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.

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{{Ping project|Names}}

Basic principles

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 given 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

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

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

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)
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

see Wikidata:WikiProject Names/numbers

Lexemes

Create lexeme entries for all common names (given names, family names, etc.) that meet Notability criteria. Use proper noun (Q147276) as the lexical category.
Every existing spelling and pronunciation variant should have a lexeme. If it has its own item in Wikidata, there should also be a lexeme for it.
Each gloss should include a transliteration into the gloss language if the script of the name is uncommon in the gloss' language.
If a proper noun is also a company or place name, there should be a sense within the same lexeme representing the place or company name.
If a name is also a regular noun, the other noun should have its own lexeme, and there should be homograph lexeme (P5402) claims connecting them.
Some dictionaries also have entries for names. Consider adding those with external identifiers or described by source (P1343) claims. If a dictionary doesn't have an entry for a specific name, but it it usually has, add a not found in (P9660) claim.