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This is a project guideline about settlements and other places that have a place name in an alternative, recognised language of the United Kingdom and/or its constituent parts. It complements work at Wikipedia:Naming conventions and the WP:UKCITIES guidelines.

Please ensure that all changes to this page are discussed on the talk page and reflect consensus.

The Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names) combined with the Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English) provide a framework that requires that articles about settlements in the English Wikipedia should use their "English name", where one exists, at all times, both as the title and in articles.

This project guideline serves to aid the community in finding, verifying and displaying English exonyms in articles about settlements and other places within the UK. It also provides guidance on the use of non-English names in English Wikipedia articles about places within the UK.

It should be noted that there is no national names authority in the United Kingdom. Instead, geographical names as portrayed on hard-copy and digital products of the Ordnance Survey are recognised as being the authoritative geographical names of the UK.

Background: official use of non-English languages in the UK

Bilingual sign (English and Scottish Gaelic) at Partick railway station in Glasgow.

A bilingual sign (English and Irish) in County Antrim.

Main article : Languages of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom does not have a constitutionally defined official language. English is the main language, being spoken monolingually by more than 70% of the UK population, and is thus the de facto official language.

However, under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Ulster Scots and Scots (or Lowland Scots) languages are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government. As indigenous languages which continue to be spoken as a first language by native inhabitants, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic have a different legal status to other minority languages. For naturalisation purposes, a competence standard of English, Welsh or Scottish Gaelic is required. Those who pass the Life in the UK Test for British citizenship, are deemed to meet English language requirements.

In some parts of the UK, some of these languages are commonly spoken as a first language; in wider areas, their use in a bilingual context is sometimes supported and/or promoted by central and/or local government policy.

Branch	Language	Area	Status of language
Anglic	English	United Kingdom	De facto official language of the United Kingdom.
	Scots	Scotland	Around 1.5m (25% of Scotland's population) speak Scots (also known as Lowlands Scots).
	Ulster Scots	Northern Ireland	The Ulster Scots and Irish (or Gaeilge) languages received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland, under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Goidelic	Irish
	Scottish Gaelic	Scotland	Around 60,000 people in Scotland (or 1% of its population) speak Gaelic. Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked with "securing the status of the [Scottish] Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language". The main stronghold is the Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar), where the overall proportion of speakers is over 50%.
Brythonic	Welsh	Wales	Welsh is spoken by 600,000 people (20% of Wales's population). In Wales, the Welsh Language Board is tasked with ensuring that, "in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice, the English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality". Welsh as a first language is largely concentrated in north and west Wales, particularly Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Gwynedd, Ceredigion, and Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin), where the proportions of Welsh speakers are over 50%.
	Cornish	Cornwall	Usage of the revived Cornish language is variously estimated at 300 to 3,500 people.

Use of English place names in article titles

In English Wikipedia, the English name of a settlement or place should be used for the title of any article about that place. Editors in English Wikipedia should note that, for many places with names in alternative languages, these names may be identified by reference to the "languages" panel on the left of the screen, which shows articles on the same subject in different languages.

In Wales

As exceptions, there are a few places in Wales where the anglicised names which were used within living memory as the "English" names have increasingly fallen into disuse, and it is now correct to use the Welsh name to denote the current name of the place. Examples include Caernarfon (formerly Ca(e)rnarvon), Conwy (formerly Conway), and Llanelli (formerly Llanelly). References to the former "English" names of these places should only be in a historical context. Redirects from former names should also be used.

There are other places in Wales where it may be disputed whether the English or Welsh name should be used in this context, such as Anglesey (Welsh: Ynys Môn) and Carmarthen (Welsh: Caerfyddin). In these cases, the English name should be used for the article title, but the Welsh name should be shown prominently in the lead of the article.

The same principle applies to those places where the English name of the place is well established, such as Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd), Chepstow (Welsh: Cas-gwent), or Wrexham (Welsh: Wrecsam). Where geographical features such as rivers flow in both England and Wales, again, the English name should be used for the title and lead, with the Welsh name in brackets, such as River Dee (Welsh: Afon Dyfrdwy) and Severn Estuary (Welsh: Môr Hafren).

In Scotland

In Scotland, again, the English name should be used for the article name and lead, even in those areas where the Scottish Gaelic language has equal official status - such as Lewis (Scottish Gaelic: Leòdhas) and Stornoway (Scottish Gaelic: Steòrnabhagh). However, where the official name of a local authority or parliamentary constituency is in Scottish Gaelic - such as Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency) - that name should be used.

In Cornwall

English is the de facto official language in Cornwall. However, increasing recognition is being given to the Cornish language, for example in road signs and village name signs which are the responsibility of local councils. Where towns and other places within Cornwall have recognised Cornish names, these should be given in the lead of the article, as for example at Falmouth (Cornish: Aberfal).

References to non-English placenames in articles on places in England

Sign at Southall station in London showing the station name in the Gurmukhi script used in the Punjabi language which is widely used locally.

Many well-known settlements and geographical features within England have names in other UK languages as well as English. For example, London is known in Scottish Gaelic as Llunnain. In cases such as this, the clear emphasis should be placed on the English place name. Any reference to non-English placenames should only be justified by the context. For example, an article on Southall, which has a large population of Punjabi origin, is usefully illustrated by a photograph of a sign giving the name in the Gurmukhi (Punjabi) script.

