Skip to main content
Skip table of contents

Name Parse macro

Overview

The Name Parse macro splits a full name (which can contain title/prefix, first name, middle name or initial, last name, suffix, and professional title) into individual name components. Use the macro prior to matching so that individuals can be matched more effectively.

The Name Parse macro accepts a single input table, and parses one text field of that table into the components of up to two names. It uses a pattern-based recognition approach, with token tables to determine which input is most likely to be a component like first name, last name, and suffix. You can optionally specify an additional lookup table.

The Name Parse macro assumes that there can be one or two names (we'll call them Name1 and Name2) in the input field. It adds the following fields to the input table, and populates them with the following parsed name components.

Field

Name component

OUT_PREFIX1

The prefix (Dr, Mr, Mrs) of Name1

OUT_FNAME1

The first name of Name1

OUT_MID1

The middle name of Name1

OUT_LNAME1

The last name of Name1

OUT_SUFFIX1

The generational suffix (Jr, III) of Name1

OUT_POSTNAME1

The profession-specific suffix (MD, DVM, PHD) of Name1

OUT_PROFTITLE1

The professional title (Auditor, VP of Engineering) of Name1

OUT_NICKNAME1

The nickname of Name1

OUT_GENDER1

The gender of Name1

OUT_PREFIX2

The prefix (Dr, Mr, Mrs) of Name2

OUT_FNAME2

The first name of Name2

OUT_MID2

The middle name of Name2

OUT_LNAME2

The last name of Name2

OUT_SUFFIX2

The generational suffix (Jr, III) of Name2

OUT_POSTNAME2

The profession-specific suffix (MD, DVM, PHD)of Name2

OUT_PROFTITLE2

The professional title (Auditor, VP of Engineering) of Name2

OUT_NICKNAME2

The nickname of Name2

OUT_GENDER2

The gender of Name2

Name Parse macro configuration parameters

The Name Parse macro has a single set of configuration parameters in addition to the standard execution options.

Input data

Parameter

Description

Name type

Select input name type, either Full name or Parsed name.

  • Default: full name

Name field to parse

If Name type is Full Name, the name field.

  • Default: blank

Prefix

If Name type is Parsed name, prefix such as Mr or Mrs (Mr John Abel Smith Jr).

  • Default: blank

First name

If name type is Parsed name, given name (John A Smith Jr).

  • Default: blank

Middle name

If name type is Parsed name, middle name (John A Smith Jr).

  • Default: blank

Last name

If name type is Parsed name, surname (John A Smith Jr).

  • Default: blank

Suffix

If name type is Parsed name, generation name (John A Smith Jr).

  • Default: blank

Unicode input

Select if input data type is Unicode.

Name order field

Optional field indicating whether names are formatted with first name first or last name first. This is a two-byte text field containing the values FL (first name followed by last name) or LF (last name followed by first name). If this is unspecified, names are assumed to be first name followed by last name.

  • Default: none

Parsing/gender data source

You may specify an optional Parsing/gender data source. This is a table in DLD format containing either two or three columns: TOKEN, SYMBOL, and (optionally) GENDER.

Parsing behavior

Parameter

Description

Use large table

Select to use Data Management's comprehensive parsing lookup table. If you are resource-limited, you should leave this off.

  • Default: no

Treat "/" as AND

If the name field might contain two names separated by a slash ("/"), select this option to ensure that the name is parsed correctly.

  • Default: no

Prefer Last/First

For ambiguous two-name cases like "Scott Davis" and "Davis Scott", prefer Last/First interpretation over First/Last interpretation.

  • Default: no

Preserve dual last name

If the name field might contain names with two last names, you can select this option to put both in a single last name field. If you have the name "Mary Andrews Smith", selecting this option will write "Andrews Smith" to the OUT_LNAME1 field. If this option isn't selected, "Andrews" will be written to the OUT_MIDNAME1 field and "Smith" will be written to the OUT_LNAME1 field.

  • Default: no

Split hyphenated last name

Select to split hyphenated last name into two fields, OUT_LNAME1 and OUT_LNAME1_2.

