Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Latter Day Saints)

This guideline contains conventions on how to name Wikipedia articles about the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormonism, or about people and entities associated with these movements. It should be read in conjunction with Wikipedia's general policy on article naming, Article titles.

The guiding principles of naming articles relating to the Latter Day Saint movement are as follows, in order of relative priority: (1) Follow all general Wikipedia policies, including the policies on article titles, neutral point of view, no original research, and verifiability. (2) Do not over-generalize: many Mormonism-related topics will not apply, or have little relevance, to the Community of Christ. (3) Do not over-specialize: do not create articles specific to one faction of the Latter Day Saint movement if the article could be improved by treating the subject within a larger context. (4) Prefer shorter titles and terms over longer ones.

Applying Wikipedia policies to Latter Day Saint article titles
Most questions about naming articles relating to the Latter Day Saint movement can be answered by reference to the general Wikipedia policies, including the policies on article titles, neutral point of view, no original research, and verifiability.

Names of people
Titles of articles relating to people should generally follow Naming conventions (people). However, it is a common practice within the Latter Day Saint movement to disambiguate leaders with the same name by using differently abbreviated middle names. For example, Joseph F. Smith is the father of Joseph Fielding Smith, even though his middle name is also Fielding. See also Ezra T. Benson and Ezra Taft Benson, etc. This practice should be followed in naming church leaders.

When a leader of the post-1844 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has the same name as people outside the Latter Day Saint movement, the person may be disambiguated with the parenthetical (Mormon). See, for example, John W. Taylor (Mormon) and W. W. Phelps (Mormon).

Latter Day Saints who were not affiliated with the post-1844 LDS Church may be disambiguated with the parenthetical (Latter Day Saints). See, for example, Sylvester Smith (Latter Day Saints) and William Marks (Latter Day Saints).

Controversial or fringe subjects
Many subjects relating to the Latter Day Saint movement relate to academic subjects that are taken seriously by Mormon scholars but are dismissed or considered fringe topics among outside scholars. Such article names should follow the Wikipedia policy on fringe topics.


 * Example: an article entitled Moroni (Book of Mormon) is more proper than an article entitled Moroni (person), because the latter title implies the controversial position that Moroni was a real person.

Articles about the whole Latter Day Saint movement
Articles that apply to the Latter Day Saint movement in general should use the phrase "Latter Day Saint movement" or the phrase "Latter Day Saints". Such articles should be recognizable, natural, precise, concise, and consistent with other Latter Day Saint-related titles, and should reflect a neutral point of view. For example:
 * History of the Latter Day Saint movement
 * Latter Day Saint denominations

Articles about Mormons and Mormonism
Articles that apply specifically to Mormonism, but not necessarily the entire Latter Day Saint movement, should use the phrase "Mormonism", "Mormon", or "Mormons".

The term Mormon or its derivatives such as Mormonism are appropriate when referring to organizations, doctrines, and practices that have a historical connection to Brigham Young, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon polygamy. For example:
 * Mormonism
 * Mormon fundamentalism
 * Mormon pioneers
 * Mormons

The scope of the term Mormonism differs from the broader term Latter Day Saint movement, and reflects a significant divide between factions after the death of founder Joseph Smith, Jr. who followed Brigham Young and/or continued Smith's practice of plural marriage—who are properly called Mormons, and those who were opposed to plural marriage, many of whom formed denominations such as the Community of Christ, and may be offended by being called Mormon.

Articles about a single denomination
Articles about only one Latter Day Saint denomination should use the full name of the denomination as it exists on the denomination's Wikipedia page. For example:
 * History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * History of the Community of Christ

Disambiguation
If necessary for disambiguation, articles that apply broadly to the whole Latter Day Saint movement should preferentially contain the parenthetical (Latter Day Saints). For example:
 * Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
 * Restoration (Latter Day Saints)
 * Sacrament (Latter Day Saints)

If an article applies specifically to Mormonism or to Mormons, and not necessarily to all Latter Day Saints including the Community of Christ, the parenthetical (Mormonism) may be used. For example:
 * Exaltation (Mormonism)
 * Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)
 * Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)
 * Penalty (Mormonism)

To avoid unnecessary confusion and multiplication of articles, there should never be a (Mormonism) article if there is also a (Latter Day Saints) article on the same topic, unless there is a compelling reason.

In some circumstances, it may be appropriate to disambiguate an article to reflect subject matter specific to an individual denomination. Unidenominational articles should never be used when substantially all of the same information would also apply to other denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement or within Mormonism, or where differences between the denominations can be explained briefly in a multidenominational article. To avoid redundancy, the unidenominational article should focus on the material unique to that denomination, or to the differences between that denomination and other Latter Day Saint denominations. For example:
 * Priesthood (Community of Christ)
 * Temple (LDS Church)

If necessary for disambiguation, articles that apply in the context of only one Latter Day Saint denomination should contain the following parentheticals:

Redirects

 * There should be separate articles for:
 * Latter Day Saint movement
 * Mormon
 * Mormonism
 * Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)
 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * each of the various Mormon groups or Latter Day Saint churches, listed by their official name, with disambiguating parentheticals, as necessary
 * Articles containing "Latter-day Saint", "LDS", "lds", "LdS", or similar acronyms should redirect to pages containing "Latter Day Saint".
 * "LDS Church", "Mormon Church", and similar phrases should redirect to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints