This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things look alike - it is a style guide. The following rules don't claim to be the last word. One way is often as good as another, but if everyone does it the same way, the Ireland Information Guide will be easier to read and easier to use, not to mention easier to write and easier to edit.
New contributors are reminded that clear, informative and unbiased writing is always more important than presentation and formatting. Writers are NOT expected or required to follow all or any of these rules: the joy of wiki editing is that perfection is not required. Copy-editing Ireland Information Guide users will be referring to these pages when weeding, and pages will be gradually made to conform with this guide.
see also: Ireland Information Guide:WikiProject Biography
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The opening paragraph should give:
For example:
For people who are best known by a pseudonym, the birth name should usually appear first in the article, followed closely by the pseudonym. Follow this practice even if the article itself is titled with the pseudonym:
Alternatively, the birth name can appear in apposition to the pseudonym:
Honorific prefixes should be used in the article text where appropriate, but not included in the entry title. For example:
Exceptions to this rule include cases where titles or honorifics have been transformed into universally known names, as with Genghis Khan, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Mother Teresa. Even the articles on Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin follow the general rule above.
After the initial mention of any name, the person may be referred to by surname only. For example:
The person may be referred to by their first name in the case of royalty. Similarly, if someone has been knighted they may be referred to as Sir Steve or Dame Judy
To disambiguate between siblings, use the surname of the article header to indicate that person, and use first names or complete names to indicate siblings.