title: Can .gitignore files be named ? (e.g. xxx.gitignore)
body: <p>I would like to know whether it is possible to have <strong>named</strong> <code>.gitignore</code> files in a repository, such as:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Composer.gitignore
  Node.gitignore
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Both of the above examples are shown available in GitHub's <a href="https://github.com/github/gitignore" rel="nofollow noreferrer">gitignore template repository</a> (perhaps this might be a bit misleading).</p>
  
  <p>I have tried adding <code>Composer.gitignore</code> to my repository and it seems like the file is not read (I'm using SourceTree).</p>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT:</strong></p>
  
  <p>Adding relevant information added by <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/113195/boldewyn">Boldewyn</a> that does not directly answer the question:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <blockquote>
      <p>The page's README says:</p>
      
      <p>A Collection of <code>.gitignore</code> templates
      and that's what it is: Only templates. If you want to use one, pick it, drop it in your repository and rename it to <code>.gitignore</code>.</p>
      
      <p>git recognizes only two places for listing ignored files: <code>.gitignore</code> files in a folder/subfolder and the file <code>.git/info/ignore</code>. See <a href="https://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/gitignore.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>git help gitignore</code></a> for in-depth information.</p>
    </blockquote>
  </blockquote>