DOC: Add what's new entry for font alternative family name registration

Cemonix · Cemonix · commit 38ef9119d3ed · 2026-02-21T10:58:52.000+01:00
diff --git a/doc/release/next_whats_new/font_alt_family_names.rst b/doc/release/next_whats_new/font_alt_family_names.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+Fonts addressable by all their SFNT family names
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Fonts can now be selected by any of the family names they advertise in
+the OpenType name table, not just the one FreeType reports as the primary
+family name.
+
+Some fonts store different family names on different platforms or in
+different name-table entries.  For example, Ubuntu Light stores
+``"Ubuntu"`` in the Macintosh-platform Name ID 1 slot (which FreeType
+uses as the primary name) and ``"Ubuntu Light"`` in the Microsoft-platform
+Name ID 1 slot.  Previously only the FreeType-derived name was registered,
+requiring an obscure weight-based workaround::
+
+    # Previously required
+    matplotlib.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Ubuntu'
+    matplotlib.rcParams['font.weight'] = 300
+
+All name-table entries that describe a family — Name ID 1 on both
+platforms, the Typographic Family (Name ID 16), and the WWS Family
+(Name ID 21) — are now registered as separate entries in the
+`~matplotlib.font_manager.FontManager`, so any of those names can be
+used directly::
+
+    matplotlib.rcParams['font.family'] = 'Ubuntu Light'
