Wikidata:WikiProject Names

This Wikiproject aims to provide structured data to study people's names throughout history, in the whole world, in all languages, for all people present in Wikidata, through structural properties and linguistic information.

Participants[edit]

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The participants listed below can be notified using the following template in discussions:

{{Ping project|Names}}

Basic principles[edit]

These are the basic principles of this project. For more specific info, see Wikidata:WikiProject Names/Help

names, first names, surnames and each other element of name must have their own item;
each string should have a distinct item: the most important property is therefore native label (P1705). Wassyl is not Василь is not Васіль is not Vasyl;
there should be just a single native label (P1705) statement per item
label should always stay in their own language; when native label (P1705) uses another writing system, the label must be a transcription of native label (P1705). The original name should then be added in description and as alias (other transcriptions should also be added as aliases);
keep instance of (P31) simple: given name (Q202444), female given name (Q11879590), male given name (Q12308941), unisex given name (Q3409032), double name (Q1243157), family name (Q101352), i.e. NO "Russian name", Belarusian name (Q35002801), etc.
a Wikimedia disambiguation page (Q4167410) is not a name -> see Wikidata:WikiProject Names/Disambiguation
never merge 2 items that are not strictly identical: a family name (Q101352) is not a given name (Q202444)... In case of doubt, please ask;
keep descriptions as basic as possible (male first name), without adding the language or the etymology.

Properties[edit]

People names is a complex subject of study, because of historical, cultural, linguistical usages for naming. Therefore, we have a few generic properties, and a LOT of very specific ones, to be able to manage most cases.

→ See the dedicated subpage for a list: Wikidata:WikiProject Names/Properties.

Sample items[edit]

male given name: Sylvain (Q16281827)
family name: Sylvain (Q18001608)
name: Sylvain (Q18086660)
Wikimedia disambiguation page: Sylvain (Q15849776)

variants of male given name: Silvano (Q677210), Silvan (Q17565057), Silvanus (Q17565188), Szilvánusz (Q17565212), Silviu (Q2286869), Sylwan (Q17565214)
variants of surname: Silvanus (Q16281517), Silviu (Q2286869)
female version of male given name: Sylvaine (Q17617112), Silvia (Q837124)
lexeme: Guðni (L968)

Tools and gadgets[edit]

There are many tools and gadgets that can help you:

Cradle cradle/#/subject/given_or_family_name to create new items
AutoEdit Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets to add descriptions from the instance of (P31)
NameGuzzler User:Jitrixis/nameGuzzler.js to add labels in roman languages - you'll need a personal subpage for these languages
Labellister see Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets (to manage Labels/descriptions/alias in all languages at once)
transliteration Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets - as a help to understand how a name is pronounced in en - should not be used to complete labels.
VIAF (the database), to help find the name in native language (P1559) of Russian, Japanese, Chinese people...
"Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names" (2010)
- "Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names – With Examples" (2018)

Statistics[edit]

see Wikidata:WikiProject Names/numbers

Lexemes[edit]

Create lexeme entries for all common names (given names, family names, etc.) that meet Notability criteria. Use proper noun (Q147276) as the lexical category.