliable-source usage, on a subject-by-subject basis, with regard to diacritics. If sources indicate that a diacritic belongs there, then we use it, even if some sources drop it. If sources (including the person's own published statements) indicate they prefer, or have dropped, the diacritic, then Wikipedia will do so as well; see also WP:ABOUTSELF and MOS:IDENTITY. Check the sources; do not make assumptions. For example, the Spanish name Rodríguez is frequently spelled both with and without the acute accent in the United States, on a family-by-family or person-by-person basis. And check sources broadly; sport governing bodies are notorious for dropping diacritics for expediency while other sources correctly retain them for individuals who use them.
This
guideline documents an English Wikipedia
naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though
occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect
consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the
talk page. |
This page in a nutshell: Sportsperson articles should follow the general naming conventions for articles on people, but there are some special points to consider in disambiguation. The recommendations within also apply to non-sport competitive gaming. |
As with any other biographical article, the name of an article about a sportsperson (or other type of notable gamester, such as a professional poker or chess player) should be the most commonly used name of the person. That is, it should be the name that is most generally recognizable. Normally this is simply the first and last name of the person (e.g. Peyton Manning), but may also be a nickname if that is how the person is best known professionally (e.g. Sonny Homer). If the person is best known with a middle name or abbreviation, then the title should reflect that (e.g. J. C. Watts, Darrell K. Smith, Arland Bruce III). Disambiguation of sportsperson article titles should follow the general conventions as much as possible, just like any other Wikipedia article.
If the name is shared by another article, e.g. a chemist or actor, then a disambiguation (or "dab") is necessary, via the addition of a qualifier between bracketing parentheses. The qualifier should be as simple and general as possible while still being descriptive and not being ambiguous with another article (see Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Naming the specific topic articles).
It is strongly discouraged to add a middle name, initial, "Jr.", etc., or to use the birth name rather than the nickname (or vice versa), merely for disambiguation purposes. If this format of the name is not the one most commonly used to refer to this person, that simply makes it more difficult for readers to find the article.
The disambiguation used varies between sports, but should either describe the person's role within the sport ("bowler", "cyclist", "acrobat", "chess player", "martial artist", etc.) or the sport itself ("basketball", "baseball", "tennis" etc.). The style used should be consistent within each sport. Avoid obscure or jargonistic terms, such as "pugilist", "karateka" and "billiardist". Also avoid gender-specific language, such as "sportsman", "aviatrix", "female backgammon player" and "men's basketball player".
In most cases, use the sport as a simple noun when it is a separate word, e.g. "(golf coach)" not "(golfing coach)". The exception is when the verb form is the most commonly used in compounds: curling, bowling, rowing, ice skating, but not golfing, skiing or darting.
For sports usually or always referred to in the plural ( darts, billiards, bowls, etc.), use the plural form in disambiguations; i.e., use "(darts trainer)" not "(dart trainer)".
Disambiguations should never refer to accomplishments – "(world champion figure skater)", "(top-16 bowler)", "(Olympic swimmer)", "(Heisman Trophy winner)" – since many if not most readers are probably seeking this information, it is over-specific, and an overemphasis of a particular accomplishment may constitute a non-neutral point of view. Worse yet is using titles or phrasing that imply praise or grandeur, e.g. "(kung fu master)", "(rugby star)".
Media figures should not be given overly-specific disambiguators unless necessary. The very general terms "sportscaster" (North America) and "sport broadcaster" (elsewhere) can be used for anyone playing such a role in television and/or radio, and "sport[s] journalist" can be used even more generally. When a more specific disambiguation is needed (between two sportscasters or sports journalists with the same name), there are many terms, with various meanings, some of which are specific to the variety of English (in particular, Commonwealth English often drops the final -s from "sports" in some but not all of these constructions).
For sportspeople genuinely notable as players in multiple sports, the article should be at the disambiguator "(sportsperson)", with redirects from any more-specific disambiguations that readers could reasonably expect, e.g. "(golfer)", "(footballer)", etc. Figures strongly notable in one field and only marginally notable in one or more others should be disambiguated under the first field, with a redirect created from a title referring to the other(s). I.e., do not use "(sportsperson)" for a world-champion lacrosse player who has also dabbled in semi-pro jai alai and tournament Scrabble.
It is neither necessary nor desirable to distinguish between amateur and professional levels, as in "(college basketball player)" or "(pro poker player)", although amateur designations like "amateur", "college", "minor league", etc., could possibly be used in the unlikely event of two players with the same name from the same place in the same sport but with different professional statuses.
One frequent complication to the normal disambiguation of human names is the large number of sports named for their countries of origin.
