A knowledge-sharing effort to overcome common name-related mistakes in products, services, and interactions.
Home • Best Practices • Resources • Common Format • Why It Matters
Your proper name is a core part of your identity, and there’s a story behind each part. It is representing you to the world.
During your lifetime, you may have multiple traditions or transitions that change your proper name:
This format is a way to capture the full view of what is accurate for you now. Whatever it is, it defines you as you wish to be seen at this time, regardless of your legal name. Some of these might not be used; some of these might be used but have multiple valid names that could be used for them. Additionally, the order of how your names are presented can depending on the cultural context.
This is the name you use to represent yourself as an individual (“first name”).
An individual name for common use, such as in conversation (“preferred name”, “chosen name”, “given name”).
example: “Hi, Pat!”
An individual name for document/system/legal matches, if different than your personal-use name.
This is a name you may use in addition to personal and family names (such as “middle name”).
This may be extended family names to reflect a longer familial lineage, a practice that is common in Latiné, Vietnamese, and Arabic cultures. In the Congo, there is a “post-name” which can represent one or more ancestors, a village, a clan, or a personal attribute.
An additional name for personal use.
An additional name for document/system/legal matches, if different than your heritage-use name.
This is the name you use for a family assocation (“last name”, “surname”).
It may include common connecting words to indicate the role of other parts of the name, like tussenvoegsels (Dutch Names). While this might appear to be part of the family name, they may not included when sorting alphabetically in their country of origin so consider that for internationalization.
example: “van” in the artist Vincent Van Gogh, “de la” in the designer Oscar De La Renta, “bin” and “al-“ in the mathematician Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi.
It may include common suffixes (Sr, Jr, II, III, etc.) that are specific to that individual and should be disregarded for searches and family groupings.
example: Musician/actor Harry Connick, Jr. should be found by a search of “Connick”, and is a part of the family “Connick”.
A family name for common use, such as in conversation.
example: “Hi, Dr. Halsey!”
A family name for document/system/legal matches, if different than your family-use name.
This is an honorific used for addressing someone in a polite formal fashion, or a qualification that indicates a noteworthy status or a role.
There can be more than one honorific, and in western contexts there is a specific order for those that appear before names (pre-nominal) and those that appear after them (post-nominal).
A formal honorific related to experience or gender/age/marital status. In western contexts, they precede a name. The honorific Mx. is a non-gendered alternative to the gendered honorifics Ms. (female) or Mr. (male).
example: Ms./Mr./Mx., Dr., Rep., Sen., Gov.
A formal qualification related to education. In western contexts, they follow a name.
example: MD, CPA, Esq.
In addition to the fields themselves, there should be a field for an optional written or spoken pronunciation guide.
Add a URL to an audio or video file where you speak your name; see Resources for services that support this.
Describe soundalike words from common words; see the Oxford English Dictionary or The Free Dictionary for ideas.
example: Stephen, sounds like “even”
example: Stephen \ ste-fän’ \
example: Stefan, with an F as in Foxtrot