Do you need to add quotation marks around a name sometimes?

Question

I'm writing a sentence of the sort:

There is a place known as Some Name by the XYZ.

vs.

There is a place known as "Some Name" by the XYZ.

Would it be wrong the use qutation marks around Some Name? If it isn't wrong, what does it mean when applied in this case?

Related question, Punctuation question: quotation marks around names in dialog? and Do I use italics for hotel and restaurant names?. — , Jan 16 '16 at 09:52
@Rathony These are related and not exact duplicates? It is hard for me to discern the answer to my question from theirs. — AturSams, Jan 16 '16 at 11:02
Don't worry. They are just related questions. The thing is this question is about punctuation and it depends a lot on personal style and preference and a manual you are using. Many questions related with punctuation were closed as primarily opinion-based. Let's wait until some users answer your question. :-) — , Jan 16 '16 at 11:05
@Rathony So in essence it's definitely not wrong to omit the quotations in this case? — AturSams, Jan 16 '16 at 11:07
I deleted my previous comment as it had some typos. Anyway, Wikipedia's article or other references could be helpful to you. — , Jan 16 '16 at 12:37
I realise at least some of 4620 written instances of (something) is known to* them as (whatever they call it)* are "accidental collocations", but many/most match OP's context above. And there are just *seven* written instances of is known by* them as*, so I'm obviously not the only one who doesn't like OP's choice of preposition here. — FumbleFingers, Jan 16 '16 at 15:54

Lawrence · Answer 1 · 2016-01-16T22:32:13.327

The first sentence could mean that the name of the place is "Some Name" or "Some Name by the XYZ". In the first case, the place is located near "the XYZ". In the second, "by the XYZ" is part of the name.

Quote marks can help disambiguate which you mean.

Here are a couple of examples of the first type:

Carmel-by-the-Sea (in California, USA)
Henley-on-Thames (in Oxfordshire, England)

NOTE It didn't occur to me that the OP may have intended XYZ to be the name of the people who call the place "Some Name". @FumbleFingers notes in comments to the OP that "known by them as" is not a popular construction. In any case, I took the XYZ in "by the XYZ" to be a place holder for the name of a reference location - e.g. "by the river" or "by the mountain".

Do you need to add quotation marks around a name sometimes?

1 Answers1