This post refers to Chicago style only. Updated October 23, 2024.
Overview
In the middle of a name or title, “the” is always lowercase.
the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the band Cage the Elephant, the organization Rock the Vote
Subtitle with initial “The”: Capitalize if it’s directly after the colon in a book or article title.
the book Breaking Boundaries: The Path Forward, the article “Data Privacy: The Emerging Challenge”
Initial “the” with companies, bands, and places: generally lowercase (but see below under Entities and Places).
the Cheesecake Factory, the Beatles, the Philippines, the Pacific Ocean
Initial “the” with titles of works: generally capitalize (but see below under Titles of Works). Rule updated for CMOS 18 (September 2024).
The New York Times, The Great Gatsby
Entities and Places
Companies and institutions
Lowercase initial “the” in running text, even if it’s part of the official name. This will prevent you from needing to look up hundreds of company names. (CMOS 18: 8.69)
They went to the Cheesecake Factory. (even though “The” is part of the official name)
She attended the University of Texas at Austin. She studied business at the university. (even though they capitalize “The” in official company literature)
They traveled with the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Note: When writing official company literature, adhere to the company style guide, in which a capitalized “The” may be preferred.
Book publisher names
Note: The same rules apply to book publisher names, but in citations, drop “the” altogether. (CMOS 18: 14.33)
It will be published by the Forest Group Press.
Cameron, Rilya. Storm Approaching. Forest Group Press, 1996.
1. Rilya Cameron, Storm Approaching (Forest Group Press, 1996), 11–14.
Band names
Lowercase “the” in running text even if The is part of the band name. No italics or quotes. (CMOS 18: 8.69)
They opened for the Who. I saw the Cure in concert. We all know the Beatles.
However, if “the” is used as part of a stage name of one artist (rather than a band), you can follow the artist’s preference, e.g., The Weeknd, The Kid Laroi. (CMOS 18: 8.6)
Geography and places
Lowercase “the.” (CMOS 18: 8.54)
the Rocky Mountains, the Rockies, the mountains
the Pacific Ocean, the ocean
Capitalize a shared generic term. (CMOS 18: 8.54)
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
Mounts Columbia and Elbert
Countries, cities, and areas we often add “the” to
“The” is usually not part of an official country, city, or area name, even though we often say it. Therefore, we usually lowercase it, with a few exceptions. CMOS directs you to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate 11 (MW11) for official capitalization. (CMOS 18: 8.46, 15.99)
the Philippines
the Netherlands
the Bronx
the Ozarks
the Gambia
the Bahamas (but MW11 also lists “The Bahamas” as an equal variant.)
However, CMS mentions two exceptions where “The” is actually a capitalized part of an official city name:
The Hague, Netherlands
The Dalles, Oregon
Note: In an index, these should be listed as Hague, The and Dalles, The.
MW11 lists a few others that start with a capitalized “The,” for instance:
The Colony, Texas
The Villages, Florida
Check Merriam-Webster to be sure.
CMS has this FAQ on the subject: Is the article of the country Gambia capitalized or not.
Titles of works
Newspapers and periodicals
UPDATED. CMOS 18 (September 2024) has changed its rule for newspaper and periodicals beginning with “The” in running text. The new rule makes it consistent with rules for books and other titles.
If it’s part of the official title or masthead, keep “The” capitalized and italicized in running text. (CMOS 18: 8.172, 14.69, 14.91) (Previous rule was to lowercase and remove italics, e.g., I read the New York Times today, found in CMOS 17: 8.170, 8.191, 14.193.)
I have read The Kansas City Star newspaper for years.
It was published in The New York Times.
I read The New Yorker magazine.
It is found in The Journal of American History.
Exception: If “The” doesn’t fit well with the sentence syntax, you can remove it. (CMOS 18: 8.172)
I renewed my New York Times subscription.
