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Latest comment: 6 years ago38 comments9 people in discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
Should entries by sorted by first name or last name? These are not true surnames. For example, I'd argue "Thorgy Thor" should not be sorted by "Thor". ---Another Believer(Talk)14:30, 10 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
They should be sorted by surname if they have one. I can't find a specific guideline on sorting by pseudonyms, but WP:SURNAME states that "People who are best known by a pseudonym should be subsequently referred to by their pseudonymous surnames, unless they do not include a recognizable surname in the pseudonym." Therefore we should apply that logic to sort keys. --woodensuperman14:35, 10 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
To be fair, by posting there you may only get input from fans of the show, who may not be coming at this from a neutral position. I've posted something at relevant Wikiprojects and guideline talk pages. --woodensuperman09:22, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
WP:SURNAME says People who are best known by a pseudonym should be subsequently referred to by their pseudonymous surnames, unless they do not include a recognizable surname in the pseudonym (e.g. Sting, Snoop Dogg, the Edge), in which case the whole pseudonym is used.. The case of Snoop Dogg is clearly analogous to cases like Kim Chi, Detox Icunt, etc. Umimmak (talk) 23:19, 10 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
Many names used by actors and writers are pseudonyms, and perusing at least one actor category indicates that the fact it is a pseudonym does not matter to any large degree. (There's something in my head that not so many of these pages are notable, but that's an aside.) --Izno (talk) 12:46, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
A good point that Umimmak made on the template talk page is that, unlike many actors and writers that go by pseudonyms, the queens are regularly referred to by their first names in situations where most people would be referred to by their surnames, most notably in the secondary source coverage used to source articles on Wikipedia. A few examples:
Billboard referring to Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova as "Trixie" and "Katya," not as "Mattel" or "Zamolodchikova." Trixie in particular has had a great deal of press coverage since winning All Stars 3 and bolstering her music career, and I've never seen any source call her "Mattel." [1]
Billboard reporting on "Katya" and "Alaska," not "Zamolodchikova" and "Thunderfuck." [2]
It's also worth noting that in the progress tables on season pages here on Wikipedia, all queens that have not yet been eliminated are alphabetized by first name (including right now, at RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10)). The promotional materials released by Logo TV, VH1 and World of Wonder also alphabetize queens by first name.
It doesn't matter what other publications do, they will have their own internal styles, or they may have their own reason for using first names. They will probably do the same for contestants of other reality shows. They may do the same for any entertainer. Promotional materials are just that, promotional, they have a TV show to sell, so they're going market it in whatever way they please. And whatever "drag industry standard" is, it isn't Wikipedia standard. We have our own house styles to be followed. What we are addressing here is how to sort these in Wikipedia's category tree. I'm actually a bit worried that fans of the show are steamrollering our guidelines and ignoring our MOS, as we saw yesterday with the template, and as Izno points out, our notability guidelines. I'm concerned that there maybe some serious quality issues to address with all articles related to this topic. --woodensuperman15:14, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
The publications I've linked follow the AP Stylebook, which does say that, barring exceptional circumstances, article subjects should be referred to by their last names after the first mention. Unfortunately I can't find a freely accessible online version of that stylebook, but I'm pretty familiar with its content seeing as I used to copy edit a newspaper.
