Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

Personas are one of the most understandable deliverables in the user experience tool bag.  When used well design teams and clients empathize with the persona and develop an understanding of the user that is essential to great design.  I've often heard the word "persona" pluralized as both "personas" and "personae" and as a student of Latin, I tended to prefer the latter.  For those who don't know Latin: "ae" is the ending for plural nouns in the first declension (group of nouns that take the same endings) where "a" is the singular ending.  One of my colleagues pointed out that it really bothered him when people used "personae" in lieu of "personas" so I set out to figure out why "personas" is or is not correct.  Here's what I found.

First Stop: Merriam-Webster (online, of course)

Main Entry: per·so·na
Pronunciation:  \pər-ˈsō-nə, -ˌnä\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural per·so·nae  \-(ˌ)nē, -ˌnī\ or personas
Etymology: Latin
Date: 1909

1: a character assumed by an author in a written work
2a plural personas [New Latin, from Latin] : an individual's social facade or front that especially in the analytic psychology of C. G. Jung reflects the role in life the individual is playing
b: the personality that a person (as an actor or politician) projects in public : image
3 plural personae : a character in a fictional presentation (as a novel or play) —usually used in plural <comic personae>

Clearly us UXDs like the thought of having our work compared to the analytical work of Carl Jung, so the correct form must be "personas."  However, the definitions leave room for debate, because the personas that we use are fictional, but they're not literary characters.  They reflect the role an individual is playing, but not in real life, as the psychological approach suggests. What a quandry.

Second Stop: Boxes and Arrows (online peer-written UXD journal)

Search Term: persona (75 results)
Search Term: personas (155 results)
Search Term: personae (4 results)

It seems that the user experience community has an overwhelming preference for "personas" and that there's a few Latinists out there who just won't give up on the "ae."

I prefer "personas" because it's definition is, in my opinion, more in line with the work we do as UXDs and it is supported by the greater UX community, but I would like to hear your thoughts on the issue.  Any takers?