  • Default: no

Suppress second name

Select this to output only the first name encountered in input. An input name of the form "Alice and Kirk McKinney" will be output as "Alice McKinney."

  • Default: no

Parse suffix

Select this option to distinguish between generational suffixes such as Jr and III, suffixes such as DR and PhD and professional titles such as Finance Manager. An input name of the form "James Smith III, MD" will be output with "III" in the OUT_POSTNAME1 field and "MD" in the OUT_SUFFIX1 field. The name "Janice Jones, PhD, VP of Development" will be output with "PhD" in the OUT_SUFFIX1 field and "VP of Development" in the OUT_PROFTITLE1 field. Without this option checked, "PhD" and "VP of Development" would both go to the OUT_SUFFIX1 field.

  • Default: yes

No punctuation in titles

Select to remove the punctuation from honorary titles. This will strip the periods in titles like "M.D."

  • Default: no

Initials at name end as suffix

Select this option to treat initials are found at the end of a name as a suffix.

  • Default: no

Genderize name before suffix

By default, gender is assigned by analyzing data in this order: Suffix, First name, Middle name. Select this option to change the order to First name, Middle name, Suffix.

  • Default: no

Capitalization

Choose capitalization style of the output.

  • Default: UPPERCASE

Treat "President" as

You can treat the word "President" as either Title or Prefix. If you select Title, then "President" will be put in the OUT_PROFTITLE1 field.

  • Default: title

Treat "C O" as "C/O"

Select to interpret the string "C O" as "Care Of".

  • Default: yes

Prefix options

Parameter

Description

Add prefix if none present

Select to add a prefix such as "Mr" or "Mrs" to names that don't have one. Use the other prefix options (below) to specify the default prefix.

  • Default: no

Default male prefix

If you selected Add prefix if none present, select a default male prefix from the list.

  • Default: MR

Default female prefix

If you selected Add prefix if none present, select a default female prefix from the list.

  • Default: MS

If multi-name use alt female prefix

Select to assign a prefix to the female name if a pair of parsed names includes a female.

  • Default: yes

Alt female prefix

If you selected If multi-name use alt female prefix, select a default female prefix.

  • Default: MRS

Debug option

Parameter

Description

Output debugging information
Output debug path

Select this option to output three CSV files to the specified Output debug path. These files capture intermediate results of the parsing process, which can be useful for troubleshooting:

  • name_parse_debug_symbols.csv shows the input names parsed into TOKENs.

  • name_parse_debug_symbols2.csv shows the SYMBOLs assigned to TOKENs.

  • name_parse_debug_symbols3.csv shows the TOKEN--SYMBOL--CLASS/PATTERN_INDEX correspondence.

Add a parsing data source

You can customize the operation of the Name Parse macro by defining an additional parsing data source. Review Data Management's parsing technology, built-in data dictionary, and a sample parsing data source before creating your own supplemental data source.

The supplemental data source must be a Data Management DLD file with three columns:

  • TOKEN: the text of the token extracted from the name field.

  • SYMBOL: the part of the name that the token represents.

  • GENDER: if the token is gender specific, GENDER is M or F, otherwise blank.

SYMBOL is one (or a combination) of the following symbols:

  • FN: first name (Aelena, Evo)

  • FP: first name prefix (Cpt, Sir)

  • LN: last name (Behlin, Looney)

  • LP: last name prefix (Mc, Vander

  • LS: last name suffix (III, Jr)

  • LT: last name title (CEO, Trust)

Because TOKENS can be ambiguous, SYMBOL can be "overloaded" to indicate multiple possibilities. These compound symbols indicate that a token can be any one of the referenced name parts. Thus SYMBOL FNLNLP indicates a TOKEN that may be any of first name or last name or last name prefix (for example, Della or Santa). The compound symbols recognized by the macro are:

  • FNFP

  • FNFPLN

  • FNFPLNLT

  • FNFPLT

  • FNLN

  • FNLNLP

  • FNLNLS

  • FNLNLT

  • FNLP

  • FNLS

  • FNLT

  • FPLN

  • FPLNLT

  • FPLS

  • FPLT

  • LNLP

  • LNLS

  • LNLT

  • LPLS

Parsing data source sample

The following is a sample parsing/gender data source table:

