🔗 Some problems with 'first name' and 'last name' fields in data

best-practice database development reading-list

Over on the Fediverse, I said something:

This is my sad face that here in AD 2023, there are greenfield projects using 'first name' and 'last name' fields instead of 'given name'.

(My use of 'given name' is a bit ambiguous here; you might say 'normal name', or just 'name'.)

Patrick McKenzie's justly famous Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names is the obvious starting point for people who are new to these issues in general, but it doesn't entirely explain all of the specific problems with asking for 'first' and 'last' names.

PS: there's a related post to the tangled problems of asking for people's '(full) legal name'

continue reading on utcc.utoronto.ca

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