Consider

edit

• Per WP:COMMONNAME, Wikipedia prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in reliable English-language sources) as such names will be the most recognizable and the most natural.
• Per WP:COMMONNAME, This includes usage in the sources used as references for the article.
• Per WP:COMMONNAME, If the name of a person, group, object, or other article topic changes, then more weight should be given to the name used in reliable sources published after the name change than in those before the change..
• Per WP:COMMONNAME, if the subject of an article changes its name, it is reasonable to consider the usage since the change.
• Per WP:COMMONNAME, Article titles and redirects should anticipate what readers will type as a first guess and balance that with what readers expect to be taken to.

• According to WP:POVNAMING, in some cases, the choice of name used for a topic can give an appearance of bias. While neutral terms are generally preferable, this must be balanced against clarity. If a name is widely used in reliable sources (particularly those written in English), and is therefore likely to be well recognized by readers, it may be used even though some may regard it as biased.

  1. Star Wars (film) is currently at a biased title. The name of the it has been officially Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope since 1981 and due to the amount of Star Wars films this title is currently biased, especially because it is only recognized by people who were familiar with it upon its 1977 release.
  2. The Empire Strikes Back is currently at a biased title. In no way does The Empire Strikes Back indicate it is a Star Wars film and is only recognized by those familiar with the subject or fans of the Star Wars franchise. This title is currently biased.
  3. Return of the Jedi is currently at a biased title, but not so much as the Empire Strikes Back for example because a Jedi is easily recognized as associated with Star Wars. However, still this article name currently is biased.

Charts

edit
Website Star Wars Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Star Wars: A New Hope Reference Other information
Rotten Tomatoes  N  Y  N [1]
StarWars.com  N  Y  N [2] Official Star Wars website
Lucasfilm.com  N  Y  N [3] Official Lucasfilm website
Metacritic  N  Y  N [4]
Common Sense Media  N  Y  N [5]
SparkNotes  N  Y  N [6]
News Source Star Wars Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Star Wars: A New Hope Reference Other information
Los Angeles Times  N  Y  N [7]
New York Times  Y  Y  N [8]
Chicago Tribune  Y  N  N [9]
Archive/Database Star Wars Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Star Wars: A New Hope Reference Other information
American Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [10] 1977 bibliography
British Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternative title)  N [11]
Complete Index to World Film  Y  Y  N [12]
AMPAS  Y  N  N [13]
All Movie  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [14]
Art of the Title  N  Y  N [15]
Boxofficemojo.com  Y  N  N [16]
Pearson's Factmonster.com  N  Y  N [17] Pearson is an educational organization/company that makes textbooks for schools. This is a reliable source/database.
Filmsite  N  Y  N [18]
IMDb  Y (alternate)  Y (listed)  N [19] Titles on IMDb are not user generated, thus this reference is valid.
Other Star Wars Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Star Wars: A New Hope Reference Other information
Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, & Critics  N  Y  N [20] Book
The Film Handbook  N  Y  N [21] Book


Website The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Reference Other information
Rotten Tomatoes  N  Y  N [22]
StarWars.com  N  Y  N [23] Official Star Wars website
Lucasfilm.com  N  Y  N [24] Official Lucasfilm website
Metacritic  N  Y  N [25]
Common Sense Media  N  Y  N [26]
SparkNotes  N  Y  N [27]
News Source The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Reference Other information
Los Angeles Times  N  Y  N [28]
New York Times  Y  Y  N [29]
Chicago Tribune  Y  N  N [30]
Archive/Database The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Reference Other information
American Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [31] 1980 bibliography
British Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternative title)  N [32] Also lists Star Wars 5/Star Wars Five
Complete Index to World Film  Y  N  N [33]
AMPAS  Y  N  N [34]
All Movie  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [35]
Boxofficemojo.com  Y  N  N [36]
Pearson's Factmonster.com  N  Y  N [37] Database run by Pearson
Filmsite  N  Y  N [38]
IMDb  N  Y  N [39] Movie titles on IMDb are not user generated, thus this is a valid reference.
Other The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Reference Other information
Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, & Critics  N  Y  N [40] Book


Website Return of the Jedi Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Reference Other information
Rotten Tomatoes  Y  N  N [41]
StarWars.com  N  Y  N [42] Official Star Wars website
Lucasfilm.com  N  Y  N [43] Official Lucasfilm website
Metacritic  N  Y  N [44]
Common Sense Media  N  Y  N [45]
SparkNotes  N  Y  N [46]
News Source Return of the Jedi Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Reference Other information
Los Angeles Times  N  Y  N [47]
New York Times  Y  N  N [48]
Chicago Tribune  Y  N  N [49]
Denver Post  N  Y  Y [50]
Archive/Database Return of the Jedi Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Reference Other information
American Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [51] 1983 bibliography
British Film Institute  Y (listed)  Y (alternate title)  N [52]
Complete Index to World Film  Y  N  N [53]
AMPAS  Y  N  N [54]
All Movie  Y (listed)  Y (alternate)  N [55]
Boxofficemojo.com  Y  N  N [56]
Pearson's Factmonster.com  N  Y  N [57] Database run by Pearson
Filmsite  N  Y  N [58]
IMDb  N  Y  N [59] Movie titles on IMDb are not user generated, thus this is a valid reference.
Other Return of the Jedi Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Reference Other information
Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, & Critics  N  Y  N [60] Book

Ngrams

edit

In the ngram for the Empire Stikes back, usage of "The Empire Strikes Back" has been in heavy decline from 1999 to 2008. The decline is apparent in the corpus English shown here, in the corpus English Fiction shown here, in the corpus American English shown here, in the corpus British English shown here, in the corpus American English (2009) shown here, in the corpus British English (2009) shown here, in the corpus English (2009) shown here, in the corpus English Fiction (2009) shown here, and in the corpus English One Million (2009) shown here.

Assuming that by searching "Star Wars Episode V" (which is the max limit of words you can search on ngrams) it has an obvious relation to the full title Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, the following results are revealed. The term has based in great increase over the years in the corpus American English shown here, and in the corpus English shown here. All other corpuses do not have any results for them.

Based on its decline in all corpuses of English, the Empire Strikes Back alone is NOT the common name.

I performed the same search for Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The results show an increase in Star Wars Episode VI in the corpuses American English shown here, the corpus English shown here, again no results for other corpuses. Return of the Jedi as the title is shown in decline in all corpuses (except English Fiction) just as the Empire Strike Back was. English One Million (2009) shows decline here. English Fiction (2009) shows decline here. English (2009) shows decline here. British English (2009) shows a decline here. American English (2009) shows a decline here. English Fiction shows a decline but a slight return to increase shown here. In the English corpus, it shows a decline here. British English shows decline here. American English shows decline here.

Again, based on these results, Return of the Jedi alone is not the common name.

I did not look for decline in "Star Wars" as term because it would be impossible to know for sure if it included only the 1977 film in the results. But I did find that the term Star Wars Episode IV is increasing in the corpuses English (shown here) and American English. (Shown here).