Exception: If you are shortening the title at subsequent mentions, do not italicize or capitalize “the”—for example, “the Times.” (CMOS 18: 8.172)
The disappearance was briefly mentioned in a 1995 article in The New York Times. According to the Times, “Police found no evidence of foul play.”
Newspaper and periodical citations:
At the beginning of a newspaper or periodical title, drop “the” completely . (CMOS 18: 14.91, 14.69)
Last, First. “Article.” Journal of American History 16, no. 4 (March 2000): 12–15.
1. First Last, “Article,” New York Times, May 15, 2019.
Book titles, movies, shows, articles, etc.
Keep initial The capitalized and part of the title—both in running text and citations. (CMOS 18: 8.171, 8.191–8.192)
Books, Movies, shows, Video Games, etc.
I read The Great Gatsby.
I have a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style.
Roger Murphy explains in The Song Will Never End that . . .
I watched the movie The Lion King.
Have you ever watched the show The Office?
We played The Legend of Zelda.
Note: First word of the subtitle (after the colon) is always capitalized, including the, a, or an. (18: 13.89)
I read Custer: The Life of General George Armstrong Custer.
Note: You may remove an initial The, A, or An from a book title if it doesn’t fit into the syntax of the sentence. (18: 8.171; 17: 8.169)
That is the most misunderstood Great Gatsby message.
She collected Lion King memorabilia.
Citations have the same rules—keep initial The. (CMOS 18: 13.22)
Murphy, Roger. The Song Will Never End: The World of Evaria and His Music. Ledger Books, 2019.
1. Roger Murphy, The Song Will Never End: The World of Evaria and His Music (Ledger Books, 2019), 164–68.
(Note, CMOS 18 no longer requires a city of publication in citations from after 1900. See CMOS 18: 14.30–31.)
But if you are using shortened citations in notes, you can remove initial The if it’s longer than four words. (See CMOS 18: 13.32–33, 13.36 for specifics on shortened citations.)
Murphy, Song Will Never End, 167.
Articles and chapters
If it’s in quotation marks, always keep initial “The.” Same rule for citations.
In “The First Worst Thing,” Jackson explains the deterioration of modern English usage.
Pay attention to the chapter called “The Cleaner, the Better.”
Follow the same rules listed in the above section regarding subtitles, syntax, and citations.
WebsiteS and Blogs
Website names are set in roman (no italics or quotes), unless they are blogs (see below) or are in a category that is normally italicized (book, newspaper, etc.).
Website titles named after books, newspapers, etc.
Keep initial The and italicize. (CMOS 18: 8.193, 14.103)
I consulted The Chicago Manual of Style Online.
She checked The New York Times website.
Note, the Encyclopaedia Britannica website is italicized (named after a book), but Wikipedia is not considered to be named after a book.
Blog titles
Blogs are different from websites because they consist of material written by an author or authors. If the website functions more like a newspaper, consisting of articles with dates, you can consider it a blog. Because they functions more like a newspaper, italicize the title of a blog website. Keep initial The as part of the title. If you’re not sure whether it’s a website or a blog, treat it as a website. (CMOS 18: 14.105)
She frequently updates The Civil War Blog with her latest research.
She initially wrote “The Longest Battle” for her blog, The Civil War Blog.
Other website titles
Set these in roman type (no italics or quotes). Lowercase initial “The.” When in doubt, assume it’s a website. (18: 8.193, 14.103–104).
According to CMOS 18: 8.193, you should lowercase an initial “the” in these instances. I question this, though, as it doesn’t seem consistent, and most website names I can find that start with “The” would look odd without it, as it’s their official title.
CMOS’s only related example for this is “the Internet Movie Database,” but that’s not their official name (it’s IMDb), so I don’t think that example is relevant.
Here are examples I thought of. I think there’s an argument for capitalizing “The” (and I wish we italicized all website titles), but this is CMOS preference:
That prompted the creation of the Ocean Cleanup website, found at theoceancleanup.org.
She checked the Knot, a wedding planning website.
A website called the Points Guy offers advice on using points efficiently.