Wikipedia Title Capitalization Rules
Wikipedia uses sentence case for article titles: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised. All other words remain lowercase.
Word-by-word explanation
Wikipedia Capitalization Rules
- Sentence case: only first word capitalised
- Proper nouns always capitalised
- Acronyms preserved as-is
- Word after colon capitalised
- All other words lowercase
Source for These Wikipedia Rules
Primary source
Wikipedia Manual of Style — Capital letters (MOS:CAPS) and Article titles (WP:TITLEFORMAT)
- Published by
- English Wikipedia contributors
The Manual of Style is community-maintained and continuously revised, so it has no edition or publication year. It requires sentence case for article titles and section headings: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
TitleCasePro is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a substitute for the publisher above. For how these rules were turned into code, which edge cases the engine decides for you, and how the results are tested, read the methodology. If you believe a rule here is wrong, tell us and cite the section you are reading.
Where Wikipedia Title Case Is Used
Wikipedia title capitalization is the standard for Wikipedia, Online Encyclopedias, Reference Works writing. When your work will be reviewed, published, or cited within these fields, using the correct capitalization shows attention to detail and compliance with professional standards. If your publication specifies a house style, follow that preference over the base standard.
How Wikipedia Style Works in Practice
Wikipedia title case is actually sentence case — only the first word of the title and any proper nouns are capitalized, while all other words remain lowercase. This is explicitly required by the Wikipedia Manual of Style (MOS:CAPS) and applies to all article titles, section headings, and category names across the English Wikipedia. The rationale is that sentence case is the natural form for English text and avoids the subjectivity of deciding which words in a title are "important enough" to capitalize. Sentence case also works better for very long titles and reduces unnecessary emphasis on common words.
How the Wikipedia Capitalizer Works
Paste your title into the tool above. Wikipedia is already selected, so the result appears immediately. Click "Explain" to see the rule applied to each word. Use the copy button or press ⌘↵ to copy the output. Everything runs in the browser — no account, no signup, no data sent to a server.
To convert a list of titles at once, the batch capitalizer imports CSV and TXT files. To see one title in all nine styles simultaneously, use the style comparison tool.
Wikipedia Title Case Examples
These examples are generated in real time by the same engine that powers the tool above — every result is guaranteed to match the tool's output.
| Original (lowercase) | Wikipedia Style |
|---|---|
| the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog | The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog |
| a guide to writing about the world | A guide to writing about the world |
| why sleep is important for students | Why sleep is important for students |
| learning through failure and success | Learning through failure and success |
| notes on the art of writing without fear | Notes on the art of writing without fear |
| how to capitalize titles in academic writing | How to capitalize titles in academic writing |
| the effects of social media on mental health | The effects of social media on mental health |
| introduction to machine learning with python | Introduction to machine learning with python |
Common Edge Cases in Wikipedia Style
- Proper nouns are always capitalized regardless of position: "the United States," "Python programming language."
- Acronyms and initialisms are preserved in their standard form: "HTML," "NASA," "UK."
- Brand names and trademarks retain their original capitalization: "iPhone," "eBay," "YouTube."
- The first word after a colon in a title is capitalized: "Science: A tool for understanding the world."
- Wikipedia does NOT capitalize words just because they are nouns — "the theory of evolution" is correct Wikipedia style.
How Wikipedia Differs From Email
Wikipedia and Email both use sentence case — only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. The rules are nearly identical in practice. The difference is context: Wikipedia sentence case applies to encyclopedia article titles and headings, while Email sentence case applies to professional email subject lines. Both styles reflect the modern preference for less-capitalized text in digital contexts, and both produce the same output for a given title.
Wikipedia Title Capitalization FAQ
Common questions about Wikipedia title case rules and the Wikipedia capitalizer.
Wikipedia title capitalization uses sentence case, not title case. Only the first word of the article title and proper nouns are capitalized. All other words — including main verbs and nouns — remain lowercase unless they are a proper name.
Use Wikipedia sentence case when writing or editing Wikipedia articles, or when following a content style that prefers sentence case for article titles and headings. Some web publishers and encyclopedic sites also adopt sentence case for a natural, less formal feel.
Only the first word of the title and proper nouns — specific names of people, places, organizations, products, and titles — are capitalized. All other words, including common nouns and verbs, remain lowercase.
All words that are not proper nouns or the first word are lowercase — including main nouns (except proper ones), verbs, adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.
No. Articles (a, an, the) are lowercase except when they are the first word of the title. Example: "The history of the Roman Empire" — the first "The" is capitalized, but "the" before "Roman Empire" is lowercase.
No. Conjunctions are lowercase in Wikipedia sentence case, unless they are the first word of the title.
No. Prepositions remain lowercase in Wikipedia sentence case, regardless of their length.
Yes. The first word of any Wikipedia title or heading is always capitalized.
No. Unlike title case styles, Wikipedia sentence case does not capitalize the last word unless it is a proper noun or is the only word in the title.
Wikipedia is the only commonly used style guide that applies sentence case to titles. All other major guides — APA, Chicago, AP, MLA, AMA, NY Times — use some form of title case. Wikipedia's sentence case results in far fewer capitals than any other style.
Yes. Use the Wikipedia title capitalizer for instant sentence case conversion.
Yes. The Compare Styles tool shows Wikipedia sentence case next to all 8 title case styles — the contrast is immediately visible.
Yes. TitleCasePro's Wikipedia mode applies correct sentence case. Use the Title Capitalizer or Batch Capitalizer.
The Wikipedia title capitalizer applies Wikipedia's sentence case rules to any title. Unlike other style guides, Wikipedia uses sentence case: only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. All other words remain lowercase.
Wikipedia sentence case capitalizes only the first word of the title and proper nouns (names of people, places, organizations, brands). All other words — including major nouns and verbs — remain lowercase. Example: "The history of the United States" (only "United States" is capitalized as a proper noun).
Yes. TitleCasePro applies Wikipedia's sentence case standard: first word capitalized, proper nouns capitalized, everything else lowercase.
It lowercases all words except the first and proper nouns. Even principal words like main verbs and nouns become lowercase unless they are proper names.
Yes. Click "Explain" to see each word labeled — for example, "history — common noun, lowercase per Wikipedia sentence case."
Yes. Click the Copy button or press ⌘↵ to copy the result.
Yes. The Compare Styles tool shows Wikipedia sentence case next to all 8 title case styles — the contrast is immediately visible.
Yes. If you are writing or editing Wikipedia articles, the tool formats your title to Wikipedia's sentence case standard.
Yes. Some academic and web content guidelines prefer sentence case for headings and titles. The tool applies it correctly.
Yes. The tool handles book titles in Wikipedia sentence case format.
Yes. Wikipedia uses sentence case for section headings as well. The capitalizer formats any heading text to Wikipedia standards.
Yes. Completely free with no account or usage limit.
Yes. Runs entirely in your browser — no server, no account, works on any device.