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Wikipedia:Categorization/Naming

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When naming a category, be particularly careful to choose an accurate and neutral name. Moving non-conventionally categorized pages to another category name (see {{Category redirect}}) imposes an additional overhead – an edit for each article and subcategory. Also, try to avoid names that are too long or too short. Short, straight-forward names are preferred for categories, though it may be necessary at times to deviate from this principle for clarity or disambiguation.

General conventions

  • 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.
  • 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").

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