References to non-English placenames in a historic context

Modern Welsh and Cornish both developed from the Brythonic languages spoken by the native population throughout England and parts of Scotland from several centuries BC until, at the earliest, the Anglo-Saxon invasions of several centuries AD. Historically, they gave rise to many current English placenames in those areas and elsewhere, predominantly of natural geographical features such as hills (for example, Penrith) and rivers (for example, River Avon). References to the origins of a place's name should be made either in the History section of the article, or in a separate "Toponymy" or "Origins of the name" section.

Several English towns close to the Welsh border had, and some still have, administrative and commercial links with Welsh-speaking areas. Ludlow (once the centre of government for Wales) and Ross-on-Wye also have names derived directly from the Welsh language. In those cases, and similar examples, it is appropriate to refer to their Welsh name under "History" or "Toponymy".

Use of modern Welsh placenames

Welsh Assembly Government policy is that all new road signs in Wales should be in English and Welsh. However, some references to English destinations are still given in English only.

There are modern Welsh names for many settlements and areas of England, including counties such as Devon (Welsh: Dyfnaint), areas such as Wirral (Welsh: Cilgwri), major cities such as Manchester (Welsh: Manceinion), historic and ecclesiastical centres such as Oxford (Welsh: Rhydychen), and smaller centres close to the Welsh border such as Oswestry (Welsh: Croesoswallt). These names have always been used by Welsh speakers, and are now becoming more public to non-Welsh speakers. For example, the Welsh Assembly Government's official policy is that all new road signs in Wales should be bilingual. This means that new road direction signs within Wales pointing to, for example, Bristol, also give the official Welsh name, Bryste. All new Ordnance Survey maps covering areas which straddle the border have bilingual titles.

In some cases, there is more than one Welsh name for a place - for example, Bristol was also known historically as Caerodor - and in many cases there are alternative spellings of the Welsh name. Where there is dispute or a need for consistency, modern placenames are recommended to Welsh government bodies by the Welsh Language Board. Such names can usually be checked by referring to the relevant Wicipedia Cymraeg page, and can be verified more authoritatively by reference to an online English-Welsh Dictionary such as this, this, or this.

Disputes can arise over the use to be made of current Welsh names for places in English Wikipedia, and some editors hold strong views over whether such exonyms should be mentioned in article leads, or indeed at all. Where references to the Welsh name in an article are justified and contextualised, it should be mentioned; where not, it should not. For example, articles on some places, such as Liverpool (Lerpwl), Hereford (Henffordd), or Oxford, could legitimately refer to their historic, commercial or other relationship to Welsh-speaking people, and mention their Welsh name in that context. Articles on other places, such as Ludlow, could refer to the Welsh name in the context of the etymology of the English name. Elsewhere, articles could make legitimate reference to the Welsh name in the context of a discussion of that name itself; for example, in the article on York, discussing the etymological relationship between the Welsh name (Efrog) and the Roman name (Eboracum). In all these cases, there are points of interest to an English-speaking audience which justify reference being made to the Welsh name in an English article. Any such references should be fully verified - see below.

Usage table

The following is a table which roughly outlines when and where place names in other languages are suitable, and how they should be displayed. As this is the English Wikipedia, English language toponyms and an explaination of their origin and meaning are included as standard. For convenience, England in this table discludes Cornwall, which is treated seperately.

Territory	Use	English	Scots	Scottish Gaelic	Welsh	Irish	Cornish	Ulster Scots
England*	Infobox	Y	N	N		N		N
	Lead	Y	N	N	N	N		N
	Main text (History/toponymy)	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	N
Scotland	Infobox	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
	Lead	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
	Main text (History/toponymy)	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Wales	Infobox	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N
	Lead	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N
	Main text (History/toponymy)	Y	N	N	Y	N		N
Northern Ireland	Infobox	Y		Y	N	Y	N	Y
	Lead	Y			N	Y	N	Y
	Main text (History/toponymy)	Y			N	Y	N	Y
Cornwall	Infobox	Y	N	N		N	Y	N
	Lead	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N
	Main text (History/toponymy)	Y	N	N		N	Y	N

Verifiability

A regular reason cited as an objection for "non-English" toponyms to be included in an article is their lack of verifiability. English places are easy to verify to its global status and the range of maps, gazetteers and other source material avaliable online. Exonyms are harder to verify for those who have no understanding of one of the minority or regional languages of the UK. Every effort should be made to verify an English exonym at the point at which they were added to the article; on the other hand, users should use an element of commonsense and be flexible towards their inclusion. It should be noted that unverified material of this nature is almost certain to be challenged if the article is nominated for Good Article or Featured Article status, and so editors should be wary of adding unverified material that would make future nominations to these less likely to succeed.

This section lists a collection of sources that can aid with finding and verifying exonyms:

Source	Language(s)	Territory covered	Content
A Key to English Place Names	English	England	A searchable index of place-names, their origin and possible meaning.
Placenames collected by Iain Mac an Tailleir (pdf)	Scottish Gaelic	Scotland	A selection of PDFs which list, alphabetically, Gaelic translations of English place names.
www.gaelicplacenames.org	Scottish Gaelic	Scotland	A national body for Gaelic place-names in Scotland.
Ordnance Survey: Guide to Welsh origins of place names in Britain	Welsh	England and Wales	A glossary of the elements, generic and qualifying, most frequently found in the place names of Wales.
	Irish
	Cornish

• Online Welsh-English dictionaries:
  University of Lampeter, English-Welsh, Welsh-English online dictionary.
  BBC Wales online dictionary
• Welsh Place Name Useful links
• How old is English?

Useful articles

• British toponymy
• English Place-Name Society
• Scottish Place-Name Society
• The North/South Language Body

See also

• Languages of the United Kingdom
• Wikipedia WikiProject Ireland Gaeilge taskforce
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (places)