TOKEN

SYMBOL

GENDER

A'ISHAH

FN

F

AABRAHAM

FN

M

AAGE

FN

AAGOT

FN

AAISHA

FN

F

AAKARSHAN

FN

M

AALEXUS

FN

F

AALEYAH

FN

F

AALI

FN

M

AALIYAH

FN

F

AB

FNLS

M

ABS

FNLS

M

BA

FNLS

M

BJ

FNLS

CAS

FNLS

DOM

FNLS

M

DOT

FNLS

F

DRE

FNLS

M

EDD

FNLS

M

JD

FNLS

BR

FP

BROTHER

FP

CAPT

FP

CMDR

FP

COL

FP

CPT

FP

FATHER

FP

FR

FP

GOV

FP

HONORABLE

FP

MS

FPLS

CAPTAIN

FPLT

COLONEL

FPLT

COMMANDER

FPLT

CORPORAL

FPLT

DOCTOR

FPLT

GENERAL

FPLT

GOVERNOR

FPLT

HON

FPLT

MASTER

FPLT

MISS

FPLT

F

AAB

LN

AABBOTT

LN

AABED

LN

AABEDI

LN

AABEDIN

LN

AABERG

LN

AABY

LN

AABYE

LN

AACH

LN

AACHMANN

LN

DEL

LNLP

M

DELA

LNLP

DELLA

LNLP

F

DER

LNLP

M

DU

LNLP

EL

LNLP

F

LA

LNLP

LAM

LNLP

M

LAU

LNLP

LE

LNLP

F

BARCH

LNLS

BCHIR

LNLS

BE

LNLS

BES

LNLS

BOST

LNLS

DARCH

LNLS

DAS

LNLS

DENG

LNLS

DO

LNLS

FOURTH

LNLS

ACTOR

LNLT

ADVOCATE

LNLT

AGENT

LNLT

ALDERMAN

LNLT

ARBITER

LNLT

ARTIST

LNLT

BAGGER

LNLT

BAILIFF

LNLT

BANKER

LNLT

BARGEMAN

LNLT

D'

LP

DA

LP

M

DE

LP

DES

LP

M

DI

LP

F

O'

LP

ST

LP

ST.

LP

STA

LP

VAND

LP

11

LS

111

LS

2

LS

2ND

LS

3

LS

3D

LS

3RD

LS

4

LS

4TH

LS

5TH

LS

1ST VICE-PRESIDENT

LT

1ST VP

LT

A.V.P.

LT

ACCESS PROGRAM MANAGER

LT

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

LT

ACCOUNT MANAGER

LT

ACCOUNT VICE PRESIDENT

LT

ACCOUNTANT

LT

ACCOUNTING

LT

ACCOUNTING MANAGER

LT

ABBOT

LTN

M

ADMIN

LTN

M

ARCHER

LTN

M

AUTHOR

LTN

BAKER

LTN

BARBER

LTN

M

BARD

LTN

M

BISHOP

LTN

M

CARVER

LTN

M

CHANCELLOR

LTN

M

Configure the Name Parse macro

  1. Select the Name Parse macro icon.

  2. Go to the Configuration tab on the Properties pane.

  3. Specify Input data:

    • Select Name type.

    • If Name type is Full Name, specify Name field to parse.

    • If Name type is Parsed Name, specify some or all of Prefix, First name, Mid name, Last name, Suffix, and Postname.

  4. Optionally, select the Name order field. This is a field indicating whether the Name field of the current record is in first name/last name ("FL") or last name/first name ("LF") order. If not specified, first name/last name is assumed.

  5. You can optionally specify a Parsing/gender data source. This is a table in DLD format containing either two or three columns: TOKEN, SYMBOL, and (optionally) GENDER.

  6. Specify parsing behavior.

  7. Specify prefix options.

  8. Optionally, select Output debugging information and specify an Output debug path.

  9. Optionally, go to the Execution tab, and then set Web service options.

JavaScript errors detected

Please note, these errors can depend on your browser setup.

If this problem persists, please contact our support.