Names

Representing a person’s name in a data structure seems like a simple task. When you introduce the need to represent the name taking into consideration the context of language, culture, and time it becomes more difficult.

In addition it’s imperative that each name be represented with uniqueness, having no ambiguity with similar yet different names. It is done by breaking down each element or component of a name to its atomic level, and building a fully qualified name by putting its atomic parts together in an elegant and simple fashion. This naming strategy was derrived from the Composite Clinical Data Dictionary (C²D²) developed by Richard Dick, Ph.D..

This specification currently allows all current names to be uniquely defined, and allows the specification to infinitely grow as new situations are encountered (see “_AVATAR” below).

Atomic Name Part Definitions

Simple Name Example

An overly simplified (not recommended) way of representing a person’s name

"name": [ { "NAM": "Sarah Jane Williams" } ]

Complex Name Example 1

A more complicated example of an hispanic name with the complexities of the multiple surnames along with an academic title.

"name": [
	{
		"NAM": "Rosa María Muñoz Gómez",
		"parts": [
			{
				"FN": [
					{ "value": "Rosa" },
					{ "value": "Maria" }
				],
				"LN": [
					{
						"value": "Muñoz"
					}
				],
				"SUF": [
					{ "value": "Ph.D.", "type": "Academic" }
				],
				"CP-MN": [
					{
						"value": "Gómez",
						"modifier": {
							"desc": "marriage",
							"ref": "marriage_event_id"
						}
					 }
				],
				"MLN": [
					{ "value": "Izquierdo" }
				],
				"PLN": [
					{ "value": "Muñoz" }
				]
			}
		]
	},
	{ "NAM": "Rosa" }
]

Complex Name Example 2

In this example we uniquly represent Muhammad Ali. Since Ali had two names, we’ll represent his identity with two name elements. Ordering is important, and is chronological. The first name entry in the array is considered the default or current name, with the last name being the first name the person held. The modifier element references an event in the openGEDCOM file that describes the event that took place that caused the name to change.

"name": [
	{
		"NAM": "Muhammad Ali",
		parts: [
			{ "FN": "Muhammad" },
			{ "LN": "Ali" }
		],
		"modifier": {
			"ref": "name_change_event_id",
			"desc": "Name change in 1964"
		}
	},
	{
		"NAM": "Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.",
		"parts": [
			{
				"FN": [
					{ "value": "Cassius" }
				],
				"MN": [
					{ "value": "Marcellus" }
				"LN": [
					{ "value": "Clay" }
				],
				"SUF": [
					{ "value": "Jr." }
				],
				"MLN": [
					{ "value": "Johnson" }
				],
				"PLN": [
					{ "value": "Clay" }
				],
				"ALIAS" : [
					{
						"value": "The Greatest",
						"type": "nickname"
					}
				]
			}
		]
		"modifier": {
			"ref": "birth_event_id",
			"desc": "birth"
		}
	}
]

Atomic Name Part Definitions

The following is a list of the atomic name parts that combined will make up a person’s full name.

Atomic Code	Description	Example
NAM	Name String, such as it exists	“Davis, Lance, Steven John
LN	Last Name or Family Name String	“Schlovinski”
H-LN	Hyphenated Last Name String	“Bjon-Schlovinski”
FN	First Name or Given Name String	“James”
LN-PX	Last Name Prefix String	“Von as in Von Neuman”
MN	Middle Name String (Ind and Mod)	“Lewis”
SUF	Last Name Suffix String	“Jr., Esq.”, “Ph.D., M.D., J.D.”, “PE, RHIA, RHIT”
NUM	Numeration String	“IV, XIV”
TITLE	Titles String	“Lord”
PREF	Prefix/Salutation String	“My Lord, Honorable, Dr, Ms.”
P-PRF	Preferred Prefix String	“Lord, Dr”
ALIAS	Any aliases used by the person	“Mailman, Duke”
P-AL	Preferred Alias Name String	“Boss”
MADN	Maiden Name String	“Pitt”
P-MN	Previous Maiden Name String	“Bates”
CP-MN	Current-Previous Married Name
MLN	Maternal Last Name String	“Bjon”
PLN	Paternal Last Name String	“Schlovinski”
GEO	Geographic Attribute String	“Tarsus (as in Saul of Tarsus)”
AVO	Avocation Attribute String	“Tent-maker (S. Tent Maker)”
MI	Middle Initials	For middle initials where the initials did not represent another name
NMI	My Initials that I use for my Name	“A.”, “W.E.B.”
AV	Audible sound(s), or visual elements that make up a name	A “ref” (reference) to a digital media file. For example a WAV file of the person saying their name, or an image showing their signature.
TRIB	Tribal data associate with name String	“Navajo”
_[new_atomic_code_name]	An new proposed atomic code is prefixed with an underscore “_” until it has officially been adopted	For example the atomic code “_AVATAR” could be created to represent a person’s online profile identity name