Name fields

A name field is an artificial data structure imposed on names to facilitate data processing. Many databases divide names into two fields, typically corresponding to the given name and the family name, though some enter names into a single field, and others may use three or more fields. Name fields are the first branch of a personal name parse tree.

Global Name Management products use a two-field personal name structure, labeled as given name and surname, with two additional fields provided for titles and qualifiers. Each field has its own field-type indicator:

Surnames

The surname (or SN) is the part of the name that is typically, although not necessarily, common to a group of people, such as a family, tribe, or caste. In certain parts of the world, some surnames might be unique to an individual, such as those that indicate a personal characteristic or a profession.

Surnames are key content-bearing elements of a personal name. Not all people use surnames, however. In parts of Indonesia, for example, most people have only a given name.

Given names

Given names (or GN) is the part of a name that uniquely identifies an individual as distinct from other family or group members. In an Anglo name, the first and middle names are given names.

Given names are the only name element known to be a universal naming requirement, across all cultures around the world. Not all cultures have surname elements, but all assign individuals a given name.

Titles

Titles are words or phrases that are external to the name itself, but that convey some type of information about the owner of the name. Titles can indicate marital status, birth order, educational or professional attainment, religious status, social rank, or other information. Titles are processed differently from core name elements because they tend to be optional and might not always appear with a name.

Qualifiers

Qualifiers are terms or phrases added to a personal name to distinguish that name by specifying a generational standing (such as Junior or Senior), an achievement or honor that a person has attained (for example, Ph.D.), or a qualification of some kind (such as D.D.S.). Qualifiers typically come after a name. Like titles, qualifiers travel with a name, but they are not considered part of a personal name.

Preceding conjunctions

If a name contains a conjoined-name construct, the last element in the construct must be preceded by a conjunction that joins the name to the one that precedes it in the input string. For example, the input string John and Mary Smith is a conjoined-name construct that represents two names: John Smith and Mary Smith. The name Mary Smith has a preceding conjunction of and. NameParser allows this conjunction to be retained in its own field.

The NameHunter search engine incorporates titles into the given name field and qualifiers into the surname field. These non-name elements are handled differently during search and match operations, according to how the NameHunter search parameters are configured. In comparison, similar products retain separate fields for non-name elements.