NameSifter examines a name and attempts to tell you what kind of entity (person, organization, something else) that the name represents. This entity, known as the name category, is determined by the process of categorization.
Do not attempt to use NameSifter with name data that is not based on United States English. NameSifter is intended for use with personal and organizational names from the United States only.
You can configure NameSifter through the Name Preprocessor configuration file by specifying the doCategorize= parameter. Running NameSifter is totally optional, although it is recommended. NameSifter examines names for indicators of non-personal names and allows you to separate non-personal names from personal names before passing the name information to an application.
NameSifter examines names both for indicators that the name is an Organization name and a Personal name. NameSifter supports the following name categories:
NameSifter also provides the reason the category was selected.