ESB:Proposals/Use of surname vs. common name

Open Proposal The following is an ongoing proposal. Please feel free to voice your opinion, but be sure to follow the rules. How proposals work Concerns stage Someone brings up a topic for a proposal. The community discusses that topic. Voting stage The proposal is brought to a vote, taking into account any changes discussed by the community. The community votes. You can use any of the following prior to your comments to show your opinion. {{Support}} • {{Neutral}} • {{Oppose}} • {{Change}} • {{Comment}} • {{Reply}} • {{Question}} Neutral votes do not count in determining the outcome percentage.

Introduction

As with any content dispute, we need to come to an agreement. See here for the content dispute on the Hall Monitor article. The dispute is also regarding an addition to the ESB:Grammar Guide.

The disputed guideline is as follows:

---

• 4. When writing an article, particularly a character article, you should only use a first name once. Instead, use the last name.

• Incorrect: SpongeBob SquarePants went to work. SpongeBob told Eugene H. Krabs, his boss, "Hello."
• Correct:SpongeBob SquarePants went to work. SquarePants told Eugene H. Krabs, his boss, "Hello."

• • One exception is when two or more characters with a last name are mentioned in the article. If this comes up, this is how you handle it:
    • 1. Do not use the character's first or full name for the entire article.
    • 2. Once this occurs, use the first name of the character and then resume using the last name.
  • One exception is headings (particularly in "Relationship" subsections on a character page). Use the full name of the character for this.
  • This rule does not apply to characters that referred to by their full name, like Mermaid Man.

---

Now, Wikipedia uses the above guideline, referring to a person by surname, the formal term. There are numerous websites that discuss the usage, in which generally, in formal writings, the surname is used, while in informality, the first name or common name is used.

It should be noted that very few characters on SpongeBob SquarePants have a known surname. Please discuss how we should deal with this. This discussion will end on Thursday, November 6, 2014 at midnight, eastern time. — AMK152 (Wall • Contrib) 03:59, October 30, 2014 (UTC)

Question

After giving the character's full name in bold at the beginning of the article, how do we address them throughout the article?

Here are the options:

• 1. Refer to character by surname throughout the article if their surname is known.
• 2. Refer to character by the name in which they are most commonly known.
• 3. Add your own option, if there is one.

Discussion

1. Refer to character by surname

• Oppose - This should be for real people, not characters.
   Nicko756 ^{(M•C•E) Sign!}  04:58, October 30, 2014 (UTC) 
• Template:Extremely Strong Oppose We're not in a grammar school. xD --Spongebob456 ^talk 08:46, October 30, 2014 (UTC)

2. Refer to character by most common usage

• Support -  Nicko756 ^{(M•C•E) Sign!}  04:58, October 30, 2014 (UTC) 
• Template:Extremely Strong Support Uuuh this is the convention. --Spongebob456 ^talk 08:46, October 30, 2014 (UTC)