Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (geographic names)

Should U.S. micropolitan areas use the same naming convention as metropolitan areas (i.e., WP:NCPLACE#Metropolitan areas)? Specifically, the question is whether the name of the state should be included or not and where the name of the state should be placed in the title. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 15:54, 1 August 2025 (UTC)

See the RM at Talk:London, KY Micropolitan Statistical Area#Requested move 3 September 2025. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 17:47, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

The answer seems to be that the name of the state should be at the end when it needs to be included. Now see Talk:Danville, Kentucky, micropolitan area#Requested move 4 October 2025, a four-article RM. —⁠ ⁠BarrelProof (talk) 00:28, 5 October 2025 (UTC)

Greetings! With regard to Special:diff/1320212666, the intention of the new wording was just clarity without changing meaning, and adding an example from one of the other types covered. Did you find some difference in meaning that you wanted to discuss? -- Beland (talk) 20:02, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, forgot to address @TarnishedPath:. -- Beland (talk) 20:03, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

@Beland, all good. TarnishedPath^talk 23:21, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

 Please see discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#RfC: Update to WP:USPLACE. —Myceteae‍🍄‍🟫 (talk) 00:11, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

Can someone please clarify whether "The Rocks, New South Wales" should be titled "The Rocks, Sydney"? I am not satisfied with the current state of WP:NCAUST because it is unclear and causes confusion, it says "Localities (other than suburbs) and places such as train stations, parks, etc., are disambiguated (only if needed) by adding a comma and the local government area name (e.g., The Rocks, Sydney, rather than The Rocks, New South Wales"; a locality and a suburb are not the same thing in official terms and the guideline uses brackets to create a distinction. The Rocks in Sydney is officially gazetted as a suburb, not a locality, but it is being used as an example in that paragraph, I think there is a bit of a contradiction there because it says other than a suburb which the area is classified as. That confusion is currently the cause for a requested move for The Rocks' article. Qwerty123M (talk) 06:51, 11 January 2026 (UTC)

I'd suggest the simplest solution would be to remove The Rocks as an example. Although given the example has been in the naming convention for a long time, I'd suggest this discussion be open for a while to see if there is any disagreement to removing it. TarnishedPath^talk 08:23, 11 January 2026 (UTC)

The text on The Rocks was added in added in July 2013. But that didn't reflect the naming convention in place at the time with New South Wales always used to disambiguate in March 2013. If The Rocks, New South Wales is moved to The Rocks, Sydney it will be the only one out of a list of 250 to have Sydney as a disambiguation suffix. Post the current WP:RM being closed, I would support a rewrite to reflect reality.

Its not just Sydney, but all members of the other list for Australian capital cities, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Perth use the state and not the city to disambiguate. Docciemer (talk) 08:33, 11 January 2026 (UTC)

I have dropped The Rocks as an example because it appears to be used in error, and there was not support for moving it to conform to the error. Anyone should feel free to pick and add a better example if they want. -- Beland (talk) 21:51, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

@Beland cheers. TarnishedPath^talk 23:00, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

WP:USPLACE is generally an incredibly random rule that doesn't serve any important purpose in terms of naming conventions, it really only serves as a block to shut down any article move to remove a name from a specific city despite being the primary topic. ~2026-78886-8 (talk) 18:36, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Disagree. USPLACE came about due to multiple discussions and gradual consensus building. Before it was created we had endless arguments on how to title various articles on cities in the US. Now we don’t. Blueboar (talk) 20:16, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

There was a recent RFC that determined USPLACE should be kept intact for now. See Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 207#RfC: Update to WP:USPLACE. SarekOfVulcan (talk) 20:25, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Nah, it makes perfect sense to preemptively disambiguate articles like Jacksonville, Florida and Baton Rouge, Louisiana while random Australian and Canadian places like Morwell and Spruce Grove get to be at the base name. Jessintime (talk) 20:51, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Disambiguation is only part of the issue… another factor is WP:COMMONNAME. It is very very common for sources to refer to places in the US using the “Town, State” format. Thus, we do as well. Blueboar (talk) 21:54, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

There are two distinct issues here: what the city is commonly known as, and the primary topic for its name. Except for a few large cities like Chicago, US cities are generally called City, State. Where appropriate, we have a primary redirect such as JacksonvilleJacksonville and Baton RougeBaton Rouge. This allows the article title to be the topic's common name but takes readers who type in a simple city name directly to the article – the best of both worlds. Certes (talk) 22:36, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

NO - the naming format format for US city articles is "<city>, <state>", except for the 50 largest cities which use "<city>". It has been this way for over 16 years, before I started editing in 2010. You should have created an account back in the 2000s to argue otherwise. • Sbmeirow • Talk • 11:08, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Please, not again, I'm begging you. I fully agree! But there's nothing that hasn't already been covered in the two decades of discussions linked at the top of this page. Leave well enough alone. James (^talk/_contribs) 16:48, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

We have maintenance Category:Redirect tracking categories for article talk pages to track the types of redirects for whatever reason unbeknownst to me.

My question is what {R from..." tag must be used in redirects in the following (hypothetical) cases:

• Dirter -> Dirter River
• Dirter River -> Dirter
• Dirter River -> River Dirter

interlanguage:

• Dirter -> Gryaznukha (not a river, but for the sake of an example)

Clearly it would be {{R from language}} |en|ru

But what about:

• Dirter River -> Gryaznukha

See Talk:Julia River for an issue to resolve. --Altenmann >talk 18:54, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Basically the title. Jamestown, Virginia isn't an existing town anymore and has not been for centuries. There is stuff there but it's basically purely historical, it's not a living settlement by any means. The article is only written from a historical perspective, about the settlement that existed in the 1600s. Is the title required to be in this format because of USPLACE? Ladtrack (talk) 23:31, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Unless someone claims it's the WP:primary topic, Virginia is good disambiguation, whether or not USPLACE applies. Station1 (talk) 00:16, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

I am considering doing that (haven't decided yet) but would need to know whether USPLACE applies first. Ladtrack (talk) 00:27, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Jamestown, New York is a pretty large city in its own right, so I don't think the Jamestown in Virginia is a clear enough primary topic (if a primary topic at all) to open that can of worms. TheCatalyst31 ^{Reaction•Creation} 00:31, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Perhaps you're right. Like I said, I haven't decided. I would like to know first whether it can be moved because of USPLACE though. Ladtrack (talk) 00:38, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

I can’t think why USPLACE wouldn’t apply. Blueboar (talk) 01:00, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Well, my thought process is that it says "populated places" and Jamestown isn't exactly a populated place. Also, it's more like a historical article than a city one, it doesn't have standard city fields like population or area and the whole article is written in the past tense. Ladtrack (talk) 01:12, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Jamestown was a populated place at one time. You're right that it's not spelled out, but it's probably best to stick to the USPLACE format unless there's a good reason not to in an individual case. If it helps, most ghost towns follow USPLACE guidance. Station1 (talk) 05:03, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Alright, thanks. I appreciate the guidance. Ladtrack (talk) 06:16, 9 March 2026 (UTC)