Proper Names
Q. When one makes an adjective out of a proper name, does one retain the capital letter? For example, should “gram-negative,” the adjective describing a bacterium showing a certain result on Gram’s test, actually be written “Gram-negative” (as my spellchecker seems to “think”)? Answer »
Q. I wonder what your ruling is on using Latin-based (but non-Latin) characters as part of a person’s name. At my job, I am often required to write about Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan. English publications usually write it as “Erdogan,” but this has the side effect of people pronouncing it “Er-do-gan” and looking foolish. I would argue we should write it “Erdoğan,” as this more closely reflects the name’s pronunciation (as well as its actual spelling), and the alphabet is still comprehensible to an English speaker. However, what is your take? Answer »
Q. When spelling last names, are there rules? We have family names like LaFleur—should there be a space between the a and the f? Should the L be in caps or lowercase? When spelling place-names, there is a space—Los Angeles would never be spelled without the space—right? I am confused—can you help? Answer »
Q. We are working on a biography of Pope John Paul II in which the author refers to the subject alternately as Wojtyla and Karol. The question is, should it be made consistent throughout? Answer »
Q. I am proofreading a nonfiction book which introduces new people in an inconsistent manner: sometimes they are introduced by first name, sometimes last, sometimes by a shortened form of their name. Sometimes the book goes several pages before completely identifying the person. Is there a rule which governs how names should be handled? Answer »
Q. My job entails editing and Americanizing books from the UK. We normally change British spellings to American for our audience, like defence to defense or centre to center. But what do I do in cases where one of these words is part of an official name, as in Ministry of Defence? or such-and-such Centre? If I leave the British spelling, it looks wrong compared to the text, but if I change it to the American spelling, it is wrong according to the organization. Answer »
Q. I am a translator and in my work I always have to deal with proper names of works of art, locations, streets, cities, etc. What is the rule of thumb for that? Leave in the original language or translate into English? I have seen both. Would you kindly help me? Answer »
Q. Many of the products that my company offers employ midcaps (internal capital letters) as well as partial italics—for example, CustomerCares. In 8.163, I see that Chicago style is to preserve midcaps in company or product names—do you recommend the same for italics? Answer »
Q. Does the CMOS have a preferred spelling list of prominent Iraqi proper names, cities, and towns? Different publications use different spellings, but I would like to adhere to the CMOS preferences. Answer »
Q. How should I list an author’s name when it is given in different forms in different works I am citing (e.g., John Smith, John R. Smith, J. R. Smith)? In the case of an author’s name in a non-Roman script, if the name has been transliterated differently in different publications, shall I list the name as given in each publication, or choose one form? If a name in a non-Roman script is transliterated differently from the system of transliteration I am using, what shall I do? Thank you! Answer »
Q. When printing the name of someone whose last name is instantly recognizable and unmistakable like, say, Warhol, would you still advise that the person’s given name be included upon first mention? Or is it acceptable to refer to the individual by his/her last name right off the bat (Bach, Shakespeare, Warhol, etc.)? Answer »
Q. Hello folks. I’m editing a travel brochure on South America, and one of the natural wonders featured prominently is Iguaçú (or Iguazú) Falls, which sits right where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina meet. While this is a single wonder, it is accessible from three different countries boasting a total of two different national languages, and as such it has two possible correct spellings: Iguaçú (Portuguese, on the Brazil side) and Iguazú (Spanish, preferred in Paraguay and Argentina). National Geographic Atlas of the World (8th edition) uses both spellings (Iguazú National Park in Paraguay, Iguaçú River in Brazil, for example), showing the border where the spelling (and political jurisdiction) changes. They refer to the falls in Portuguese (Foz do Iguaçú) on the map, but use both spellings in the index and on their Web site. I e-mailed them to ask if they knew which country if any maintains physical ownership of the falls, and apparently it is a shared natural wonder. They suggested that I use both spellings in my brochure, Spanish in the sections on Spanish countries, and so on. This was not a feasible solution for this type of project, so in the end I just chose one (Iguazú: another editor’s son is named Zheid, pronounced “Zed.” We established a new house rule that whenever there is a choice between two spellings, pick the one with a zed. If there is no z and no other clear solution, flip a coin). How would CMOS handle this one? Answer »
