Determining First vs Last Names
I am doing some batches in this group United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916–1939, and I have been having some troubling determining which name is the First name as opposed to the Last name. It would make sense for them to be in the same order across an entire document right? which is what I thought, but then one above the other the names, Derick Berihel, and Gardner William come up one. So any tips for determining such things would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Answers
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From your batch, please choose "Help" then "Share Batch" from the drop-down menu. This will allow community members to see your batch and give you better feedback.
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If you can't tell which is given and which is surname, put it all in given. Let the researcher who searches and finds it decide.
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Hi,
on the Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters,
many times the officers will be listed with their surname last, and then the very next name for an enlisted man is the reverse!! So you need to be aware of this and then do your best. This also changes from batch to batch depending on the date it was completed, the person preparing the role, and the area of the world it came from.
If you can't actually figure it out, then you do what Jerry Hill stated above and put it all in the given name field.
The field instructions for this project state:
The given names may be written either before or after the surname. Be sure to type the names in the correct fields in the data entry area. If you cannot determine if a name is a given name or a surname, type it in this field.
Include all aliases, nicknames, or variant names that were given for a person, separating them with the word Or.
Do not include titles, terms, prefixes, or suffixes with the name.
If the given names were not recorded or were written as a variation of the word "unknown," press Ctrl+B to mark this field blank.
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