Common nouns name any person, place, thing, or idea. Proper nouns are the names of individual people, places, things, or ideas. Proper nouns should always be capitalized.

Examples:
Common Nouns
boy
river
car
doctor
town
candy bar

Proper Nouns

James
Mississippi River
Ford
Doctor
Jefferson
Rockledge
Baby Ruth

Hint: Don’t forget to capitalize all parts of proper nouns. Many people forget to capitalize words like river and county in proper nouns like Ohio River and Orange County