is necessary to preserve commercial capitalization. When in doubt as to whether a name is trademarked, refer to a style manual that lists brand names.
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES. Places, geographical or topographical features that are named,
and large segments of the world are usually capitalized Denver, the Mall (in
London,
not the local shopping center, Morton Street, Lake Naivasha, the Rift
Valley, the Western Hemisphere, the West. When you refer
to places without a proper name, use
lower case: When I was at Lake Naivasha, I noticed that the lake is becoming polluted Similarly, city, state, or county names are usually capitalized in o cial form and order but use lowercase in less formal order the Republic of
France” the French republic And compass directions are not capitalized when they do not stand fora region The rider headed west The rodeo rider lit out for the
West.”
SCIENTIFIC NAMES
Latin scienti c names of animals
and plants have the genus, the rst word of the name, capitalized (and are usually in
italics): “Bucephala clangulaclangula” However, for common names of creatures and plants, capitalize only those
parts of the names that are proper nouns in their own right Barrows goldeneye.”
Astronomical bodies with speci c names are capitalized the Milky Way “Mars.”
But generic terms such as planet galaxy and the like are
lower case: “comet
Kohotek,” the Spider nebula.”
ETHNIC NAMES. Names of groups of people with established cultural or geographical identities are usually capitalized “Yanomama,” French Asian “Native
American,” Portuguese Words referring to more generic populations are usually
lower case: black “white.”
NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS. Like place names, these
proper nouns are capitalized informal use and
lower case in less formal or less complete
usage New York City Council,”
“city council the council Touchstone Company the company National governmental bodies often retain capitals United States Congress the Congress”
“the House of Commons Commons Political parties and movements usually capitalize only the speci c name and not the words party movement “bloc,”
and the like Democratic party.”
NAMES OF PERIODS OR TIMES. Calendar
dates are capitalized but not seasons “November,”
“fall.” Larger segments of time that are named are capitalized, but centuries are not:
“the Middle Ages the thirteenth century Many such periods that include words
like era age or period are not capitalized unless they include a proper name:
“colonial period Victorian era nuclear age Some widely recognized periods are often capitalized Stone Age.”
NAMES OF EVENTS. Usage varies widely, although capitalization of important events is common Industrial Revolution Battle of Britain.”
RELIGIOUS NAMES.
Names of the deity, saints, holy persons and their titles, holy writings and their major divisions, rites or services, important religious concepts or events,
churches
and synagogues, and denominations and sects are usually capitalized,
especially by participants in specific religions.
NAMES OF VEHICLES. Speci c names of airplanes, ships, trains, and other vehicles are usually capitalized (and in
italics or underlined
“Enola Gay Challenger “Bis-mark.” Makes, brands, classes, and types of such vehicles are usually just capitalized:
“Polaris submarines T tanks.”
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