Talk:Philip S. Wright

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Article main title header Philip Wright (bishop) or Philip S. Wright[edit]

1) The question has arisen whether this biographical entry's main title header should be Philip Wright (bishop) or Philip S. Wright. Both are correct in their own manner, since it appears that the bishop's official form is "Philip S.", while he is frequently referenced as simply "Philip". In its official announcement (https://sites.google.com/site/dioceseofbelizecpwi/about-bishop-wright), the Anglican Diocese of Belize refers to him as "Philip S.", but in the final sentence states "Bishop Philip Wright is married to…" The bishop's Linkedin profile refers to him as "Philip", while the Love Foundation of Belize (http://www.lovefoundationbelize.com/?page_id=532) titles its entry "Bishop Philip Wright", but underneath gives his full title as "The Rt. Rev’d. Philip S. Wright B.A. (Hons). M.A." The Anglican Communion News Service (http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2005/10/new-bishop-for-the-diocese-of-belize.aspx) refers to him as "Philip Wright", while the Belize Association of Florida Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10153077039496185&id=292758311184) and Saint Timothy's Episcopal Church (http://saint-timothy.net/outreach/shoes-for-belize.html) indicate "Philip S."

2) There are numerous examples of such dichotomy: President Truman was generally known as "Harry Truman", but the official form has been Harry S. Truman. Mayor LaGuardia was commonly known as Fiorello LaGuardia, but the official form has been Fiorello H. LaGuardia, as witness the renowned educational institution, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. Examples and discussions on this topic may be found at Middle name and Talk:Middle name as well as WP:Middle names and various archived talk pages at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (people)/Archive 1–13.. —Roman Spinner (talk)(contribs) 00:31, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I would prefer Philip Wright (bishop) as recommended in WP:BISHOP. There are other Philip Wrights so there is a need to disambiguate, it seems to me there is inconsistent use of his middle initial and so (bishop) after his name seems better to me. But I will leave it to a WP:ADMIN to make a call. Wayne Jayes (talk) 11:37, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
1) A comment should be added about the recommendation in WP:BISHOP. In attempting to standardize forms used within parenthetical qualifiers, Wikipedia recommends commonly used terms such as "(bishop)" [when applicable], rather than the more-general "(priest)", "(minister)", "(divine)" or "(ecclesiastical personality)". Such forms are used for most professions: "(actor)", rather than "(thespian)" or "(performer)"; "(cinematographer)", rather than "(director of photography)", etc. Although middle names and initials continue to be occasionally forced [usually for disambiguation purposes] into the main title headers of individuals who do not [or did not] use them [or were known for their use], in the case at hand, it is clear that the middle initial "S." is part of the bishop's official name.
2) Please note that while it is mentioned in the Anglican Diocese of Belize's opening sentence that "S." stands for "Silvin", the bishop is never officially referenced as "Philip Silvin Wright", but only as "Philip S. Wright". "Philip Wright" is a relatively common name and that is likely the reason for the bishop's decision to use the middle initial. In a general context, it is understandable that some references would be to "Philip", rather than to "Philip S.", but that should not be considered "inconsistent" usage, since, for the most part, he is referenced as "Bishop Wright", rather than as simply "Philip Wright". —Roman Spinner (talk)(contribs) 16:55, 9 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • I made the original move in response to a G6 speedy deletion and move request, which was marked non-controversial. For what it's worth I have no strong opinion on which is the best name. Stifle (talk) 09:20, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]