***Compounds of 'neo-' plus a capitalized word***

The standard rule for handling compounds of a proper name and the prefix *neo-* (in most style guides) is to keep the *n* in *neo* lowercase, retain the hyphen, and keep the initial uppercase letter in the proper name uppercase. 

*The Chicago Manual of Style*, sixteenth edition (2010), at **7.85**, expresses in generalized form the normal U.S. rule for compound words containing prefixes:

>Compounds formed with prefixes are are normally closed, whether they are nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. A hyphen should appear, however, (1) before a capitalized word or a numeral, such as *sub-Saharan*, *pre-1950*; ...

Consistent with this approach, *Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary* (2003) has entries for the following words, all of which conform to the pattern I have described:

>*neo-Darwinism*, *neo-Expressionism*, *neo-Freudian*, *neo-Gothic*, *neo-Malthusian*, *neo-Nazism* 

But the *Eleventh Collegiate* also lists two terms that break with that pattern:

>*Neo-Latin*

(where the hyphen and capital *L* appear as expected, but the *N* in *Neo* is capitalized as well), 

>*neo-impressionism*

(where the *neo-* appears as expected, but the initial *i* in *Impressionism* is lowercased), and 

>*Neoplatonism*

(where the first *N* is capitalized, the hyphen vanishes, and the *p* in *Platonism* is lowercased).

It's hard to say why these three words break the normal pattern. They don't seem to be vindicating some other, as-yet-unidentified rule in breaking the predominant rule, and they certainly don't agree among themselves on a contrary rule. But *Neo-Latin*, *neo-impressionism*, and *Neoplatonism* don't prove that there is no standard pattern; they merely show that exceptions to the pattern exist.

And the value of the normal pattern is that it gives you  a quick, reasonably reliable way to combine *neo-* with proper names that to create new forms, such as 

>*neo-Manafortism*

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***Compounds of 'neo-' plus a lowercase word***

With regard to established words composed of *neo-* plus a word that isn't normally capitalized (for example, *neo-* + *classical* or *neo-* + *liberal* or *neo-* + *pagan* or *neo-* + *realism* or *neo-* + *tropical*) the *Chicago* rule is to close up the word, all-lowercase, no hyphen:

>*neoclassical*, *neoliberal*, *neopagan*, *neorealism*, *neotropical*

But Chicago (again at **7.85**) takes a different tack for words that aren't in the dictionary, at least in the specific case of *neo-*:

>**neo** neonate, neoorthodox, Neoplatonism, neo-Nazi (*neo* lowercase or capital and hyphenated as in the dictionary; lowercase and hyphenate if not in dictionary)

This suggests that *Chicago* would favor such hyphenated neologisms as

>*neo-cheddar*, *neo-fashionable*, *neo-plastic*, *neo-treason*

—none of which appear in any dictionary that I'm aware of.

British rules for hyphenating *neo-* (and other prefixes) are far subtler (or more ambiguous) than their U.S. counterparts. *The Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors* (2000) offers this rule:

>**neo-** freely added (usually with hyphen) to names of philosophies and institutions and in their adjectival forms, to designate their revivals or new forms (retain caps. of words that have them), e.g. neo-Christianity, *but* neo-classical, Neoplatonism 

That parenthetical phrase "(usually with hyphen)" would seem to represent an endorsement of (in addition to *neo-classical*)

>*neo-liberal*, *neo-pagan*, *neo-realism*, *neo-tropical*

—but who can say how broadly *Oxford* intends that "usually" to apply?