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Archiver > TMG > 2002-10 > 1033741006


From: Terry Reigel <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] All at once Family NAME Change?
Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2002 10:17:20 -0400
References: <41.245b21cc.2acc4451@cs.com> <200210032319440640.00E1D492@mailhub.aros.net>


Teresa wrote:

>>>The problem becomes even worse with names like Baldez / Valadez, Ximenez /
>>>Jimenez, Samarripa / Zamarripa, Lara / de Lara. Even finding Jose Juan
>>>Rodrigues can be a pain when there are 55 Jose something Rodrigues's and
>>>half of them are spelled Rodriguez so they sort 15 pages away. Without
>>>standardized names you have to make elaborate filters to find people, and
>>>that's a pain.
>>>
>>>
>>Instead of changing all the names, why not just change the sort name. Then
>>all your names that are similar will sort in the same place, but will still
>>keep their original spellings.
>>
>>

I'd like to offer a dissenting view. I would not encourage anyone to use
the sort name feature in this way. The problem is that the name is then
always sorted in the "wrong" place -- you cannot find it where it's
supposed to be if you look for the actual spelling. Instead of changing
the sort name, I suggest adding a "standard" name tag that uses the
standardized spelling you prefer. This way, the name appears with all
the others in the Picklist, but is also available in the picklist under
the actual spelling of the name, so if you find it in a source you can
look it up that way.

In my view, the sort name is best used for names with surname prefixes
(like de and la) where the user wants the name to sort under the main
part of the surname.

Terry Reigel


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