For naming Brussels related articles, please take into account that:
- Brussels is an officially bilingual city with French and Dutch sharing an equal place;
- Although originally Dutch-speaking, Brussels is now majority French-speaking; making the language issue a sensitive matter (see Frenchification of Brussels for further details).
- The naming should follow the most common usage in English (see WP:NC).
- In addition to neutrality, readability is important.
- These guidelines reflect a consensus in order to reduce disputes.
Consensus approach[edit]
English or Anglicized names[edit]
If the subject has an English name or can easily be anglicized to facilitate reading and keep language neutrality:
- Use that name as a title (See WP:UE)
- Use that name throughout the article (see WP:MOS#Foreign terms)
- In the first line, if the translations are to be mentioned, follow the sequence French-Dutch
- In the infobox, use the sequence (English-)French-Dutch
- Example: Leopold Park
- Ensure the French and Dutch names are redirects to the article.
Common usage[edit]
If the subject has no English name, or cannot be easily anglicized:
- Find out which name is used the most often in English.
- In practice, this will almost always be French. Then:
- Use the French name in the title
- Use that name throughout the article
- In the first line, as well as in the infobox, follow the sequence French-Dutch
- Example: Avenue Louise
- Ensure the French and Dutch names are redirects to the article.
- If Dutch is used more often in English, reverse Dutch and French above.
Bilingualism within articles[edit]
For all other things mentioned in the article, such as streets, squares, buildings, statues, railway or subway stations, and so on:
- Use the double name (be consistent about which format is used in each article) the first time the thing is mentioned unless there is a linkable article (in which case use the title) or an extremely obvious English name.
- Use the French (or Dutch, if that is more common in English) name thereafter.
- Example: There is an expensive store at the intersection of Rue de la Concorde/Eendrachtstraat and Avenue Louise. Rue de la Concorde has lots of fancy shops.
- Example: It is near Leopold Park.
Municipalities[edit]
For the Municipalities of Brussels:
- for the following municipalities the French name has been chosen, in line with the most commonly used names in English:
- for the following municipalities no significant preference in the English language has been found. After discussion, the Dutch names have been chosen:
Administration[edit]
Details about the decision can be found at Talk:Brussels-Capital Region/NamingArchive3.
If there is already a consensus, it does not need to be replaced to follow these guidelines.
Please add this template to the talk page of relevant articles: {{Brusselsname}}