Name parts
What is the correct way to index name parts for names that have prefixes?
For example, MacDonald, McDonald, Van Hazen, van de Berg, de Soto
Is there a general guideline for such names?
Thanks.
Answers
-
Indexing instructions in the old days said to enter them the way they are on the document. However, Mac and Mc names in real life don't usually have a space these days, but in Irish records you'll see spaces. But Van, de, van de, etc. usually do have spaces. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Whether there's a space or not, the Family Search search engine will treat them the same.
2 -
Thank you, Barbara! I am asking because the Full Name Review application has fields for surname prefixes (I'm not talking about Mr. or Mrs), and I wonder whether these van or de should be put in the that category. Are there any general conventions for indexing these types of names?
0 -
I'd never even considered that, so I just tried it to see what happens. This is how it ends up in the last step. I wouldn't do it that way because the Mc, van, etc., is part of the surname and you want the Mc included in the surname field in the Family Search search engine. I have no idea why that's even there. In fact, I don't know why we even include titles (name prefixes) like Mr. and Mrs. or name suffixes since those aren't used in a search, either. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong. Maybe someone else will give their two cents.
0 -
@barbaragailsmith1 - the surname prefix thing is problematic in real life. Sometimes "van Gogh" will appear in a telephone book sorted under "G", and sometimes under "v". I have notes that say "van Gogh" would be filed in Dutch as "Gogh" but the same name is going to be "van Gogh" in somewhere like the UK, I'm sure.
0 -
I put Van de Kamp into the Family Search search, then just Kamp. Under "Kamp" only Kamp came up. Under Van de Kamp, only Van de Kamp came up. Seems like we'd need to put whatever is on the document for the surname.
2 -
@barbaragailsmith1 Thank you, thank you, thank you! Awesome Answer!
0 -
@barbaragailsmith1 - thanks for that. That makes me think that when it comes to the person's profile (not indexing) it would be a good idea to have an Alternate Name with the "van" written the opposite way to the primary name in the Vital details. So one with "van" in the surname, the other with it as as a prefix. That way it's covered both ways. It surely can't harm.
1 -
And with the "Kamps", looking at the actual documents, only Kamp was on the documents, not Van de Kamp.
1