Q. Since the Great Depression can be shortened to simply the Depression, how does one deal with a document that includes both usages? Sometimes the word “Great” adds the right amount of emphasis or helps the cadence of the sentence. Other times, just “the Depression” will do. Must one keep consistent by choosing one over the other? Answer »
Q. If someone has a PhD and is a professor at a university, what would be his or her title? Doctor or Professor? Answer »
Q. Dear CMOS: Several of my coworkers have balked at a copyedit I have made repeatedly, and I want to get to the bottom of it, whether I’m proven right or wrong. The University of Texas specifies on its Web site that “the” is part of its name and that it should therefore be capitalized in every reference to the university. However, I have done extensive research on the matter and have found that most respected copyeditors do not capitalize “the” when it also functions as an article in a sentence, as in “We evaluated the University of Texas’s enrollment data.” I have met with staunch resistance to lowercasing this “the,” especially from coworkers who happened to attend the university in question. Will you please resolve this for me? Answer »
Q. I notice in your online Q&A that you put a period after Harry S. Truman. I was told that there should be no period after the S, when I took a copyediting class decades ago, and doubted that, so I wrote to him. I have a letter from him saying that since it doesn’t stand for anything in particular, it does not take a period. Shouldn’t we go with his own stated preference? I’ll be glad to send you a copy of the letter. Answer »
Q. Your copy editing leaves something to be desired. In section 8.64, the correct spelling is Baudelaire, not Beaudelaire. Answer »
Q. In your last Q&A section where you addressed the proper form for names of aircraft, such as the Spirit of St. Louis , the term “Air Force One” came up. This is NOT a proper name for an airplane; it is merely the radio call sign of whichever U.S. Air Force airplane has the president on board. Many airplanes have been used as Air Force One: Ike flew in Columbine; Nixon flew home to California in disgrace in the Spirit of ’76. In each case the radio call sign was “Air Force One.” It is appropriate to capitalize Air Force One (or similarly Marine One or—recently when President Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln—Navy One). Answer »
Q. This Q&A webpage has been very helpful to me. Thank you for making it publicly available. I have been looking over 8.125 in the fifteenth edition and cannot find reference to airplane names—it covers airplane makes and classes but not names. Would you suggest italicizing airplane names such as “Air Force One” and also italicizing WWII plane names? Thank you for your help. Answer »
Q. When a proper name begins a sentence, is it always capitalized, even when it’s a name commonly seen as lowercase (e. e. cummings, for example)? I’m also unclear about names with particles. CMOS 8.11 says de (or d’) is always lowercased and is often dropped when the surname is used alone. How would I know that it’s dropped from Tocqueville but not from de Gaulle if neither of these names were in Webster’s New Biographical Dictionary? Answer »
Q. CMOS 15, at paragraph 8.124, says the names of specific ships and other vessels are italicized. In our editing department, we have run across the question of whether to italicize the name of the Mars rovers, such as Sojourner Rover. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition, a spacecraft is a vehicle or device designed for travel or operation outside Earth’s atmosphere. With that definition, I think the Sojourner Rover would be italicized, but a colleague believes M-W is being too general with its definition. What’s your opinion? Answer »
Q. Can you provide more detail on the rules governing the use of short-form given names, nicknames, or pseudonyms, etc.? I am interested particularly in different-language versions of a first name— Answer »
Q. When referring to Orville and Wilbur Wright as a unit, should the word “brothers” be capitalized—Wright brothers vs. Wright Brothers? Answer »
Q. What is the CMOS standard for alphabetizing names that are hyphenated and not hyphenated? This would apply mainly to persons who, instead of hyphenating their name upon being married, make their pre-marriage last name their middle name. For example, Pat Doe Smith and Pat Doe-Smith. Should both examples of this name be alphabetized under the Ds, the Ss, or would the first example be alphabetized under the Ss and the second example be alphabetized under the Ds? Answer »
Q. Hello from Poland! While I have never actually seen CMOS (there is no copy in the US Consulate Library in Poznan where I live), I have seen it mentioned as an authority everywhere. I am now working on a project that requires automated identification of persons and would be grateful to know if CMOS addresses the question of translating given names. When and where are they translated and when do they remain in the original language? Are there any rules in English for this? Of course, one knows the most obvious cases such as Karl Marx and Charles the Bald, but many other cases are not so obvious. For instance, Russian princes are usually named Yuri rather than George. I shall be most grateful for any tips/suggestions. Answer »