Remember that the purpose of a category like this is to help readers find the content that they're looking for, and many readers may not know all the queens' last names since they're often not used on the show. I just think it's important to keep in perspective what this category is meant to accomplish in the first place and go from there. I think it's pertinent to keep WP:5P5 in mind. Armadillopteryxtalk15:36, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
(edit conflict)We're not discussing the navbox here. Look, the fans have all had their say now, let's wait to see what other input we receive from the notices posted on the projects' and guidelines' talk pages, but there's absolutely no way that we should be using first names in cases such as Carmen Carrera or Ivy Winters. --woodensuperman15:43, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
since they're often not used on the show or in reliable sources. It is completely ridiculous to expect a reader to find Detox under I since they are much more often referred to as just Detox. And it's also a bit ORy to decide that something is a last name. E.g., is it "Hillz, Monica Beverly" and not "Beverly Hillz, Monica"? Is "Kim Chi" a Korean name with the family name Kim or is it a "Western" name with the family name Chi? What reliable sources designate a surname for each name and use that to provide an alphabetical order? There is, however, precedent to alphabetize starting with the first character both within Wikipedia and from other sources. Umimmak (talk) 15:52, 11 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
Also another reason to not use last names is that they change, or are sometimes used when they weren't used on the show. Someone who knows them only from the show would only know Detox, Alaska, Willam, etc., mononymously, and Tyra 007 as Tyra Sanchez. Sorting by first name makes it easier to find everyone. It's also a moot point for now but might be worth discussing: what to do with cases like "Mrs. Kasha Davis", "Miz Cracker", "The Princess", "The Vixen", etc.? Some past discussion at Talk:RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10)#Alphabetizing of The VixenUmimmak (talk) 21:46, 13 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
I agree with the action taken. re: "decided ... to ignore any guideline", the action is in line with the part of WP:SURNAME unselectively quoted by Umimmak above. Remember that our guidelines are meant to reflect common sense. We take our cues from reliable, secondary sources, even if we don't follow their exact style. If the majority of the extant sources do not treat the second word in a two-word name as a surname, then neither should we. I'd imagine that "The Princess" should sort as "Princess, The", but I'll leave that to those more familiar with the sourcing.
To change the sort key for THIS category is one thing, but to remove the sort keys for these people for ALL the categories? That is definitely inappropriate. Someone like Carmen Carrera should not be sorted by her first name everywhere else... --woodensuperman10:02, 14 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
(edit conflict)With reference to your second point (added in after my response), yes, this probably is the way to go. The editors here should not have removed the default sortkeys en masse for all of the entries without considering each one on a case by case basis, and without considering how this affects the sort order in all the other categories. --woodensuperman10:19, 14 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
If the pseudonym doesn't have a recognizable surname, there is no functional issue with removing the default sort. (Though I think it would be smarter to leave the default sort template and enter the name as it should be sorted so that the absence of the template doesn't read as a mistake.) Whether Carmen Carrera's sources refer to her as Carmen or Carrera for sort and subsequent use sounds like a discussion for the article's talk page. czar10:16, 14 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
If I did, then that was an error, although the discussion hasn't been left long enough to determine true consensus, but, whatever. --woodensuperman15:28, 15 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
Not if you did. You did, but I'll assume the Kennedy Davenport edit was an error. And I know you disagree with sorting by first name, but thank you (truly) for cooperating. ---Another Believer(Talk)15:29, 15 May 2018 (UTC)Reply
Ru Paul isn't a first-name surname, it's a two-part stagename, a mononym like "Madonna" that happens to have a space in it (and which RS actually frequently render as RuPaul). On the larger question, "jokey" stage names should sort by the full name, e.g. "Detox Icunt"; no one sane is going to treat "Icunt" as a real surname. If people really want to, they can create categorized redirects for the reverse order. Non-jokey ones should be treated as regular surnames, thus "Ryder, Winona". — SMcCandlish☏¢ 😼 11:34, 22 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
So should "Eureka O'Hara" and "Willam Belli" be sorted in Category:RuPaul's Drag Race contestants as "O'Hara, Eureka" and "Belli, Willam" even though in the context of the show they were known mononymously? How many reliable sources discuss what the surname of "Monica Beverly Hillz" is (Hillz, or Beverly Hillz)? And as noted above plenty of publications refer to drag queens by the first part of their drag name instead of last-naming them. To me, it seems like it is most useful to consistently sort alphabetically by the name at once instead of having to individually determine what is and isn't a surname and hope that the general reader who might make use of this category agrees with those decisions when trying to find someone. Umimmak (talk) 19:11, 22 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
Personally I would say that a surname is only truly a surname if you can use the name without the first name (e.g. "Mr"+surname or "Ms"+surname). That is probably never the case here. Marcocapelle (talk) 14:11, 24 June 2018 (UTC)Reply
Avoid trying to be overly consistent. I don't think there is one single, simple answer to this. Sorting pseudonyms has to be decided on a pseudonym by pseudonym basis... and to reach the decision we have to see how the pseudonym is referred to in sources. To give an example: Mark Twain is routinely referred to as "Twain" in sources... However, Snoop Dog is not routinely referred to as "Dog" in sources (sources either use the full pseudonym, or use the shorter "Snoop"). Thus, Mark Twain is best sorted by "Twain" while Snoop Dog is best sorted by "Snoop". Blueboar (talk) 13:13, 22 July 2018 (UTC)Reply
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.