Add Alternate Name from Sources - Quick Feature
Under the section "Add Alternate Name" I would like a "single click" quick feature that provides suggestions for additional alternate names to add, based on the name(s) referenced in attached sources.
Example:
If their profile name is "Tony Mullen". And a source says "Toni Mullan" have the alternate name section have a single click button where you can add "Toni" as an alternate first name "Mullan" as an alternate surname.
Importance:
Adding all possible spellings, nicknames, etc. makes it way easier to find that person in a search. And making the process of adding alternates faster will greatly improve this feature.
Comments
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Since an alternate name has a type (Nickname, Married Name, Birth Name, etc.) it can't be a single click option -- you'd have to do some sort of click to specify what type of alternate name it is. Also note that the search features already automatically include common variations; if you search for "Tony" you'll match names such as "Toni," "Anthony," and "Antonio." That will happen even if you haven't entered those as alternate names. Although some alternate names are certainly useful, there's no need to clutter the list of alternate names with common variants.
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I've encountered profiles where another contributor had added every variation ever recorded of the person's name. In one memorable case, every single one of those variations was an error, either in recording or in reading (or both). I don't believe that entering such errors as alternate names serves any useful purpose: the very fact that they had been found was proof that they did not need to be added to the profile.
When a man was born with the surname Vojnich Zelich and died with the surname Borbiró, then yes, an alternative name should be entered. If his name was recorded alternately as Vojnich and Vojnics, then just pick one. There's no point to entering the other variation: they both represent exactly the same sounds, and FS's matching algorithms are pretty good at sounds. As Alan says, the minor spelling variant would just clutter the list, unnecessarily.
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