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Should a two-word given name like María José or Min Ho fill given, instead of given + middle? #704
Description
Today the parser calls the first given-name word the given name and puts the rest in middle. That's the English-language convention (John Quincy Adams). Several naming traditions treat a multi-word given name as one unit instead: Spanish María José and Juan Antonio, Portuguese Maria do Carmo, Arabic Muhammad Salim, Korean Min Ho, CLDR's own given field (Cornelia Margarita).
Measured by the report-only view added in #703 (cldr_agreement.py --split): 265 CLDR renderings and 3 rows of the conventions corpus split given and middle differently from what the source states. Most of the 265 come from this convention, not a defect: Cornelia Margarita (given) + Sofia Aletta (given2), where the parser reads given Cornelia, middle Margarita Sofia Aletta. GND and Wikidata record every given name in one field, so they don't state the split and aren't scored on it.
Options:
| Option | middle means |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
| (a) keep today's convention | every given-name word after the first | the 265 are recorded as accepted differences and the split can be ratcheted now |
| (b) one given unit | only an explicitly secondary name | breaks what callers expect from middle in English names |
| (c) per language | (a) by default; a language pack declares compound given names (es, pt, ar, ko) |
the default stays as it is; packs get it right for their culture |
Open questions:
- If (c): what does a pack declare: a list of compound given names, a rule (
María+ one more word), or both? - Where do a Sikh religious name (
Kaur) and an English given name beside a Chinese one (Lim Mei Ling Jessica) go? Neither is a middle name. - The conventions corpus states a few rows with a stopgap
given2(Tran Thi Mai,Harpreet Kaur Dhillon,Lim Mei Ling Jessica). Restate them once this is decided.
Replaces the open questions in #702. The split view is in #703.
Activity
Keep a patronymic given name from completing under rules/O7
Keep a patronymic given name from completing under rules/O7
Add Policy.two_given_names, the compound given name as a rule kind (3…
derek73 commentedon Oct 31, 2026
Status after 3.0's sub-phase 4g (#954): option (c) shipped.
Policy(two_given_names=True)(rules/O7) reads a two-word given name as onegiven, off by default and available to a pack's[rules].Parser(policy=Policy(two_given_names=True)).parse("Juan Carlos Pérez")gives givenJuan Carlos. With #961, a word O6's given-name list leaves out of the family is O7's to take.locales.ESkeeps O7 off: on PSC it moved Spanish filers from 31.8% to 15.7%, because they type the second given name into the middle box.Still open here, and cited as such by
docs/design/decisions/O7-two-given-names.md: which particle phrases complete a given name (Maria do Carmo Silva), and whether that is a reading on the word or a list the rule kind holds. Also still open from the issue: whereKaurand an English given name beside a Chinese one belong.derek73 commentedon Nov 3, 2026
A Catalan data point.
dels(the plural ofdel) appears in ORCID only in Spanish researchers' given-name box (5) and never in the family box. It is the given nameMaria dels Àngels. No vocabulary file lists it, and that is what keeps the given name whole today:The second row is the particle-listed case, and it takes the given name into the family. So
delsshould stay out ofca.tomluntil this issue decides how a particle phrase completes a given name (Maria del Mar,Maria de los Ángelesread the same way asde les Neus).derek73 commentedon Nov 4, 2026
Particle phrases and Kaur/Singh: #1057. Two name-reading properties, read only by
two_given_names(rules/O7) andtwo_family_names(rules/O6), so a parse with both switches off doesn't move.after_particleon agivenreading marks the word behind a particle that writes the second of a compound given name. Withtwo_given_nameson,María del Carmen Garcíareads givenMaría del Carmen, familyGarcía; withtwo_family_nameson, such a phrase beside a one-word given name is never taken into the family. 23 Spanish words are marked: those ORCID researchers from Spain and Spanish-speaking America write behind a particle in the given box at least nine times in ten, with ten records or more (carmen1,261 to 5). No Portuguese word clears the bar (carmo21 to 6,conceição25 to 25), soMaria do Carmo Silvakeeps familydo Carmo Silva. A caller can mark a word withLexicon.add("carmo", kind="given", after_particle=True). The alternatives weighed were a phrase reading, a list held by the rule, and O6's given-name list; the last would have splitde la Cruzandde León.sharedon a name reading marks Sikhkaurandsingh, which neither switch takes or completes.Harpreet Kaur Dhillonkeeps middleKaurunder either switch, as it does by default and as UK company-register filers box it (middle-name box 2,354, forename box 25). Both words are in mul.toml, so strict language choices keep them.Lim Mei Ling (Jessica)underFAMILY_FIRSTwithtwo_given_namesreads givenMei Ling, familyLim, nicknameJessica.delsstays out ofca.toml, since the properties change nothing with the switches off.del Carmen: middle box 21, surname box 2).Record on umm's entry why it has no particle reading (#704)
Read a particle phrase as the second given name; leave Kaur and Singh…
Read a Spanish compound given name written with a particle as a middl…
derek73 commentedon Nov 4, 2026
Closing: what this issue asked is settled.
Policy.two_given_names(Add Policy.two_given_names, the compound given name as a rule kind (3.0, 4g) #954, rules/O7).Santa María-style surnames are kept whole (P10's saint clause).sharedproperty).Lim Mei Ling Jessica): accepted; writtenLim Mei Ling (Jessica)underFAMILY_FIRST, it reads givenMei Ling, familyLim, nicknameJessica(decisions/O7).The one remaining question, Catalan
dels Àngels, moves to #1059.