Names of humans

Encoding Instructions (new P5 version)

The WWP encodes all proper names of human beings using persName, regardless of their rendition, and regardless of where they appear in the text. Even if a particular name must also be tagged with publisher, author, signed, speaker, actor, etc., persName should be nested within these elements.

For the WWP’s purposes, a creature is human if a significant portion of its anatomy is human: not necessarily the preponderance, but the important parts. A centaur’s name would take persName, as would a god with an animal head, or a god temporarily taking the shape of an animal.

God, however, is not considered a personal name by the WWP. It should be tagged as mcr if renditionally distinct; otherwise not at all. Jesus Christ is a name, although Christ, being a title, is not.

Inside persName we include honorifics, prefixes, abbreviations, titles, suffixes, and any other accompanying information that is syntactically inseparable from the name, using the element hi to indicate parts of the name that are renditionally distinct. In the case of possessives (Mary’s, Duke Hightower’s, Hieronymous’s), the apostrophe ess belongs inside persName. Even if renditionally distinct from the rest of the name, possessives do not warrant the use of hi.

the Doctor, the Missus, and the Professor are not persNames.

The names and titles of nobility represent a special case. persName should be used for titles of nobility, even when they appear on their own, as long as they include some kind of namelike component (such as a designation of place). placeName can occur within persName when applicable. The Duke, the President, Mr. President, and His Grace are neither names nor persNames.

<persName>John Busker</persName>

<persName><hi rend= "slant(italic)">Mr.</hi> Sylvester Steel</persName>

<persName>Professor Egren</persName>

<persName>Dr. Judith Blazer Esq., III</persName>

<persName>the Duke of <placeName>Northumberland</placeName></persName>

<persName>John, Earl of <placeName>Rochester</placeName></persName>

<persName>Prospero, second Earl of <placeName>Rickets</placeName></persName>

<persName>the Prophet Muhammad</persName>