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Latest comment: 1 year ago5 comments2 people in discussion
Hello @JPRiley: consider a move request before moving a long-established page name. I am not sure if you're aware of the details in the policy Wikipedia:Article titles, but there are sections like WP:NATURAL that explain that article titles should not include disambiguation if it is easily avoidable. As well, I have been consulting innumerous reference works about Columbus, the city Packard primarily built in, and writing hundreds of articles on these buildings. Most of these references do not use a middle name or initial for the man. ɱ(talk) 17:12, 5 August 2022 (UTC)Reply
Hello, I believed this was the sensible decision because during his lifetime Packard always used his middle initial, as did his contemporaries. Biographical notices during his lifetime and obituaries all use it:
Additionally, the AIA's records for Packard include several documents signed by him. All of the projects he published used the initial in their captions, including this drawing for an OU building from an OU bulletin.
I agree that it is included less in 21st century sources, including the Columbus AIA Guide which I referenced a few times in the list of projects. I do believe that this article should use the version of his name that was used by him professionally. However, I will leave the name of the article as it was.
Don't take it personally, I share many things in common with you, including an interest in architecture. And I am glad you're helping develop these articles further. I just think it should've been a red flag on the name given that nearly every Wikipedia article on him use his common name, Frank Packard. As do most of the reliable sources, about Columbus at least. ɱ(talk) 17:24, 5 August 2022 (UTC)Reply
@JPRiley: I am not sure, are you familiar with WP:COMMONNAME? It's a long-followed practice here made into a policy, that we should use natural, commonly recognizable names. So even if a few sources use William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, or similar, most modern sources call them Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton; this is what readers are most familiar with. The same situation, I believe, applies here. ɱ(talk) 17:55, 5 August 2022 (UTC)Reply
Yes, I have reviewed the naming guidelines several times. I think that Packard's professional name is a sensible choice for his "Common Name," as it was in near exclusive use in his time, and is not uncommon when referring to him in ours.
Use of the middle initial in article titles is very common on Wikipedia, especially in the context of professionals who lived during this time. See, for one example, Packard's partner Joseph W. Yost.
It also can be reasonably said that we aren't going to have consensus here with only the two of us thinking about it. If others who may be watching this page weigh in, it may be worth doing something, but as it currently stands if we do not agree, the title may as well stay how it is.
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