Capitalization Rules for Proper Nouns

Proper nouns name specific people, places, organizations and things, and they are always capitalized in English. Common nouns are general and stay lowercase. Most confusion comes from words that can be either.

Always capitalize

• People: Ada Lovelace, Dr Patel.
• Places: Paris, the Nile, Mount Everest.
• Organizations and brands: the United Nations, Microsoft.
• Days, months and holidays: Monday, October, New Year's Day.
• Languages, nationalities and religions: English, Pakistani, Buddhism.
• Titles of works: *The Great Gatsby*.

Commonly confused cases

• Seasons: lowercase in English (spring, winter) unless part of a name, such as "Winter Olympics".
• Job titles: capitalize before a name ("President Smith"), lowercase when used generally ("the president said").
• Directions: lowercase for directions ("drive north"), capitalized for regions ("the Middle East", "the North of England").
• Family words: "Mom" as a name ("Ask Mom"), but "my mom" in general use.
• School subjects: lowercase (history, math) except languages (French).

Brand names with unusual capitals

Some brands use lowercase or internal capitals: iPhone, eBay, YouTube. Follow the brand's own style, though many publications capitalize a brand that starts a sentence.

Why case converters cannot know

A case converter applies rules to every word but cannot tell whether "apple" is a fruit or a company. After converting text to sentence case, scan for names and organizations and fix them by hand.

A quick test

Ask, "Is this the name of one specific thing?" If yes, capitalize it. If it describes a type of thing, keep it lowercase.

Frequently asked questions

Should I capitalize job titles?

Capitalize job titles before a name ("President Smith", "Dr Patel"), but not when used generically ("the president said"). Many style guides follow this rule.

Should I capitalize seasons and directions?

Do not capitalize seasons (spring, summer) unless they are part of a name. Capitalize directions only when they name a region ("the Middle East"); lowercase them as directions ("drive north").

Should I capitalize after a colon?

In running text, AP style capitalizes after a colon when a complete sentence follows; Chicago generally keeps lowercase unless the colon introduces two or more sentences or a quotation. In titles, always capitalize after a colon. These capitalization rules vary, so follow your style guide.

Why is the pronoun I capitalized?

Pronoun I capitalization is a long-standing English convention: the single-letter word "I" is always capitalized, wherever it appears. Sentence case converters capitalize it automatically, along with the first word of a sentence.