Template:surname/documentation

Definition for surname entries.

Parameters

|1= (required)

Language code; see Wiktionary:List of languages. The parameter |lang= is a deprecated synonym; please do not use. If this is used, all numbered parameters move down by one.

|2=

Adjective or qualifier.

|g=

Comma-separated list of genders, for gendered surnames: m/male, f/female or c/common-gender/unisex.

|from=

One or more comma-separated sources of name: a language name (not a code), such as French or Gascon (etymology-only languages are recognized and allowed); a family name such as Germanic languages; place names or coinages; or a language code + term such as de:Ulrich, ru:А́ня or non:bjǫrn. You can specify glosses, transliterations, alternative forms, equivalent forms, etc. inline using a syntax like |from=non:bjǫrn<t:bear> to specify a gloss for an Old Norse term. You can also specify multiple languages or terms separated by < (which must have spaces around it) to indicate a chain of derivation. An example is |from=Latin < Ancient Greek < Biblical Hebrew to indicate a name derived from Latin, in turn from Ancient Greek, and in turn from Biblical Hebrew.

|varform=

One or more comma-separated variant forms of this name, when the lemma is the main form of the name. This is conceptually the opposite of |var=, |var2=, etc., which are used when the lemma itself is a variant form, to indicate the main form. You can specify transliterations, alternative forms, English equivalents and other modifiers inline, as described below.

|usage=

Parameter indicating the usage of this name, e.g. modern or African-American.

|meaning=, |meaning2=, |meaning3=, etc.

One or more meanings of the name.

|parent=

One or more comma-separated names, indicating the parent's name from which this patronymic or matronymic surname was derived. Displays as meaning “son of ...” if the surname's gender is male; or meaning “daughter of ...” if the surname's gender is female; otherwise meaning “son/daughter of ...”. You can specify specify transliterations, alternative forms and other modifiers inline. This is documented in more detail below.

|eq=

One or more comma-separated equivalent names in English or some other language, for use in foreign-language entries. To specify an equivalent name in a language other than English, precede the name with the language code of the language followed by a colon, e.g. |eq=de:Schulman,de:Schulmann or |eq=be:Самуцэ́віч. You can specify specify transliterations, alternative forms and other modifiers inline. This is documented in more detail below.

|xlit=

One or more comma-separated transliterated, respelled over otherwise rendered names in English, for use in foreign-language entries. You can specify alternative forms and other modifiers inline, as described below.

|varof= or |var=

One or more comma-separated main forms that this name is a variant of, if the lemma is a variant form. You can specify transliterations, alternative forms, English equivalents and other modifiers inline. This is documented in more detail below.

|m=

One or more comma-separated masculine equivalents of this name. You can specify transliterations, alternative forms, English equivalents and other modifiers inline, as described below.

|f=

One or more comma-separated feminine equivalents of this name. You can specify transliterations, alternative forms, English equivalents and other modifiers inline, as described below.

|A=

Override the initial indefinite article; see below.

|addl=

Arbitrary additional text to add at the end, after a comma and within italics. If beginning with a semicolon, the preceding comma is suppressed.

|sort=

What to sort by (in the generated categories) if not the pagename. Generally only needed for Japanese.

Comments:

• Note the difference between equivalent and transliterated/respelled names. For example, the Bulgarian name Иванов (Ivanov) has transliterated name Ivanov and equivalent name Johnson.
• The |xlit= parameter does not need to be used strictly for transliterations, but can also be used for respelled borrowings, e.g. Mueller of German Müller.
• The module automatically determines whether to use initial a or an depending on the first following word (and knows that unisex should use a even though it begins with a vowel). The initial indefinite article is normally capitalized when the language specified by |1= is English, and lowercase otherwise. This is consistent with the general format of definitions in Wiktionary, where English-language terms are normally defined using long, sentence-style definitions that begin with a capital letter and end with a period (full stop), but foreign-language terms are defined using short glosses that are formatted with an initial lowercase letter and no final period/full stop. Both the case of the initial article and whether it is a or an can be overridden with the |A= parameter.

Examples

1. For English Weber:

{{surname|en}}. ⇒
A surname.

(and categorizes in Category:English surnames)

2. For English Johnson:

{{surname|en|from=patronymics}}. ⇒
A surname originating as a patronymic.

(and categorizes in Category:English surnames and Category:English surnames from patronymics)

but note:

{{surname|en|[[English]]}}. ⇒
An English surname.

where the module is smart enough to replace "A" with "An". You can override this using |A=.

3. For Bengali অগ্নিহোত্রী (ognihōtri):

{{surname|bn|from=Sanskrit|addl=common among [[Hindu]] [[brahmin]]s|xlit=Agnihotri}} ⇒
a surname, Agnihotri, from Sanskrit, common among Hindu brahmins

4. For Chinese 五 (wǔ):

{{surname|zh|xlit=Wu<ll:mainland China,Taiwan>,Ng<ll:Hong Kong>}} ⇒
a surname, Wu (Mainland China, Taiwan) or Ng (Hong Kong)

5. For Cebuano Portugal:

You can give multiple |from= parameter values, comma-separated:

{{surname|ceb|from=Spanish,Portuguese}} ⇒
a surname from Spanish or Portuguese

6. For English Halkin:

{{surname|en|from=Slavic < matronymics < given names < Ancient Greek}}. ⇒
A surname from Slavic [in turn originating as a matronymic, in turn transferred from the given name, in turn from Ancient Greek].

See also

• {{surname-lite}}: Template-only version supporting only some features, useful on pages with memory errors.
• {{given name}}