Public Services and Procurement Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Institutional Links

 

Important notice

The Canadian Style has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.

For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!

Search Canada.ca

9.50 Homonyms

Adopt the following order of entry for homonyms—person or organization (forenames precede surnames); place (cities and towns precede administrative areas, which precede physical features); subject; title of publication:

  • Hull, Robert (hockey player)
  • Hull (Quebec)
  • Hull, population of
  • Hull, A Short History of

Within a list of personal names an alphabetical (John, Pope; John, Saint), hierarchical (John, Saint; John, Pope) or chronological/numerical (John XXII; John XXIII) arrangement is possible. The usual hierarchical order is saints, popes, emperors and empresses, kings and queens, surnames:

  • John, Pope
  • John, Augustus

Include modifiers in parentheses after each common noun in order to distinguish it from its homonyms:

  • Character (literature)
  • Character (psychology)