Talk:Sujatha baliga

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. As BarrelProof and Cinderella157 noted, when sources are mixed on capitalisation, Wikipedia uses conventional capitalisation practices. (closed by non-admin page mover) – MaterialWorks 21:30, 1 May 2023 (UTC)

Sujatha baliga → Sujatha BaligaSujatha Baliga – Per standard English grammar and following sources, e.g. NY Times 1 & 2, UPI. I don't think that the use of the lowercase form, while present in some sources, meets the standard at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Personal names of "regular and established use in reliable independent sources". Also, it's quite confusing to present a proper noun in lowercase, and would argue against this guideline section under the general, broader MoS guideline to "write articles using straightforward, succinct, easily understood language" (second paragraph of main MoS page). Tol (talk | contribs) @ 03:09, 11 April 2023 (UTC) — Relisting. ModernDayTrilobite (talk • contribs) 15:08, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

• Oppose – many sources (all that I could read due to paywalls) do in fact use the lowercase form, which I assume the subject prefers. Compare maia arson crimew. -- Maddy from Celeste (WAVEDASH) 20:53, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
• Weak support: The NYT (two citations) and UPI articles use conventional uppercasing. The KPIX/CBS article uses conventional formatting in the image caption and all-lowercasing in the article body. So out of six cited sources, 3 of them use conventional uppercasing and only two of them consistently use all-lowercasing. One of the all-lowercase sources (The Imprint a.k.a. The Chronicle of Social Change) may be less reliable than the others. When sources are mixed, Wikipedia generally uses conventional styling. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:20, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

• Support: Mixed usage ing sources cited and news sources. Relevant guidance is at MOS:LCITEMS: Wikipedia articles may use lower-case variants of personal names if they have regular and established use in reliable third-party sources. This does not appear to be such a case. Cinderella157 (talk) 00:41, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. Moved as an uncontested request with minimal participation. If there is any objection within a reasonable time frame, please ask me to reopen the discussion; if I am not available, please ask at the technical requests page. (closed by non-admin page mover) –Maltazarian ^{ᚾparley${\displaystyle \lor }$investigateᛅ} 10:44, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Sujatha Baliga → Sujatha baliga – Documentation exists from multiple sources to show that the subject has a strong, consistent preference that her name be undercapitalized. Per MOS:LCITEMS, a Wikipedia article may use this style of capitalization for personal names when the subject has expressed their desire and the usage is "regular and established" in reliable third-party sources.

In 2023 this page was moved from "Sujatha baliga" to "Sujatha Baliga" based on evidence drawn from a single 2019 news cycle (see ).

The 2023 discussion counted 3 conventional sources (with 1 of those three consistently using lowercase in the body of the article) vs. 2 lowercase sources. Wire/desk outlets (NYT/UPI) tend to normalize all personal names to their own house style regardless of subject preference, so that capitalization is evidence of their own style guides, not of her name. While the sources who are engaging with her directly (MacArthur Foundation, the profile pieces, her own decade-plus usage) consistently use lowercase. Also, in the previous move discussion the Imprint was categorized as "may be less reliable than the others". I would push back against that a bit as the Imprint is a nonprofit newsroom covering child welfare/juvenile justice with an professional editorial staff (John Kelly is its senior editor). The evidence against standard capitalization has grown substantially since that discussion and the move. See below for at least five independent third-party sources, plus the subject's own documented usage since 2011:

1. The MacArthur Foundation ( and ): an institutional, third-party source (not a wire-service) has used lowercase consistently since the 2019 fellowship announcement. That consistency is corroborated by viewing the archived captures on the Wayback Machine ().

2. The Imprint (formerly The Chronicle of Social Change) (), FWIW published the same week as the NYT/UPI pieces, states explicitly: "She prefers that her name be uncapitalized."

3. Independent third-party profile pieces in Lion's Roar ( and ), Bioneers (), Just Beginnings Collaborative (), and TransformHarm.org () all use the undercapitalized form.

4. The subject has used the undercapitalized form as her own display name since May 2011 on her X/Twitter account (). This predates the 2019 press cycle announcments by eight years.

5. Her personal/professional website ( and ) uses undercapitalized styling throughout, with a copyright notice spanning 2018–2024, also predating the 2019 coverage. Other sources can be found via a Google News search or (as was done by user Cinderella157 during the move discussion)

The previous move was nominated by user Tol who argued that it is "confusing to present a proper noun in lowercase." However the undercapitalized naming convention is consistent with existing precedent for subjects with a documented lowercase-name preference, e.g. bell hooks and k.d. lang , both of which apply {{lowercase title}} to display the name in lowercase despite some capitalized coverage existing for both. By contrast, E. E. Cummings' name retains standard capitalization because his own actual personal practice was to sign his name with capitals, contrary to common myth. This case is the opposite, where the subject's own sustained, dateable practice is the undercapitalized form.

If this move succeeds, I would also propose adding {{lowercase title}} so the displayed title reads 'sujatha baliga' in full, per the bell hooks and k.d. lang precedents cited above. Da.mappr (talk) 03:27, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Da.mappr (talk) 03:27, 20 July 2026 (UTC)