It is not desirable to use disambiguators like "(Canadian football player)" for players of Canadian football, for example. discuss It is unclear if the adjective ("Canadian") refers to the game or to the nationality of the player – there are numerous non–Canadian-national players of Canadian football, and the general naming convention for people clearly calls for such a construction to imply the former. A disambiguation that introduces another ambiguity is of no value to our readers. In the case of an example like this one, it is also problematic because players frequently play more than one code of football. Even if the subject were a Canadian-citizen player of Canadian football, rendering the ambiguity moot, such a disambiguation suggests that this is a naming convention for players of Canadian football generally, and thus is likely to confuse readers and editors alike as to the names of other disambiguated articles on players of the sport.
The disambiguator "(gridiron player)" can be used for a player who has played two or more codes of gridiron football, most commonly American and Canadian, and is notable for play in more than one league, but the other football player(s) who share the same name play soccer or rugby.
Use the "(player of country sport)" format only when necessary for clarity, as in "(player of English billiards)", as it otherwise makes the disambiguation unnecessarily long-winded. But do use it when the title would be ambiguous without it.
Some sports require the use of special disambiguations, either because the WikiProject requested it or by necessity. These special cases are as follows.
Do NOT attempt to differentiate between people simply by the qualifiers "(footballer)" and "(soccer)". Association football and soccer are different names for the same game in different parts of the English-speaking world. Follow the guidance in (2), above.
When there are multiple people with the same name, and only one of them is an athletics competitor:
Note that if the person in question was a coach or sports journalist, it's best to just use the generic "(coach)" or "(journalist)" suffixes even if their work was focused primarily on athletics as per general Wikipedia guidelines.
Where there is already another person of the same name with an article, the preferred disambiguation method is:
Using (AFL footballer), (VFL footballer), (Collingwood footballer) or similar is discouraged. If in doubt, ask at the project talk page.
The title of an article for a baseball player should reflect the name they most commonly went by during their career. Informally, the name that appeared on a player's baseball cards should serve as the article's title.
Nicknames should only be used when a player went by their nickname professionally instead of their given first name.
Examples: Babe Ruth – Whitey Ford – Lefty Gomez
Because of the large number of articles about baseball players, disambiguation is often necessary. In cases where two (or more) ballplayers share the same name, disambiguation is often complex and confusing.
The following steps should be followed to disambiguate baseball player articles:
Among players of cue sports (billiards-family games), snooker and pocket billiards (pool) players (regardless of any specialization) are disambiguated with "(snooker player)" and "(pool player)", respectively. All others are disambiguated with "(billiards player)". In cases of overlap (e.g., a player notable for both snooker and pool, or carom billiards and pool, or snooker and English billiards), use "(billiards player)".
More topically-specific disambiguations – "(three-cushion billiards player)", "(eight-ball pool player)", etc. – are rarely needed or helpful, since players of one discipline almost always play in some others as well.
The normal disambiguation for ice hockey players is (ice hockey), instead of (hockey), (hockey player), or even (ice hockey player). In situations where two or more people involved with hockey have the same name, players are disambiguated by birthdate (e.g. Bob Johnson (ice hockey, born 1931)). Wikipedia does not abbreviate "born" as "b." Ice hockey people are not often disambiguated by position due to the nature of the game, in which players often play more than one position. In situations where two players are born in the same year with the same name alternative measures such as using middle names or the main position they played may be considered. Generations are generally not used (1930s ice hockey) due to the POV nature of such disambiguation and careers spanning more than one decade.
The qualifiers (hockey) and (hockey player) should never be used, because they do not distinguish between players of field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, and so on.
If a sportsperson in any form of rugby football— rugby league, rugby union, or beach rugby—is not a primary topic of all people with a similar name, use (rugby), (rugby player), (rugby union), (rugby league), or (beach rugby).
Wikipedia article titles use diacritics, tone marks, and non-English letter forms where needed, consistently with article text (see MOS:ROMANISATION and WP:DIACRITICS). For titling sportsperson articles:
Wikipedia follows reliable-source usage, on a subject-by-subject basis, with regard to diacritics. If sources indicate that a diacritic belongs there, then we use it, even if some sources drop it. If sources (including the person's own published statements) indicate they prefer, or have dropped, the diacritic, then Wikipedia will do so as well; see also WP:ABOUTSELF and MOS:IDENTITY. Check the sources; do not make assumptions. For example, the Spanish name Rodríguez is frequently spelled both with and without the acute accent in the United States, on a family-by-family or person-by-person basis. And check sources broadly; sport governing bodies are notorious for dropping diacritics for expediency while other sources correctly retain them for individuals who use them.