This page exists to develop a standard for how to treat alternate names for towns covered by WikiProject Cities. It aims primarily to establish guidelines for articles on towns, but secondarily also for references to towns. Relevant discussion is carried out at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cities/Names issues.
Naming issues, i.e. how to name articles on towns, is however covered by Wikipedia:Naming conventions (city names).
Wikipedia:WikiProject Rivers#Rivers with multiple names does not yet mention the analogous problem, and Wikipedia:WikiProject Lakes does not yet exist, why this standard is better developed with an analogous standard for lakes and rivers in mind.
Many international cities have a recent history (i.e. of the last few centuries) of belonging to a different nation and/or state than to the one in which they are now a part. For example, what is now Poland was divided between various German states, Austria-Hungary, and the Russian Empire for most of the time between the late 1700s and the end of World War One. Many towns have had official names that were either transliterations or translations to the language of the governing nation, or totally different names than the names used by natives.
There is often a difference in opinions on how or if these alternates should be mentioned in the introductory paragraph, and many edit wars have erupted, which this standard attempts to prevent and to limit.
First order of business is to try to get an idea of the scope that should be included.